Hello everyone. I need some help from someone who has been in my shoes before me. I have a 2008 R56 Non-S. Yesterday, I go to pull the hood release and it is very tight. I pull harder, the release handle breaks. I grab some vice grips and pull the cable. The plastic sheathing pulls out of the metal bracket. I supported the sheathing and tried pulling but it has no results, it still goes as far as it will and no farther. The right latch detached but the left latch is non-responsive. I cannot relatch the right side. I am presuming the cable disconnected from the left latch because since the main cable leads to that equalizer, they kind of tug together. I have the inner fender liners out, I have the bumper and grill out. I have absolutely no idea how to access that latch to release the hood. I can't be the first person to cross this road and I really appreciate any help or guidance from anyone who has dealt with this themselves.

Thank you for you help!

Ivan

 

I know someone who had this issue locally and I know he used some kind of pole to reach the latch from under the car and release it.

 

I have been in industry for many years and have lots of tools. I have several tools that fit that description. I appreciate the help. I will go with that approach and see if I can do it. If I succeed, I will share the procedure. It seems to be lacking on our Gen2 cars. Gen1 Coopers have a lot of info on the web.

 

Good luck! There seems to be an issue where the single hood latch cable meets the others in the small black box on the drivers side under the hood.

 

I know that box. I have opened and closed this hood so many times and never had an issue. The car sat for a week untouched and that is when this issue showed up. Time will tell what happened as soon as I get this thing open.

 

I WIN!!! Here are some pics. It took me less than 10 minutes to get it open once I had my head clear. I used my light and my digital boroscope to get a picture and form a plan. I used a serpentine belt tool that you will see in the one of the pics to trigger the latch. This was the left latch that was a problem. You can see the latch from directly under the coolant bottle. It is right above it. I needed to fish the tool up to get near the latch and push it outward to get it to free up. From the looks of it, the latch is rusty. No damage to the cables. I am going to buy 2 new latches, and replace my handle that I broke, and I'll be back in business. Thank you for your help and hopefully this will help someone else in my situation.