Hydraulic struts don't support hood!

[Sam Salter]

Here's the deal,

1996 328si just came out of the body shop for work on the drivers side front quarter. (Some guy turned left in front of me - his insurance paid!)

Part of the work required the hood to come off. Now I find the hood won't rise and stay up on the hydraulic struts. (It did when it went in!)

I don't see any leaks from the struts or anything else that looks wrong, but I bet someone out there has had this happen to them and it's a 5min fix!

If necessary I'll take it back and get them to fix it, but if it's something simple they've overlooked, I'll do it myself.

The power of this site is mind boggling - I believe!!!
sam :-)

[strad]

If the struts are installed correctly (I can't fathom how this could get screwed up) then the reason they're not working is that they are worn out. You can try to get the body shop to replace them for you if you want, but it's probably a coincidence that they failed at the same time as work was being done.

Putting new ones on is a five minute job though :)

[NickR23]

Ive had this happen to me on lots of cars, and my 318i just did it also. One day it worked fine, and the next day it just wouldnt stay up. I guess they just wear out, but Id like to know if there is a way to fix them?

-Nick

[marineifra]

send them to me! please! i will pay for shipping. you can get a pair from pelicanparts for abt 20 bucks if i remember correctly. i need worn out ones for my carbonfiber hood

[GardenBeast]

try ebay. i got a pair for my car for $20 plus shipping. $35 total. not a bad deal, since locally, they're $40 each.

[Bris328is]

I have replaced mine--found them for $15 each @ napa

[GardenBeast]

I have replaced mine--found them for $15 each @ napa

AMERICAN! that's like $412.95 canadian, innit?

[Bris328is]

you are wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!

$512.33387654656787665

to be exact:D

[marineifra]

i got mine on craigslist for 25 bucks locally
here:
http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/catalog/shopcart/BE36/POR_BE36_BDYchs_pg3.htm#item7

[strad]

send them to me! please! i will pay for shipping. you can get a pair from pelicanparts for abt 20 bucks if i remember correctly. i need worn out ones for my carbonfiber hood

lol that's true. Those carbon fiber hoods are LIGHT lol. Sorry I tossed my shocks already.

[NickR23]

send them to me! please! i will pay for shipping. you can get a pair from pelicanparts for abt 20 bucks if i remember correctly. i need worn out ones for my carbonfiber hood

Im planning on replacing mine sometime soon, so if you want my old ones send me a PM and I can take them off for you. I just use a 2x4 to hold up the hood so they dont do me any good being on there.

-Nick

[marineifra]

thx nick, but i don't think they'll work. mine is a coupe. if im incorrect, i'll take them

[NickR23]

I just checked and they are different! I had no idea, learn something new every day I guess.

-Nick

[CrazyCoder]

Mine did this while I was checking the oil. One second the hood is up, then it's slammed down! Seriously, my car tried to decapitate me. :eek:

Ordered a new set from PelicanParts for $24, didn't get the genuine BMW parts though. I figure it's kinda hard to futz up a hood strut, so 2 non-BMW ones for the price of one BMW one sounded good.

[strad]

thx nick, but i don't think they'll work. mine is a coupe. if im incorrect, i'll take them

They'll work but the hood won't go up as far. Which is kind of annoying.

[marineifra]

hmmm...nick, i'll take them for experimental purposes since stradmaster said they just won't go up as high...

[xqwizit]

Ok, I can definitely chime in with some real world experience on Sam Salter's experience.

I just accidentally "broke" mine just yesterday and know exactly what I did but still don't know why they failed. Anyhow, I was swapping out the driver's side fender on my car and the fender is held together near the windshield with two bolts underneath the black trim where the wiper goes. I needed to remove both bolts and as soon as I removed the second bolt, the hood hinge popped out of its socket and I heard a "hissing" sound. The hood was also leaning over to the passenger's side at this point b/c the driver's side hood shock was fully extended. I quickly asked someone else to help me and we lined the hood back up and propped it higher than I had before (which was just the gas shocks supporting it). If the hood is propped up high enough, all the weight is put on the hinge and there is no place for the shock to push backwards so it just pushes down on the frame of the car and won't slide. However, if you only prop up the hood partially using the natural force of the shocks, the shock is applying pressure towards the back of the car and the hing can slide out from underneath.

Anyhow, I quickly put the bolts back on to test the hood shocks and there was minimal to zero lifting force on the hood. I can't tell if it's only one of them that went out or both of them but I was told that the hissing noise I heard was not normal for shocks so it must have blown. In any case, I'm sure that's exactly what your body shop did too since you can't remove the fender w/o removing both bolts. The trick is to put the hood all the way up so all of the weight is on the hinge pointing down so it won't slide. But I'm sure that few people know this as even the Becker's manual doesn't say this. Also, you have to remove BOTH bolts. There is no way to remove a fender w/o removing both bolts.

I do plan on removing them and seeing what went wrong in the next couple of days. Ideally I'm hoping for a quick, cheap fix but I may just have to buy two new ones. I guess call it a lesson learned.

[1996 328ti]

send them to me! please! i will pay for shipping. you can get a pair from pelicanparts for abt 20 bucks if i remember correctly. i need worn out ones for my carbonfiber hood
Old thread, but do you still need a set?
I just replaced mine. The old ones won't hold up the hood, but if you still want them let me know before they go in the garbage.

[neilmcg]

I know this thread is crazy old, but I need to replace my hydraulic hood props as well now. I can't find the part on pelican, can someone help me out?

Thanks!

[BimmerGuy26]

I was having issues with my struts. They no longer stayed up so i did some research and found a product that allowed me to avoid replacing them entirely.I came across this tool at SEMA, called ShockLock (www.shocklock.ca (http://www.shocklock.ca/#/)).It's a one handed, all aluminium- non damaging tool that is said to support up to 100lbs in weight. So far its been working brilliantly. I use it on my 330ci, and my winter beater as well. check out this youtube video to see how it works- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt1b8ibUeOY

http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/webkit-fake-url://B84EF7A6-4629-4160-9DC0-A6F924366DC3/346824d1415744943-finally-a-cheap-fix-for-bad-hood-struts-img_3239.jpg

[rajicase]

Rofl.... strong first post man

[Pik Masta]

Yea mine wore out long ago. Instead I just use a curtain rod to hold up my hood :stickoutt
http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=525582&stc=1

[JDStrickland]

Yea mine wore out long ago. Instead I just use a curtain rod to hold up my hood :stickoutt




Isn't it a pain to take the curtains down just to look under the hood?

[Pik Masta]

Isn't it a pain to take the curtains down just to look under the hood?

no...

[Vitaliy]

Isn't it a pain to take the curtains down just to look under the hood?
Haha best comment I've read all day!!

[328iFun]

Get a carbon fibre hood

[JDStrickland]

Get a carbon fibre hood


This is a $200 cure for a $0.02 illness.