Help: Bonnet Won’t Open

ktnez99

ktnez99

Zorg Guru (IV)
British Zeds
Joined
May 18, 2018
Points
164
Location
West Midlands
Model of Z
Z3 2.8L
My car’s bonnet won’t open.

The lever inside, under the steering wheel is loose without tension after I pulled it to open the bonnet and looking at the car face on, the driver’s side release clip (under the bonnet) looks to have opened but the passenger side looks closed.

Has anyone experienced the same or have you any ideas as to what this is?

I’ve tried gently pushing down on the bonnet either side where the clips are in the hope of releasing them and have tried the same with someone else doing this while I’ve been pulling the inner release clip (the one under the steering wheel) which is when the driver’s side clip released.

How do I get the bonnet to open? And operational again, fellow Z owners?
 
ktnez99 said:
My car’s bonnet won’t open.

The lever inside, under the steering wheel is loose without tension after I pulled it to open the bonnet and looking at the car face on, the driver’s side release clip (under the bonnet) looks to have opened but the passenger side looks closed.

Has anyone experienced the same or have you any ideas as to what this is?

I’ve tried gently pushing down on the bonnet either side where the clips are in the hope of releasing them and have tried the same with someone else doing this while I’ve been pulling the inner release clip (the one under the steering wheel) which is when the driver’s side clip released.

How do I get the bonnet to open? And operational again, fellow Z owners?
Click to expand...
This is a fairly common occurrence on zeds & other BMWs, mainly due to lack of lubrication of the two bonnet catches& release springs. Happened to me a few yrs back when I first got my zed. Relatively easy but fiddly to work free, without need to dismantle anything Must go to work now so more this evening. Meantime, if you can reach under & spray the catches with WD40 that will help. Maybe poke the straw thro the grilles & spray in their general direction
 
If the lever is loose, it sounds as though the cable has broken or become disconnected. I would first check that the cable is still connected to the lever. If it is, it sounds as though the drivers side latch has released. The cable goes from the lever to the drivers side latch and there is a second cable which goes from there to the passenger side latch. Ths may have beroken or become disconnected. Access to any of this is very difficult with the bonnet closed but it may be possible to hook the interconnecting cable and pull while getting someone to push down on the bonnet. I would be careful not to latch the drivers side again.
The cable is just visible if you look through the grill as shown on these photos.

Cable.webp
Cable 2.webp


I replaced both cables and latches last year as a prcaution, I think this is one of BMW's worst bits of design.
 
Something similar happened to mine a few years ago, the catches are (just) accessible from under the front of the car, pretty damn fiddly but possible. A matter of getting down and a bit dirty, I'm afraid. Catches and cables are easy to change once the bonnet is open, my new catches didn't have threads in the bolt holes which threw me for a moment, but the old bolts managed to cut new threads in the new catches. Might as well change all of it, only two cables and two catches, just another thing that wears out on an older car. If they don't wear out it could mean that no-one has opened the bonnet often enough, and that's not good.
 
GZed said:
This is a fairly common occurrence on zeds & other BMWs, mainly due to lack of lubrication of the two bonnet catches& release springs. Happened to me a few yrs back when I first got my zed. Relatively easy but fiddly to work free, without need to dismantle anything Must go to work now so more this evening. Meantime, if you can reach under & spray the catches with WD40 that will help. Maybe poke the straw thro the grilles & spray in their general direction
Click to expand...
Thanks @GZed I’ll have a go.
 
mwpe said:
If the lever is loose, it sounds as though the cable has broken or become disconnected. I would first check that the cable is still connected to the lever. If it is, it sounds as though the drivers side latch has released. The cable goes from the lever to the drivers side latch and there is a second cable which goes from there to the passenger side latch. Ths may have beroken or become disconnected. Access to any of this is very difficult with the bonnet closed but it may be possible to hook the interconnecting cable and pull while getting someone to push down on the bonnet. I would be careful not to latch the drivers side again.
The cable is just visible if you look through the grill as shown on these photos.

View attachment 119175 View attachment 119177

I replaced both cables and latches last year as a prcaution, I think this is one of BMW's worst bits of design.
Click to expand...
Thanks Mike @mwpe another “quirk” in the design of our cars.
 
the Nefyn cat said:
Something similar happened to mine a few years ago, the catches are (just) accessible from under the front of the car, pretty damn fiddly but possible. A matter of getting down and a bit dirty, I'm afraid. Catches and cables are easy to change once the bonnet is open, my new catches didn't have threads in the bolt holes which threw me for a moment, but the old bolts managed to cut new threads in the new catches. Might as well change all of it, only two cables and two catches, just another thing that wears out on an older car. If they don't wear out it could mean that no-one has opened the bonnet often enough, and that's not good.
Click to expand...
Solid advice and observations there @the Nefyn cat all duly noted.
 
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