dothack

Hi guys, i've been lurking around this site for a bit and I love all the info and everything you guys have gathered here.

Well I have a 2007 525i, brand new and I had a problem with the hood recently which im not sure is normal considering this is my first bmw. Well problem is I recently popped the hood on the bmw just to check out the engine for shits and giggles. After a quick look I go to close my hood and being that my other car has a CF hood im use to closing the hood but lowering it and pressing it till it clicks rather then dropping and slamming it. Well I close my hood like I do with my other car I close and pressed it till it clicks then I notice that the driver side of the hood had a big gap. At this point I pop the hood again and check under it, to my suprise I see this thing has 3 latches which im not use to. Well I try closing the hood with force this time and still the driver side latch does not catch. The passenger side latch and main front latch close fine when I push it down or slam it but the driver side doesn't catch at all

At this point I just close the hood and press down till the main latch and passenger side latch catch like they normally do, after that I press on the driver side seperatly till it clicks. It took a BIT more force then im comfortable with pushing on the hood to finally get it to close. I rechecked all the stoppers to make sure they were adjusted right, and those seem to be perfectly fine.

Do you guys have any idea's whats causing the hood not to catch on that side?

AP Sales

My gap was on the passenger side. Just a slight mis-alignment and seems to have gone away with time.

kscarrol

I have always given a good slam to close the hood, it will not damage it and will ensure all three latches catch. Don't be afraid to put some muscle behind it...

kpatter

I have a 2004 530i and my passenger side has the same issue. I just press down on the passenger side separately until it clicks. For the first month I had the car I could not understand the large gap. :'(

royal8

Yep, my driver's side hood has the same big gap that you are talking about. I thought it was a design defect, but my co-worker's 550i has the same gap. It annoyed me in the beginning, but now I only notice it when I wash the car.

dlevi67

Haven't particularly noticed a bigger gap on one side than the other, but the hood being aluminium (or aluminum) is too light to close unless you let it drop from quite a height (18" or so). Given that the Owner's Manual says to do so, I don't see why you shouldn't

Wiu-Bimmer

I experienced this issue sometime ago as well, it's gone and haven't seen it come back for a while.

KenTO

I had the same problem when the car was new. You just need to really slam the hood down into place, and it should align perfectly.

Ricracing

No gaps - no problems, lucky my E60.

The hood should lowered smoothly almost to closing
and press the BMW logo to close it - and click.


Maybe the sea voyage doesn't do good for the E60's

VIIV

I had the same problem, also drivers side. I didn't notice it until coming home from a business trip, the first time I left my e60 at the airport. I tried pushing down on the hood, then opening and slamming, and still nothing worked. It drove me crazy for a few days wondering what happened. After the next wash, I did some extra cleaning around the latch and gaps, , closed the hood as I normally did, and like magic, I had my standard gap back. I must have had some debris caught up somewhere, but it's interesting that others have had this problem, too. I'll bet a little careful cleaning wil do the trick for you, too. I still don't know exactly where the problem was, though. I didn't notice anyting when cleaning.