[antgc]

Hi guys,

Firstly, please don't judge the filthy car! It's been cleaned since these photos!

My powered tailgate isn't shutting anymore. It gets 3/4 down and stops. Looking at the door, you'll see it leans to the right. It's not been hit or anything, the hinges show no signs of shifting and when manually closed, the latch lines up. The only thing I've noticed is the left strut's plastic casing has a couple of small lumps in and possible signs of the plastic being stressed from the inside?

Just wondering if anyone else has had any similar issues or any advice? I've no idea what I'm doing, so any tips appreciated before I start tinkering... possibly removing the left strut and seeing if it's been pushing the door off alignment.

Thanks in advance

[BBri89]

I would say with almost certainty that those "lumps" in the strut are a problem and if not the cause or effect, they are not helping.

They will be causing significant resistance as the struts close, possibly triggering the "trapped object" fail safe of stopping the tailgate shutting further.


I had to have my struts and latch replaced as the tailgate was alternating between slamming closed, or not latching and then you could rattle it inside the locks.
There's a double-latch I think.
My car is 11/2014 build and had them replaced at just under 5 years old but outside the 12 month AUC warranty. Managed to get the parts for free as a goodwill from BMW UK, but had to pay labour costs to replace them.

[Watsey]

Looks like mechanical failure inside the powered strut.

Has someone pulled the tailgate closed manually, too fast, and overloaded the long threaded rod (or the nut/washer it passes through) inside the strut ?

[antgc]

Originally Posted by Watsey

Looks like mechanical failure inside the powered strut.

Has someone pulled the tailgate closed manually, too fast, and overloaded the long threaded rod (or the nut/washer it passes through) inside the strut ?

Yeah I think I've even pulled on the tailgate myself in the past when in auto pilot... just odd that it's suddenly started.

I need to have a look on YouTube and see if there's a guide to taking it off and see what's going on inside. Hoping it's an easy (and inexpensive) replacementas a it needs sorting.

Thanks!

[antgc]

Originally Posted by antgc

Yeah I think I've even pulled on the tailgate myself in the past when in auto pilot... just odd that it's suddenly started.

I need to have a look on YouTube and see if there's a guide to taking it off and see what's going on inside. Hoping it's an easy (and inexpensive) replacementas a it needs sorting.

Thanks!

Just to follow up on this, in case anyone in the future has the same issue...

It was the spindle strut in the end. I couldn't figure out how to take it apart to see what was going on.

Took me longer to remove the panel than driving over to BMW to get the replacement.

Anyway, £180 later(!) it was a quick fix and works perfectly.

Thanks for the input!

[antgc]

Photos of the stripped panels required and connectors.: