My 2005 X5 has the hood release working freely so I have a cable broken or off the release mechanism. The grill is off on drivers side and plastic cut back. Not much area to get behind the release catch. Is cutting the post a viable option, I need to see if I can find another post first? I am a decent wrench but time is valuable and I make about half of what my mechanic charges so I might give it to him if it is tricky or a headache. What are my best options to release hood?
Make any headway on this? Try a youtube search, I found some vids, didn't look at them all though. One person was getting their hands on the cable for the pass. side latch and pulling it, but talking about getting the driver side cable with needle-nose pliers somehow since it would need to be pulled over from the driver side and difficult to access. I couldn't tell the orientation of the lock mechanism - I think if you can get a screwdriver in the hole in the lock mechanism, it can be turned to release. The 1st thing to try though is unscrewing the pull handle and pulling the cable manually. If the cable's ok, then it's a simple matter of replacing the pull handle. Seems like with old German plastics, it's always something. Sorry not to have more specifics, not a model I have!
If the cable is broken off the release handle you can strip the cable back and use needle nose plier to pull the cable and have a friend pull up on the hood. If the hood still won't open then it will get tricky from there to open without damaging the hood. In extreme case the hood does have to be cut.
