Can't get in to the trunk, need help

[Nkc]

So I went on this trip for a month and decided to disconnect the battery (red) in the trunk. I then proceeded to close the trunk and cover it up as it gets quite dusty around here. Same was done for the Z3.

I come back and find that I have no way of accessing the trunk to reconnect the battery lol. I tried jumper cables with another car and connected to the + red under the hood, I tried a booster on the same spot. Nothing is working. Genius BMW decided that we don't need a keyhole for the trunk anymore and I don't have ski access/fold downs that allow me to get in there even with a coat hanger.

So what are my options? Anyone else dumb enough to make the same mistake as me? Help me out guys.

The Z3 had a keyhole so no problems at all there.


TLR Battery disconnected (red), trunk closed, can't access trunk to reconnect battery and enjoy the car.

[samiti]

Look here http://www.manualslib.com/manual/452...i.html?page=25

There should be emergency lever somewhere in cargo bay but if you dont have ski packet (hole for skies transport) i have no idea how one can access to cargo bay to reach this lever.

[jparnes1]

Next time just hook the car up to a trickle charger. Good luck. I'm interested to see how this gets resolved.

[BMWZ4RIDER]

I am assuming that
1. Pushing/flipping the rondel does not work?
2. The trunk open bottom in the driver door does not work?

There has to be a manual release/method for this issues. You surely cannot have just discovered this issue as a 1st.

[aznoo1]

would connecting a battery to the engine bay front positive and negative ports give you power?

[Nkc]

Tried all. No luck yet. The zed is just sitting there all pretty and stuff.

[nicknaz]

Originally Posted by Nkc

Tried all. No luck yet. The zed is just sitting there all pretty and stuff.

Maybe what happened to you is that you had a "new charger" and need an "old school" charger that will provide 14v to whatever it is hooked up to


http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showp...9&postcount=28

All you need to do is to get a simple charger that has enough power/amps and connect it to both terminals under the hood.

Some new chargers won't start charging the battery if they can't detect any voltage form the battery , which is the case with your car.

You need to supply at least 14v to be able open the lock.

It happened to me many times and old school charger did the trick.

[Nkc]

Time to find an old school charger. Wish me luck. Thanks Nick

[Kessler35is]

If you used jumper cables from a running auto then you had 14+ volts going to those leads.

[bigendbob]

Samiti..wrong manual, there ain't no boot release.

What's annoying is that the lever that could be connected to a manual release has a hole for the cable to be attached, but one is not fitted.

As a project I was going to look at fitting a cheap solenoid to the lever and wire through to cockpit, just in case I ever had a problem.
This has reminded me to do.

[BMWZ4RIDER]

Jumping the Z using the Engine bay jumper connections does nothing to send power to the car. You are merely remotely sending power to the Battery thru the remote battery cables which lead directly back to the main battery cable which in the case is disconnected. Power will never reach the battery to power the car as the positive power cable is not connected to the car.

Did you call BMW?

[Nkc]

Originally Posted by BMWZ4RIDER

Jumping the Z using the Engine bay jumper connections does nothing to send power to the car. You are merely remotely sending power to the Battery thru the remote battery cables which lead directly back to the main battery cable which in the case is disconnected. Power will never reach the battery to power the car as the positive power cable is not connected to the car.

Did you call BMW?

After many attempts with many different ways of "jumping" thru the front + and ground, I have concluded that unless the battery in the trunk is fully connected, nothing will happen.

Although the car is being stored from the summer heat of Hong Kong, I still can't believe there isn't a more simple solution to this "very common" simple mistake. So here I am, day by day trying out something new and continuously searching for solutions (online, mechanic friends, forums, etc, BMW but no reply yet).

Can you guys check to see if there's even a release latch from the inside of the trunk? A picture would be great so I can start fishing for it with a hanger wire or something with a more specific location. The trunk lid is slightly open (about half an inch) so I could probably reach in with something slim but definitely not a whole arm or hand.

Getting a little tired of this shit lol.

[Eltee]

I think you're going to be a bit hard pressed to grab the emergency trunk latch opener when you only have the small opening that you mentioned.

Here's a picture of the handle. It is closest to the left tail light about half way up the curve of the light about 2:30 position. I think this is the only place you could reach it from since you would have a direct shot at it. You would probably have to go in about 10 inches to reach the handle. The handle is flush with the trunk liner so might be a little tough to grab. If you ever do get a hold of it you may have to slide your "fishing tool" down to the bottom edge of the trunk in order to gain some leverage to pull open the handle.

Again this could prove to be tough working blindly but might be worth a shot.

Otherwise I think you're in for a trip to the stealer.

[Nkc]

Originally Posted by Eltee

I think you're going to be a bit hard pressed to grab the emergency trunk latch opener when you only have the small opening that you mentioned.

Here's a picture of the handle. It is closest to the left tail light about half way up the curve of the light about 2:30 position. I think this is the only place you could reach it from since you would have a direct shot at it. You would probably have to go in about 10 inches to reach the handle. The handle is flush with the trunk liner so might be a little tough to grab. If you ever do get a hold of it you may have to slide your "fishing tool" down to the bottom edge of the trunk in order to gain some leverage to pull open the handle.

Again this could prove to be tough working blindly but might be worth a shot.

Otherwise I think you're in for a trip to the stealer.

Thank you very much for the detailed description and pictures. Time to go fishing. Will report back with my (mostly likely) failed response.

[Nkc]

So after losing about a pound of sweat in this hellhole of a place I call home, I have come up empty handed again.

The location and angle of the trunk latch would be near impossible to reach blind. I latched on to something but that something could be anything. I'm thinking about going in from the rear center speaker. Maybe at least I would be able to get a good look at the sucker.

Called up BMW and they replied 3 times with shit I have tried already.

I can't believe I'm the first dumbass to do this.

[aznoo1]

dont break the cabinet door behind the seats. It took 3 weeks for dealership to fix it for me LOL

[aznoo1]

btw u might be able to get thru behind the cabinet door it's held in by a 2 clips. I dont know how much force u would need to push it down but its clipped in. But do at your own risk, u might break a tab.

[Nkc]

Tried going in thru the center rear speaker. No luck. The whole enclosure is covered by steel. What I do see from the diagram is that there is a square opening directly under the center rear speaker aka ski compartment. What I have is the typical fold down storage area with 3 removeable slots. Figuring out a way to remove this as this might be my best chance of beating this thing.

[Nkc]

Any idea how to remove from cabin? Mind you that the seats are pressed all the way to the back and everything is again controlled electronically.

[aznoo1]

thats the door im talking about. that 3 slot is held in my 2 tabs up top and key slots in the bottom.

[aznoo1]

i have both ski pass and the 3 slots. i can change it depending on which one i need.

[Nkc]

Originally Posted by aznoo1

thats the door im talking about. that 3 slot is held in my 2 tabs up top and key slots in the bottom.

Pull hard or push hard? I couldn't care less about breaking tabs at this point.