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Thread: Tailgate won't open

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    St. Louis MO
    Posts
    48
    My Cars
    1990 750il

    Tailgate won't open

    02 E39 Touring. My tailgate won't open, the glass opens and closes fine. Pressing the button on the tailgate, the soft open/close mechanism engages, and the tailgate opens like a 1/4 inch, then closes again on its own unless I hold it like trying to open it. Pulling the emergency release, it opens a little further than when pressing the button, but not enough to actually open the tailgate. Pushing it closed then the soft close mechanism takes it the rest of the way there.

    I had problems in the past like 6 months ago with the wiring harness at the pivot point of the tailgate hinge where some wires were frayed from age and the reverse light and wiper stopped working completely. I replaced all the wires on both sides and those issues have ceased.

    I was hauling some lumber yesterday home about 2 miles from the store with the wood sticking out of the back with the glass open, I'm wondering if the weight of the wood jacked up the lock mechanism somehow but until yesterday it was working perfect. Any ideas how to even get it open to actually look at the lock to see what is the issue?

    Thanks,

    Andy

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Alexandria, VA
    Posts
    9,049
    My Cars
    ‘01 540’00 528T’03 525T
    The latch mechanism probably needs some lube.. It’s opening, but not all the way, and so it pulls back down and latches back up. Gonna have to figure out how to get it all the way opened up so that it can be looked at.
    Last edited by BimmrMeUpSnotty; 06-03-2019 at 01:02 PM.
    Set the controls for the heart of the sun

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2016
    Location
    NY
    Posts
    2,665
    My Cars
    750IL/540iT/R53/E46Vert
    The emergency release - behind the tool kit is a mechanical link to the latch. I'd be persistent with working on that. Open the Window - if you can, and work it on both the handle outside, and pulling the emergency. good luck

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    St. Louis MO
    Posts
    48
    My Cars
    1990 750il
    Quote Originally Posted by CPHES View Post
    The emergency release - behind the tool kit is a mechanical link to the latch. I'd be persistent with working on that. Open the Window - if you can, and work it on both the handle outside, and pulling the emergency. good luck
    Yea, its just not doing anything anymore when I pull on it, either from thru the open glass, or if I crawl in the back, the emergency release cable doesn't move at all. It's plastic so I don't won't to break the cable.

    I am assuming I can somehow get to the lock mechanism from inside if I take off the back inside panels on the tailgate? I am going to try that this weekend when its not 95 degrees hopefully.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    St. Louis MO
    Posts
    48
    My Cars
    1990 750il
    Update on this, fixed it a couple weeks back. What I had to do:

    Crawl in the back of the wagon and remove the cover for the toolkit, remove the side access panels for the battery and the one on the other side, this is to allow room for the toolkit panel to even open when the tailgate is closed. Once I removed those, then I was on my back./side and removed the 8 or so screws that hold the interior trim to the actual tailgate. Then I had to open the tailgate glass, and remove the trim over the glass lock/wiper mechanism, and pull back some of the window trim around the tailgate glass. This then gave me a little more working room to carefully wiggle the interior trim off the back of the tailgate, from the inside. It's wider than the space you have to work with a little bit, so you kind of have to bend it a little bit carefully, its 18 year old plastic in my case. Once I got that out, I was able to see the lock, and fix my issue which was the power lock mechanism had somehow over extended from the pivot point it is mounted to. Popped that back and then the gate opened. I cleaned up the lock, lubed it, and verified it worked and was aligned properly, then put it all back together. You might also have to unplug the wire for the tailgate interior light, just remember to plug it back in when you put it back together or you'll be taking stuff off again.

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