730d sport....cant open bonnet...HELP!!!

[turboman786]

Ive just bght a 730d sport, 54 reg....it a gorgeous car with all the toys.....but Ive come across my 1st problem

The bonnet wont open!...when I bought the car, the seller opened the bonnet without any problem , but now the catch seems not to do anything, and the bonnet just wont open

I took it to a couple of garages today, neither of whom could get it open despite much pushing, pulling and cursing!

I ended up at a BMW breakers, who want me to leave the car with them for a day (something Im not comfortable with!!) and said hey would have to break my grilles and get the bonnet open ...sounda bit nasty and a bit costly...I dont want to start having to buy replacement bits for my shiny new 7 already..

Any suggestions/advice please....Im based in West yorkshire if you know of any garages who can assist....

[turboman786]

Anyone?

[Wacky Racer]

I suggest you put this in "General Gassing", you will probably get more replies........

Meanwhile, found this on Google:-

http://www.justanswer.com/questions/1pcom-730d-200...

Failing that, ask advice from a main BMW dealer............


Good luck....

[turboman786]

Car booked in to BMW next week.........no 'normal garage' seems o have a fix...

BMW are fleecing me £118+VAT just to quote me on how much it will cost.........I cnt see me getting away with this one without at least £1k being robbed off me....

Wish someone on this forum would suggest a fix!!...or a place that could open the damn bonnet!!!

[anonymous-user]

I'm sure if you join one of the many BMW forums someone could help. There is this one for starters www.bmwland.co.uk.

[turboman786]

Im a BMWland member, but he forum is somewhat dead!....no-one seems to post on it!!

[matt uk]

Book it in for a service then..

[joelk]

Hi there,

I also live in West Yorks - and have always had very good experience from these guys...

http://www.bmservicing.com/BM-Care-Pudsey-Leeds-BM...

Worth a phone call.

JK

[turboman786]

Thanks for the link to B&M...I rang them , they have come across the problem before, and seem to know how to sort it...said its be a couple of hours labour plus the cost of the new cables and lock machanism, so I think this is going to cost a few hundred squid!

[Sticks2]

Doubt you haven't tried this but it's a no-cost option. My Z4 was only just opening so I gave it loads of WD40 through the grille thinking I'd need a new catch/cable anyway. Point is, I was surprised how much difference it made. Prob won't but...

Suppose you've had someone lean heavily on it while you try and open it, first thing to try really. Hope you get it sorted

[Booyakajon]

This happened on my 530d estate. Took it to the local dealer, under warranty. They had a look, managed to open it & said that the mechanism was clogged with grease & stuff, which they cleaned and it worked fine. I did get the smallest bill EVER from a BMW dealer of £22. I guess the post about the WD40 is a good idea - it mught free up the spring mechanism.

[welwynnick]

Tricky one. When the bonnet latch mechanism gets dirty and stiff, and the release cable and worn and stretched, the cable may not able to apply enough force to release the catch. Maybe this is your problem - it happened to me once.

What you may be able to do is get someone to push down on the bonnet while you pull the release catch. That may take the pressure off the release catch, meaning that less force is needed to release it. This worked for me, though I'd have thought a garage would have done that.

If you can then get the bonnet open, remove the catches and clean them thoroughly. Then grease the catches and oil the release cable.

I really don't think this should have happened on a relatively new car, though? Is the release handle or bracket or pivot or cable mount broken?

Nick

[mike325112]

Sticks2 said:

Doubt you haven't tried this but it's a no-cost option. My Z4 was only just opening so I gave it loads of WD40 through the grille thinking I'd need a new catch/cable anyway. Point is, I was surprised how much difference it made. Prob won't but...

Suppose you've had someone lean heavily on it while you try and open it, first thing to try really. Hope you get it sorted

Worked on my 1 series too

[miniman]

matt uk said:

Book it in for a service then..

Indeed. Stick it into BMW for an oil change, can't see how that would cost as much as they are quoting to diagnose it. Once they have done it, if the bonnet still won't open, tell them it was fine when you brought it in and would they please fix it for you as they appear to have broken it.