[shark715]

Anyone else having difficulty closing their engine hood?

The owners manual instructions are "Let the hood drop from a height of approx. 16in/40 cm and push down on it to lock it fully. The hood must audibly engage on both sides."

I have to let mine drop from more than twice that distance or it will not be fully closed. And the instructions above mention pushing down on it to lock it fully, which on our car does not seem to work...if it has not already fully closed when you drop it, you can't get the safety latches to catch by pushing down on the hood.

I've certainly closed enough car hoods in my time, but I wonder if there's something unusual about the 2 series hood that I'm missing? Or perhaps ours just needs an adjustment. I hate needlessly slamming hoods down because to me it's merely asking components to bend or break long term.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[Viffermike]

Originally Posted by shark715

Anyone else having difficulty closing their engine hood?

The owners manual instructions are "Let the hood drop from a height of approx. 16in/40 cm and push down on it to lock it fully. The hood must audibly engage on both sides."

I have to let mine drop from more than twice that distance or it will not be fully closed. And the instructions above mention pushing down on it to lock it fully, which on our car does not seem to work...if it has not already fully closed when you drop it, you can't get the safety latches to catch by pushing down on the hood.

I've certainly closed enough car hoods in my time, but I wonder if there's something unusual about the 2 series hood that I'm missing? Or perhaps ours just needs an adjustment. I hate needlessly slamming hoods down because to me it's merely asking components to bend or break long term.

Thanks in advance for your help.

If it doesn't close properly per the manual's instructions, it likely just needs to be adjusted by the dealer. Mine closes fine. I have a habit of lifting up on the hood slightly before letting it go to drop, just to give it a little more distance to drop.

[crbalch]

I posted this exact same problem with the solution about a week ago. Do a search first. But in order to fix it its really easy...the hood latches have a black plastic clip that pulls out, then you can screw the latch in and out. I had to screw my right side out a bit in order for the hood to close properly.

[eclipes]

i drop it down too.

[shark715]

Originally Posted by crbalch

I posted this exact same problem with the solution about a week ago. Do a search first. But in order to fix it its really easy...the hood latches have a black plastic clip that pulls out, then you can screw the latch in and out. I had to screw my right side out a bit in order for the hood to close properly.

Yeah, I should've done a search first. I am pretty active on the forum, and did not recall this topic ever being discussed. Thanks for responding.

[ralawren]

I had the same issue with my 2015 228i - Mar 2015 Build. Took it to the dealer twice. They had to make the adjustment described above.

[crbalch]

Originally Posted by shark715

Yeah, I should've done a search first. I am pretty active on the forum, and did not recall this topic ever being discussed. Thanks for responding.

No worries, hope you get it squared away its a super easy fix!

[horsepower_and_hounds]

Just drop it...works every time

[crbalch]

Originally Posted by ehagerty

Just drop it...works every time

Not true if the latches need adjusting.

[dtcoff]

Just drop it, don't push it closed. I put dents in mine by pushing it closed in the first week of ownership. Annoyed me for months as I couldn't get a time with my paintless dent repair man due to a backlog of hail storm damage work.

[doughboy]

Originally Posted by dtcoff

Just drop it, don't push it closed. I put dents in mine by pushing it closed in the first week of ownership. Annoyed me for months as I couldn't get a time with my paintless dent repair man due to a backlog of hail storm damage work.

Bingo. I've just dented my bonnet/hood in day 2 of ownership! A brand new M2 competition.

I pushed down to close one side, only lightly, but the metal is so thin it pushed in and "popped" back out leaving a crease in the metal.

Very annoyed.

[XutvJet]

If you're someone that works under the hood, don't drop it. A long time ago I left a flashlight on the engine and then drop closed the hood. That flashlight ended up putting an upwards dent and a split in the paint in the hood that couldn't be repaired without a full rework/respray of the hood.

With my M235, I simply lower the hood until it the hood is resting on the latches. Then I take my hands and put them over the spots where the latches are and push down simultaneously. Works everything. No issues.

[ehjhey]

Honestly, I've been doing it how my BMW product adviser showed me. Take the hood until it's about half a foot away from closing, then kinda slam it down. Sounds more brutal than it is.

[Unicorn123]

Originally Posted by XutvJet

If you're someone that works under the hood, don't drop it. A long time ago I left a flashlight on the engine and then drop closed the hood. That flashlight ended up putting an upwards dent and a split in the paint in the hood that couldn't be repaired without a full rework/respray of the hood.

With my M235, I simply lower the hood until it the hood is resting on the latches. Then I take my hands and put them over the spots where the latches are and push down simultaneously. Works everything. No issues.

I will second this technique. Been doing it this way forever...

I will not comment on the various items I have left under the bonnet that have caused me severe irritation with my own stupidity!

[doughboy]

Originally Posted by XutvJet

With my M235, I simply lower the hood until it the hood is resting on the latches. Then I take my hands and put them over the spots where the latches are and push down simultaneously. Works everything. No issues.

Agree, that's what I did, I put my hand near the edge above the catch thinking it would be OK but the panel just popped in and out, left a crease.

Gotta get a dent removal guy out to sort it