BMW E70 X5 Stuck Hood Latch & Cable Replacement DIY 

I want to thank you so much the repair shop wanted $700 to open my hood and put new cables in. They said it would take almost two hours just to open the hood and it took 5 minutes because of your help at home and I paid $3 at Home Depot for that rod. Then I use WD-40 on the two primary latches and it didn't even need cables it opened up perfectly every time after. You just saved me over $700! Thank you so much

Thanks man, was doing a different job and had to get the hood open again only to find that cable popped off during my work. Warning to anyone messing with that passenger cable, it's a 90 degree turn to unhook it so it can get undone pretty easily if you're manipulating the cable, check it before you close the hood!

so i got the cable and installed if per your video, worked like a charm. hardest was to get the ends to go into the holes since the tabs were a big larger than the oems. thank you!

Worked for me! A few things to note The latch is like 5in behind the left black plastic plate ( was overshooting it by a lot on mine) Def take the grill off! And if you can manage to see a screw with the light ( hard todo but iykyk) thats the rear screw. The latch mouth( housing ) is like 2 in in-front of that. Happy to help anyone thats stuck!

Great video! Took time to get the latch…used the same 3/16” rod…it’s closer than I thought…I broke most of the snaps on both grills (took them both off as I thought it would help judging the open latch, but no), and used black zip ties to connect the two pieces and it snaps right back into the hood 👍🏻

Thank you. Finding the right angle and spot to poke the latch with the rod is challenging and takes a lot of tries! But with patience it does work. Fitting the new cables into the locking mechanism requires dexterity, but again eventually pays off. One tip- I didn't have the time in one work session to get the new cables fitted- so I disconnected the passenger side lock mechanism ( 2 torx screws), zip tied the mechanism out of the way and closed the hood. The driver side latch and front lock were latched so I felt it was safe to drive off. Next day I popped the hood and changed the cables to finish the job.

Thanks for this video. Was quoted around $1200 to open and replace the cable so I decided to do it on my own. This video helped alot again thank you!

Thanks for the video. I just competed mine on my 2009 X5. Note you can also remove the short cable by pushing and pulling the latch mechanism thru an opening at the bottom of the compartment it's in, and then pulling it up and then you can easily detach the short cable (remove it entirely)and then feed thru the new short cable attach it and then move the lock back thru the opening. I did this and then pulled the latch mechanism up with a plastic pic and centered one bolt hole at a time.

Thank you so much and I was so happy that you brought one of these back in the day and had this problem, I just finished a oil change and a gaskets job put the brace back on and reassembled everything tested the car cleared the codes and closed the hood, went for a test drive and came back and could not open the hood 😮 sat down and found your video, got it open and reassembled, and it’s fixed now, thank you again for everything you have done on BMWs you helped me yet again

Great video! I just ordered a cable/cables and will do it when it comes in the mail! 👍

excellent video thanks! My dealership is taking 3 days to figure out, smh lol Ordering the wrong cable supposingly.. oh well i'm not paying for it. i only went there for a oil change...it was working before i went there,.. winning!! Again dope video!Thanks

Thank you... I Didn't know what you do after the cables broke. Your video definitely helped. Cheers

Thanks for the video. You saved me hundreds. Appreciate your videos. 👏👏👏

Thank you for a great detailed video. Could you please share the link to that replacement cable?

Thank you for the video it worked 👍🏻

Thank you thank you! I had the same problem but your video helped me with successs!!!

Thank You so much, it Save me a lot of money and stress 👍😉

Nice help full lots of details

How did you get the grill out? I have X5 2014 have a hard time getting it done.

was scared since my 2010 X5 had this issue and my oil was low. didn't want to take it to any garage least they might cut up the car or the dealer since they will charge $$. this video helped and i was able to open the hood using this trick. thank you

Thank you very much, it was a great help.

Very good video. 👍

How you get the other side? My is the other side is not open

how do I do this for the BMW G30?

100% LEGIT!!!! THANK YOU!!!!

good morning, please could you help me, the bmw330 i 2003 hood opening cable broke, how do i open the hood. thank you in advance 

Nice work

Jak otevřít přední kapotu BMW X5 E70. přetržené lanko přední kapoty

After doing this I decided that I would update my cables and added a homemade emergency pull cable attached to the lock itself so now all I have to do is pop the grill off and pull the cable I made and BAM! it opens.

👍👍👍 thank you BMW X5 video thank you👍👍👍

ello, I have a 2013 X5 and I have the same problem. My condenser and plastic next to it seems slightly different even though its still an e70. Does anyone have experience with the new e70 models. I have tried for a few hours to open and so far no luck. Excellent tutorial my friend. I wish there was a way for you to contact me directly.

So Very Nice video

Great tip Thanks

Do you’ve the part #?

2015 x5 and im having the same issue

So amazing

Sounds good

I have a wire coat hanger to open mine🤣

took me four days to get the left latch open, right latch still wont open... left latch took pliers to broken cable from inside the drivers side of car, machete under the hood, pulled on cable after removing grill,, used a knife to slide left side, used handle release from front of car.. I dont know what worked but finally the left side seems to be up a inch or so, now the right one.. could take four more days

this has to be Canadian and 7' tall. videos a great help!

Looks so easy in the video no so darn hard in real life. I tried for two weeks with different wires and rods and couldn’t open mine.

Tutto

Only works on X series.. You try that with a 750Li....The latches are turned sideways..As it takes me 2-3 hours to do it right. Without tearing the customers fender well up or breaking his grill... And if it's that cable to the latches. that breaks. Have fun...As BMW are notorious for crappy hood release cables. Why I replace all three every time with factory BMW parts..As the parts are not that expensive. It's all the labor just to get at them latches...And that one latch with two cables attached. You have to remove the headlight...To insert both the new cables..The rest is gravy... Why I have a long Hook Pick. Made just for this issue...Saves me grief..