Tailgate opens slightly then immediate closes (E61)

[MuNaught]

2010 E61. Using either the fob or the tailgate button, the same issue occurs: the tailgate beings to open, maybe an inch or two, and then immediately closes. It's almost as if it's falsely thinking there's something blocking the movement so it goes back down. If I give it a tiny bit of an assist, it gets past that initial inch and goes up the rest of the way just fine. The lift motor seems to be working perfectly otherwise which makes me think this is a position/sensor type issue. It closes just fine.

I could speculate that maybe the gas lift strut on the passenger side has lost its mojo?

I searched the forum and could not locate a similar post.

Has anyone encountered this?

[jclausen]

Certainly that would be cheapest out come of all it could be bad

[MuNaught]

No dice, replaced it with a new OEM PN 51-24-7-201-468 and no change.