Rear hatch lower trim removal (hatch locked) I seem to have the hatch lock failure - in my case it has failed closed. Unlock car with central lock - puch hatch button in, nothing, try with key in lock - nothing, lock and unlock rear hatch with key - nothing, try above stuff while pushing down on hatch- nothing. So looks like the latch is broken. OK need to remove trim panel as BMW in their infinite wisdom does not put an access panel that you could remove from inside the car. So the question is has anyone removed the trim panel from inside the car with the hatch locked? Searching the archives and looking at RealOEM there are two screws that will be accessible, bunch of plastic snaps, and then two plastic rivets on the bottom of the trim panel - these don't look like you can get to them with the hatch closed. However, taking a quick look back there and the question is does the striker plate come off with he two bolts that are accessible from inside? If so you would just remove those and then you can open the hatch to do the rest of the disassembly. Also from the quick look back there, seems you can see part of the latch engaged to the striker - it may be possible to push the latch free with a screwdriver or similar? So any tips from others who have done this? Searching did not uncover a solution. Latch looks to be all of about $30 and the panel is available for about $65 but would rather not sacrifice one if it is not necessary. Thanks Paul On further review of the drawings in RealOEM it looks like those two bolts that are accessible will release the "catch bracket" #12 on the trunk drawing, 51241960859 I can hear and feel the rear solenoid actuate so its either the latch itself or possibly the plastic end cap "connection piece" which comes in two flavors dependent on what system is there (VDO or Kiekert) car is a 1995 so maybe I should order all 3 of these Trunk lid lock 51241960861 Connection piece VDO 67118361868 Connection piece Kiekert 67118361869 Last edited by PaulM; 01-15-2014 at 07:33 PM. Reason: Reviewed RealOEM some more |