So, I pulled the release and nothing happened. I am guessing that the cable has slipped out of the release lever arm just when I need some more stuff to do. It worked great last time I opened it, the car has been parked for three weeks, no damage to it. Anyone dealt with this little (major) inconvenience before? HELP:mad2:
Remove the right wheel, then the inner finder liner, and release the catch manually. The latch looks like this. Source - MINI2
Looks real simple with the bonnet up but the head light is in the way. :mad5: Why out of the clear blue does this crap happen???
Okay, for the next person that has this happen. In Nathans picture you see the blue sleeve on the cable attached to the latch, drivers side has a white sleeve at the same location. All you need to do, is use a long shank screw driver and push the lever where the sleeve is attached forward to release the latch. I am guessing road grit had gummed it up so it wasn't releasing, both cables were in place, cleaned and lubed with PB Blaster works great now.
Looks like the latches are independent so you need to do this on both sides; remove two front wheels, remove both wheel liners, etc. Is that right?
I always keep those things clean & lubed. I also put a couple of zip ties on each one to keep them in place. So far so good. :fingerscrossed:
I have since day one kept them clean and lubed. Thanks for the heads up on the tie wraps--great idea. Just went out in the garage and secured the cables.
I've been fortunate enough not to have this problem in 6 years and 122k miles... but now I'm paranoid. :crazy:
It's actually easy to remedy, especially compared to other cars. Just pull the wheel well liner and stick your longest screw driver in there. Most other cars have a lot more sheet metal isolating the engine from the wheel wells.
The R56 looks like a bear to get to. Clean & lubed. :fingerscrossed: I is now paranoid too..... :crazy: