Rear hatch lower trim removal (hatch locked)

[PaulM]

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

[davintosh]

I don't have an answer for you, but hope someone does. My daughter called tonight to tell me that she'd closed the hatch on the strap of a bag she'd just put in it, and now the hatch won't open. She lives about an hour away and I won't see the car until Saturday, so just looking for potential solutions. I'll be listening in, and will chime in if I find anything.

[PaulM]

Here is a quick pic I took with my phone from inside the car. You can see the two bolts (the third one is the pin that the latch catches on), undo those and the striker/catch plate should lift up with the latch. I wont do mine till I get the latch as well as the connection piece as I could wind up with a hatch that will not close (Since I will be buying both parts it will wind up being the $1 connection piece, but if I only buy that in advance it will wind up being the latch). Since your case sounds like just somting stuck in there you should not need any new parts.
Paul


photo 1 by moruzzi, on Flickr

[davintosh]

Awesome info; thanks much!

[PaulM]

When I went out to work out at lunch time I checked the hatch again and it fixed itself..... Old cars have personality.

Anyway - with the hatch open I could look at the striker plate - definitely should just come up with the hatch when unbolted.

I'll still take a look inside and probably clean and lube things.
Paul

[davintosh]

It's been a couple of weeks since I got this sorted out, so I ought to post an update to mine as well. I tried pulling the striker plate as mentioned above, but with the angle of the plate and its position in the rear sill of the hatch, it wouldn't just lift out. It did allow the hatch to be lifted an extra inch or so, so I put some padding in the gap & used a pry bar to try & force the plate out of its slot. The extra pressure was just enough to get the latch to let loose, and it popped open. Once the hatch was open the striker plate came out of its slot easily. Thankfully the plate was a little dirty, and showed exactly where the bolt heads were before, which made it easy to get back into the proper spot.