[MotorMark]

So I went to Costco this morning for some supplies. Loaded everything in the rear area as normal, and drove back home. When I got parked in the garage, I hit the hatch button on the door rest as always, and it made the normal sound that it always has. However, the hatch didn't go up. That's when I noticed that the case of orange juice I had bought had shifted, and was leaning against the middle of the hatch inside. I had to manually lift it. After I unloaded everything I tested the hatch, and neither the door rest button or the button along the bottom of the hatch to close it get any results. They do make the familiar sounds that they did when it was functioning properly.


Any hints/clues/suggestions?

 

[Daridesilva6]

BMW X3 (F25) tailgate will not close

Hi, I have a 2013 F25 X3. The close button stopped working a few days ago. I can open the tailgate with the key fob, the button on the dash, and by touching the tailgate handle. no problems with opening the gate at all. However, it wont close when the button on the tailgate is pressed. I have to manually push the gate shut. So I ordered a switch, replaced it last night. It still does not work. Anyone have this same issue? How did you fix it? Thank you

 

[Chris323i]

From what I've seen on the issue, a lot of the times theres a bad spindle/strut. This is related to the hatch not opening. I've seen that it can either be mechanism failure or possible hall sensor failure??? that can be tested for with BMW software. Unfortunately the spindles can be quite pricey at about $300 each.

As far as the issue that Darid is having, I have seen less reported issues on the tailgate having issues closing. They open just fine but push the tailgate button has no effect. I am having the same issue as Darid. The best possible issue I have found is there may be some sort of grounding issue in the latch. Today I actually did a pretty thorough investigation, removed all panels, tested voltage. I actually removed the lock mechanism under the cargo cover by pulling off all the plastic trim, unplugging the latch, inspecting the latch, spraying WD-40 in the latch (old trick that I did with my old F150 years back). Once I plugged it back in, the button worked however it only worked once so I'm not sure what this issue is. I will be buying a used latch mechanism on eBay sometime to replace the one on the X3 to see if this remedies the issue.

 

[Daridesilva6]

From what I've seen on the issue, a lot of the times theres a bad spindle/strut. This is related to the hatch not opening. I've seen that it can either be mechanism failure or possible hall sensor failure??? that can be tested for with BMW software. Unfortunately the spindles can be quite pricey at about $300 each.

As far as the issue that Darid is having, I have seen less reported issues on the tailgate having issues closing. They open just fine but push the tailgate button has no effect. I am having the same issue as Darid. The best possible issue I have found is there may be some sort of grounding issue in the latch. Today I actually did a pretty thorough investigation, removed all panels, tested voltage. I actually removed the lock mechanism under the cargo cover by pulling off all the plastic trim, unplugging the latch, inspecting the latch, spraying WD-40 in the latch (old trick that I did with my old F150 years back). Once I plugged it back in, the button worked however it only worked once so I'm not sure what this issue is. I will be buying a used latch mechanism on eBay sometime to replace the one on the X3 to see if this remedies the issue.

Hi Chris. Since my original post, I removed the plastic panels, traced the switch wires (4 of them) back to the fuse panel on the right side of the trunk wall. all fuses are good. I realized that my trunk lights don't work either. when the tailgate is open, the close/close&lock buttons were illuminated, its not any more. I tested the 4-wire harness to the switch. all 4 wires are hot, 12v. I used a tester with a light. when I tapped on the 3rd wire from left, the tailgate will close. So, it seems the switch is not getting grounded. I assume there is a switch that triggers grounding when the tailgate is open. When you removed the latch, did you see an on/off switch that works with the latch open/close mechanism? I could not find a switch in the door jam, much like for the inside dome light

 

[Daridesilva6]

Hi. I***8217;ve survived without the trunk auto close for many months. Now it stopped opening also. Bought two new spindles and installed them. Now the tailgate opens again but won***8217;t close. Trunk lights don***8217;t work either. I removed the light bulbs from the trunk lights. 12v on them although they don***8217;t work. when the light bulbs are removed, the tailgate opens and closes as expected. Go figure. I am stumped.