Tailgate issue

[woolley11]

One of things to fix on my recent B10 Touring acquisition is the tailgate mechanism which has the auto lift. There are 2 problems:

The unlock only works from the switch in the drivers footwell. The tailgate switch itself doesn’t work which I suspect to be the micro switch and guess it’s a replacement switch. It does not power up on its own and has to be manually lifted.

When it is open there is no support and won’t stay up so reckon on the 2 lots of shock absorbers are at fault and need replacing?

Anything else it could be ?

Thanks in advance

[rc944]

the struts will certainly need replacing - slightly fiddly and requires patience but certainly do-able. just check you tube vids as im thinking access can be a bit tricky as they recede into a void in the roof panel

[woolley11]

Thanks for that - . Yes I’ll look again at the you tube stuff.

Did look at one clip yesterday where they were demonstrating on a scrap E39 and cut the roof panel
off around the strut fixing points - that’s one easy way of doing it !

[v8 ego]

E39 tourers (and other BMWs with tailgates) are notorious for wires fracturing in the harness where the hinges are. I had to repair wires when I had a B10 V8 touring and also a fog light feed on our 5 GT so it could be that.

[woolley11]

I’ve found a set of (4) replacement struts for the tailgate on my B10 touring.

However I put in my model of vehicle and eBay reports back that they don’t fit my car, yet they fit a 530d Touring E39?

Is it because it doesn’t recognise the B10 and they are the same part ?

[v8 ego]

If I remember correctly, the B10 V8 has an extra bit of trim on the lower tailgate so, if it has that piece fitted, the struts aren't man enough to lift the extra weight.

[woolley11]

Sounds logical, but would that trim be weighty enough to outweigh the struts - they’re like £70 for the 4 which isn’t a big cost but if you’ve got it stripped ready to refit it would be a bummer if they were indeed wrong.

[Charles]

There should be a part number on the struts which you can cross-reference to the new ones to check

A quick look through the B10 parts catalogues here don't mention the tailgate struts specifically, so this suggests (but doesn't confirm) that they are from the original donor car.

[woolley11]

Bit of an update on the tailgate on #047 B10 touring.

Got a new tailgate switch (full piece including the no plate lamps) but didn’t work still. Luckily I found a severed wire within the loom in the O/S hinge - that fixed that.

Accessed the hydraulic reservoir which was near empty. Took out the reservoir off the jubilee clip - cleaned out the crud and refilled with clean transmission fluid. After several open/shuts of the tailgate to bleed the system it works. This has also fixed the weak struts as it was the hydraulics that were failing not the struts

The glass section, I’ve also fixed. If the locking system does not fully engage and “lock” it won’t allow the rear wiper or washer to work. I adjusted this on the screw in striker in the glass tailgate.

So it all works now - auto tail lift - still have to give it a nudge right at the bottom of the cycle , but I hear this is common.