The hydraulic pistons on my rear hatch (2005) seem to be "dying" as the hatch has trouble staying up and will close verrrrry easily.

Anyone else had this issue? Is there a maintenance fix or is "trash-and-replace" the fix?

Danke!

 

They wear out over time. They aren't hydraulic though. They are gas struts. They literally snap on and off. You should be able to replace them yourself and, since they are showing signs of weakening, I suggest replacing them before the you get a "boot to the head".

 

I've been looking online for these with no luck and would hate to have to pay dealer prices.

Anyone got a 'hookup'?

 

Pop one off, get the part number and call an auto parts store. They can cross the part number over to aftermarket.

 

Yeah, it would be a pretty generic part.

 

http://www.napaonline.com/MasterPage...port&VehCode=Y

 

That's what I'm talkin' about!

Thanks 1st.

 

Here's a source I found on our website that may be less expensive than the dealer

 

no problem.

oem is $34.30 just to give you a reference. part #41626801258

 

Shipping and tax for one ATM 41626801258 was $31.42. It was so stiff I thought it was locked and defective. If two of these were installed they would probably open the hatch by themselves.

 

Hatch struts are one of those things where after you replace them, you'll wonder why you waited so long. I don't know how many times I got bonked in the head by the rear window on my truck's fiberglass bed shell before I finally spent the $40 and 20 minutes to replace both of the struts.

 

Try realoem.com

I think they retail for $30 a piece.

 

The right barn door strut failed on my Clubman back in December. It was replaced under warranty.

The struts on my 2005 R53 have no signs of giving up yet (But when they do, they usually decide to fail when your head is underneath the hatch).

 

I've replaced mine a couple of times now. I've learned that you usually only need to replace one at a time, if you do both its hard to close the hatch....

Nik

 

You're lucky Scott, your truck's cap only bonked you. My truck, the infamous Battlestar Galactica, knocks my pucker string loose routinely and I still haven't replaced the damned things!

 

Or $60 and 3 minutes in my case.

That was so bleepin' easy, I can't believe I put up with it for so long - probably the last 5 months.

 

Mine have been bad for the last 3 months and i've been to lazy to fix them. Princeton BMW wanted $45 a piece for the struts..

 

I replaced mine about a month ago. It's a piece of cake. I got an aftermarket set from autohausaz.com ($24 each). Good quality stuff - look the same as OEM, even same color writing and font on them, so I suspect they come from the same source as the BMW parts.

 

Bit of a redundant question, but is there a write up on how to replace the hatch struts somewhere? I have not secured a set of replacements yet so it may be obvious when I get my hands on them... do they just pop off?

 

They mount on a ball stud. If you look at the ends, there is a metal clip. Take a regular screwdriver and slide/work the clip towards the end of the fitting. You can just pry it out towards you too but if you do that hold your other hand over it because it takes off with every bit of the ferocity of a F/A-18 at full afterburner being launched from an aircraft carrier. Wear eye protection too...

 

Once you have the old struts off, the new ones just push right on - no tools needed. It really is as easy as it sounds - just a small screwdriver needed to remove the old struts. I also put a little dab of grease on the stud that the strut ends attach to, to keep them moving smoothly and prevent possible noise.

 

And lube your hinges while you're in there........

 

Well that was easy, I should have done that a long time ago (as mentioned earlier), LOL.

 

I've now run into this problem also on my R53, funny thing is I replaced the rear struts on a Ferrari 348 cheaper than some of the prices stated here ($15.00 per strut @ Pep Boys) Bosch or some other company has a part similar to what I'm looking for far less than any OEM MINI/BMW cost.

 

I ordered mine off ebay and just spend literally 2 minutes to change both of these out.

Great thread!