Bonnet release snapped off

[Stormy_be]

Hello,

My cable to open the bonnet has snapped.
Does anyone know what needs to be done to be able to open it??

Thanks,
Koen

 

[badman gee]

Not good, see this thread!

http://zroadster.org/forum/threads/help-bonnet-will-not-open.3529/#post-41516

 

[Stormy_be]

Does the left grill just come out by pulling then? (I'm a bit surprised by that message)

 

[Stormy_be]

I just removed the bumper undertray.
I can now access the grills.
But from underneath it's hard to find out how they come out.
Does anyone know?
Can anyone check (anyone that can still open the bonnet should have a clear view on the mechanism.

Thanks, Koen

 

[Brian H]

HTH

 

[Stormy_be]

Impossible to undo the grills from the back.
So I took a 2,5mm² electric wire, wrapped it around the "louvres" and started pulling. Moved it a bit and pulled again. sometimes it popped back in.
Took some time. and was lucky nothing broke off.

But even then...a nightmare to get the bonnet open.
The airco radiator and fan are in the way.
In the end I was able to get it open, but with some...a lot of luck.

Now took the whole thing out. Which again was not so straight forward.
Even had to take the left light cluster out.
German solid build quality...it's not always a good thing

So in the end, what did I take of the car:
under tray
left wheel & left side wheel arch lining (was not needed)
bottom grill
both kidney grills
left light cluster
the whole release mechanism (left and right, top and bottom part)

In the end took me about 2 hours to get it done.

Will need to fit something else before driving it again.

While doing all of this, I found that between the airco radiator and the normal radiator there was a lot of rubbish. leaves, etc.
Don't think this is a good thing for cooling the car down.
Might be worth for all of you to check when under the car (need to undo the under tray - 6 bolts)

Regards, Koen

 

[vintage42]

My hood opens with a gentle tug on the lever, after I extended the two sprung latches at the front of the hood. Reach into the springs with a flat wrench to loosen the lock nuts on the threaded latch pins, then screw out the pins using a screwdriver in their slotted ends. Note and keep track of the starting position and the amount of turning.Try a half turn, re-lock the nuts, and test the feel. Repeat until the feel is right.
This will reduce the stress on the release lever in the car, which can break, and the cable, which can come loose or break.

 

[t-tony]

Biggest cause of bonnet release cables breaking is lack maintainance ie lubricating the bonnet catch(es) and the pins which they lock around. Well lubricated locks and catches release much more easily. It's a very common problem encountered by M.O.T. Testers, very frustrating. If you can't open the bonnet you can't test the car.

 

[vintage42]

My hood release became fingertip easy after adjusting the latching pins. I didn't lubricate anything.
Edit:
A few weeks later, I have sprayed lithium grease around the two latch mechanism holes, and it made pulling the release even easier. The release lever now takes about as much pressure as the turn signal lever.
But lubrication is only an enhancement of the main solution, which to extend the latch pins so the hood does not have to be closed down so hard on the rubber stops before the pins latch.

 

[t-tony]

Impossible to undo the grills from the back.
So I took a 2,5mm² electric wire, wrapped it around the "louvres" and started pulling. Moved it a bit and pulled again. sometimes it popped back in.
Took some time. and was lucky nothing broke off.

But even then...a nightmare to get the bonnet open.
The airco radiator and fan are in the way.
In the end I was able to get it open, but with some...a lot of luck.

Now took the whole thing out. Which again was not so straight forward.
Even had to take the left light cluster out.
German solid build quality...it's not always a good thing

So in the end, what did I take of the car:
under tray
left wheel & left side wheel arch lining (was not needed)
bottom grill
both kidney grills
left light cluster
the whole release mechanism (left and right, top and bottom part)

In the end took me about 2 hours to get it done.

Will need to fit something else before driving it again.

While doing all of this, I found that between the airco radiator and the normal radiator there was a lot of rubbish. leaves, etc.
Don't think this is a good thing for cooling the car down.
Might be worth for all of you to check when under the car (need to undo the under tray - 6 bolts)

Regards, Koen

If it was that easy to get our bonnets open that would be an invite for every scrote who fancied something under your bonnet to help themselves.

 

[t-tony]

My hood release became fingertip easy after adjusting the latching pins. I didn't lubricate anything.

Yours is probably already well lubricated and yes if the pins are over adjusted that does apply undue pressure on the catches making them harder to release. Also it can cause the body shut lines to be out of alignment too. I usually have the "pleasure" of opening up to, and sometimes more than 10 car bonnets a day.

 

[vintage42]

Yours is probably already well lubricated... if the pins are over adjusted that does apply undue pressure on the catches making them harder to release. Also it can cause the body shut lines to be out of alignment too...

I doubt my pins had any lubrication after the factory. I got the 1997 car last year with 32K miles, the previous owner having bought it in 2000 at age 80. I was just saying that extending the pins can really make it easy to open the hood.
I don't see how the pins can affect the body shut lines. That is governed by the four rubber stops on the body. The pins merely deal with what the stops give them. If the stops have been raised for any reason, that would require more pressure to close the hood and make it harder to release the catches.

 

[vintage42]

Here's a thread in another forum about getting the hood open after the cable broke:
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/foru...e-Broke-Getting-the-Hood-open-again-Nightmare
And another:
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=441868