Bonnet won’t open

M

Matt20031

New member
Good evening folks. New to the forum and need your help.
My E85 bonnet will not open. Any suggestions on advice please.
 
Could be broken or seized catch, does it pop with the inside handle and it’s the safety catch that’s not letting you open?
 
Welcome to the forum by the way. :thumbsup:

If it is just the safety catch that is stuck you should be able to get the bonnet open enough to spray some WD40 onto the safety catch. Just leave it 10 minutes or so and you should be able to move it. Worked on my 1st Z4.
 
sw4nny said:
Put 2 hands on bonnet near catch and push ,whilst someone else pulls handle.
Click to expand...

+1 ... or press firmly on middle of bonnet where catch is, then sharply pull bonnet release (It's not a 3.0 Maldives blue by any chance???)

PS :worthless:
 
Many thanks for your advise. Will not open by pushing the bonnet down and pulling the catch. Will try removing the grills next. Any advise on how to release the catch once there??
Cheers
 
Open the hatches in the front wheelarches that give access to change the light bulbs. From there you can wiggle the cable to release the catch. I used to release the bonnet accidentally every time I changed a bulb.
 
This happened with me last week. On the rhs grill look in about an inch from the left and use a long screwdriver to push the catch to the right.
From here it will open and you can clean it up with wd40 and it will work after that
 
NickDE said:
Open the hatches in the front wheelarches that give access to change the light bulbs. From there you can wiggle the cable to release the catch. I used to release the bonnet accidentally every time I changed a bulb.
Click to expand...
Was about to recommend this. Always happens to me too
 
OP, is the lever saggy? Meaning no resistance when you pull the lever?

Not sure if you're aware, but the bonnet release cable is in two parts. The lever in the footwell pulls the cable at one end of a mechanism in a little junction box that's attached to the bodywork, in front of the washer bottle and behind the headlight. This then pulls on another cable that goes to the bonnet catch.

If the junction box becomes detached from the bodywork (mine was), then the internal mechanism won't work and the bonnet won't release. If the lever in the cabin is like pulling fresh air, you may want to check the above.
 
Arbuckle said:
This happened with me last week. On the rhs grill look in about an inch from the left and use a long screwdriver to push the catch to the right.
From here it will open and you can clean it up with wd40 and it will work after that
Click to expand...

As per Arbuckle - only use WD40 to clean it up, not as a lubricant. All WD40 will do is attract more dirt and clog it all up again and you'll be back to square one in time. Once you get it open, clean all of the grime off the catch and spring and use a dry lubricant with PTFE. WD40 isn't a lubricant - its a water displacer (WD) and solvent.
 
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