E39 boot lid wont close

[Borris-Bear]

This morning opened the boot once to get the scraper out then again to put it away but this time the boot wouldnt close like the latch wasnt catching.

Locking or deadlocking the car wont keep the boot closed. I dont think the opening mechanism is working either when i press the handle or the opener in the car theres no noise from the boot.

Any ideas whats wrong?

Is there a way i can get this boot closed temporarily until i fix it as obviously cant drive around with an open boot!

[nerf]

try spraying some de-icer all over the lock. mine used to freeze occasionally. de-icer used to work....

[B'stard Child]

Does it have the motor close (soft close) facility?

[TheEnd]

Does the latch mechanism stick out, or is it recessed?
E36s have one that sticks out a bit, and repeated slamming slowly bends the lock out of position so it won't grab the bar anymore, often to the point of cracking the sheet metal around the lock.

If it is, grab the grips out of the toolkit, and gently try easing the lock back into position.

If it is recessed (and not mechanically jammed) then have a look to see if the striker bar it's trying to grab isn't being slowly pushed away or loose.

[Borris-Bear]

thanks for all the suggestions - will have a look when i get home.

Any ideas for temporarily getting it closed so the car is driveable?

[B'stard Child]

Borris-Bear said:

thanks for all the suggestions - will have a look when i get home.

Any ideas for temporarily getting it closed so the car is driveable?

Bungy cord

You'd know if it had soft close so ruling that out I reckon you've knackered the clasp after it's been in the shut position and you tried to close the boot - exactly what a mate of mine did in his E39

[E24man]

If it has the soft close mechanism then the soft close switch might be a little sticky - use the key to unlock the boot lid a couple of times.....my tailgate did this a few nights ago and after using the touring's emergency pullcord it all started working again.

HTH

E24man

[TonyRPH]

Sounds like the lock has iced up to me.

I used to have an E39 523i and dreaded frosty mornings, because I always had to take a hair dryer to the sides of the doors, because although they would unlock, they would not open because the mechanism from the handle used to freeze up, every time... (the handle would lift, but not release the latch).

Same thing happened with two E34's I owned, and also had the same issues with an E46 as well.

Would have thought that BMW would have put a little more effort into the design...

And there was my neighbour, with her Vauxhall Zafira looking on with amusement each time....

[Borris-Bear]

thanks for all the suggestions i found the cause and managed a temporary fix last night. Turned out that the actuator had stuck in the open position and wouldnt budge so couldnt latch closed.

Ive removed the actuator and the lid will now close and open with the key but the OBC keeps reporting that the boots open so will get hold of a new actuator asap.

thanks again for the help.