Fuel door stuck

Anyone else ever have a problem getting the fuel door to open? The doors are unlocked and I can press the back of the door in, but it doesn't pop back out. I also tried the manual release and it didn't do anything. I open it with a credit card, but this obviously isn't optimal. I'd like to avoid a trip to the dealer for this. Any ideas?


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Once you open it with the credit card, can you push on the black button itself and see if that woks properly? It should pop out and then back in once with every push. If that's working fine then it's a matter of just finding the right spot to push firmly on the fuel door itself to get it to open. I'm at this stage now. Its not getting any worse, but there was a huge difference after I had some bodywork done on that side.

It's as if there's an extra layer of paint that keeps the door sitting higher than usual off the button. It does sound like your issue is similar because you are able to push it close.

Thanks for the reply! The botton/release seems to be operating OK when I try it with the door open. The door doesn't seem to be pushing in very far, but I can't push it in any more. I'm not sure what's causing the problem. No body work on that side of the car and nothing has changed lately (except the temperature). I'm not sure what's going on. I think I'm going to try some spray lube next.

Spray lube worked on the gas door of my 3 series when it would not close flush with the body panel.

Thanks Mac! I'll give that a try and post the results.

Thought I'd circle back on this and document what the issue was in case anyone else has this problem in the future. The problem was the rubber seal over the push button. It had come loose on one of the sides and caused the mechanism itself to be pushed further back than it normally should be. I pulled the push button out, reattached the seal, then put it back in the car. No problems now. Seems like there's very little margin for error when it comes to the seal. It needs to be seated properly around the perimeter of the push button so it sits properly in the right position in the fuel door insert. It should click into place without any extra effort if the seal is in the right place. Hope this helps!