At my wit's end - replacing hood cable

[jakelmitchell]

Long story short - my car does not have a hood release cable (at all) and I must install a new one. Not a single video/well done DIY on the internet shows how to install a new one, at least not without having the old one in place. It's been impossible to back track the channel from the drivers kick panel, I've seen some people speak of removing the driver's side fender and feeding it through there. I've also cross referenced with my Dad's m3 and his cable definitely goes into his fender. Any tips? Is removing the driver's side fender the way to find the hood release cable channel?

[joshhas99probs]

If there is no cable to use to pull the new one into place then in my experience you will need to remove the fender to install your new cable, it will still be a pain in the ass though!

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[gdavid]

I'm pretty certain that the hood cable runs inside of the fender support, so removing the fender isn't going to help much. I would try using an electrical fish tape, starting from the kick panel and try to get it started down the channel of the fender support. There is a bulkhead in front and above the kick panel that the release cable runs through with a grommet to seal, it is tight but you should be able to reach up and feel it, it is probably about 3/4" in diameter, if you can get the fish tape started through it, it will probably run right down the fender support channel and exit right behind the driver's turn signal.

I've also heard of people using shop vacs and fishing line to establish a chase line, you put the vacuum's hose were you want the line to exit, they you blindly shove the fishing line down the other end and hope the vacuum guides the line to where it needs to be.

[jakelmitchell]

Hey all, I finally got it! After much trial and error, I found a simple thing that changed everything. Up within the speaker port of the driver's kick panel, there is an empty hole where the hood cable grommet fits. Just need to simply feed the new cable through there to fix it. Too easy. No video or diagram ANYWHERE shows this online. I'll probably post a video on YouTube considering how much this knowledge was a game changer for me.