body and interior Hood Not Straight Near Drivers Door

[gliding_serpent2]

Any thoughts on correcting this? (See hood trim step once you reach the door trim). All trim is secure and this is only an issue on the drivers side. To my knowledge hood has never been off, and 100% no accidents. The white plastic feet have been adjusted. I assume it is just from 40 years of opening the hood on the drivers side.

[Conserv]

Any thoughts on correcting this? (See hood trim step once you reach the door trim). All trim is secure and this is only an issue on the drivers side. To my knowledge hood has never been off, and 100% no accidents. The white plastic feet have been adjusted. I assume it is just from 40 years of opening the hood on the drivers side.image.jpg

There is a hood alignment article somewhere on this site. And, indeed, there are multiple adjustments possible to both the hinges and latching mechanism that can likely solve your particular issue (and yours may only require an adjustment of the latching mechanism). But the subtleties of such adjustments are considerable -- e.g., moving this spot down may push another edge into worse alignment -- and perfect alignment requires great patience or the services of a "hood whisperer"!

Steve

[Napes]

The tutorial you are looking for on "hood and trunk adjustment" was written by: dubois.  It does not come up on the new website, unfortunately.

 

Enter his name in the search function and send him an email to see if he can help you out with the info.  The process is a little mind-boggling, but well worth it.

 

Bob Napier

[Cru Jones]

Per that thread:

 

 

1. Measure the squareness of your front end. Take a couple of diagonal measurements, the X's should be equal on a square. If not, you will have to compromise on the how the hood will fit. It is possible to pull the nose to eliminate the diamond, but not easy. I would't worry with anything greater than 1/4 inch.

1a. Tape all the edges around the hood to protect - use low adhesive type so you won't lift the paint during removal.

2. Remove your front grilles (important)

3. Remove all the adjusting buttons, and the triangular shaped brackets.

4. Install the front hinges and leave the screws snug, not tight. Or if left on the car loose them. They are clearly seen thru the kidney grilles.

5. Place the hood on the front hinges - with a helper. Leave the screws snug.

6. Connect the spring arms to the small bracket slider on the front of the aprons. Do not tighten, leave them loose so they can freely slide

7. Close the hood very carefully, watching for rubbing against the front nose and against the edge of the front doors.

8. With the front hinges loose and the hood lined up with the back latch, you will able to move it around on the X & Y position, and cock it on that plane until you are satisfied. Note: this is the only way, you cannot adjust the hood unless is completely free. If something is binding and impeding movement, you will be chasing your tail forever!

9. You may need to compromise certain gaps and just live with it, if you have slight diamond or the hood is not perfect.



10. Tighten the six bolts that connect the front hinges to the hood. DO NOT OPEN the hood to do this. BMW provided a way to do it with the hood close. Just reach thru the grilles and you find a hole thru the front nose tray. And I thought all long those were to hold my tools.

11. Tighten the six bolts connecting the hinges to the front nose . You can slide those on the Z plane and hence adjust the height of your hood at the front. They are clearly visible with the grilles removed.

12. Now you can pull the lever inside the car and latch the hood. Leave the kidney grilles off until the very end - just in case the hood is stuck closed. With the hood latched, theoretically now, not much can be adjusted although somethings can be fined tuned - I will explain.

13. The height of the hood at the rear can now be pulled or pushed from its natural position. Install the traingular shaped brackets, but remove the white plastic rest button - as always leave screw snug. These slide on the X Y and also rotate. They have a lot of play. They are used to control the pressure of the retainers on the side of the hood, when you engage the latch.

14. Open the door and using a flashlight, you can see the triangular brackets with the hood closed. This will point out the way these should be adjusted to have the right tension and also the proper height at the end of the hood where it meets the top of the fender in the back.

15. Activate the latch and see what needs to happen on the triangular bracket for it to clear the pulling levers when you close the hood.

16. Install the white buttons and adjust their height to eliminate vibration in the back, they should rest on top of the wing.

17. Same as above for the vibration dampeners in the front of the hood.

18. Tighten the spring on the sliders now. These should be in a position where they do not induce twist. Best way is to leave them snug, close the hood and they should slide to a neutral position. Open the hood slowly and tighten. NOTE: if this is not done properly, the hood WILL twist and the adjustment in the back will be lost. The twisting can be used improperly to "adjust" the hood in the back, but I do not recommend this practice.

19. Look at how the hood now meets the side of the door. You can push or pull on the hood to adjust slightly. But shouldn't need to, if you did step 8 correctly.

20. Install the front grilles.

21. Step back and look at your beautiful car.


On the decklid the procedure is basically the same: snug, adjust, tighten, but there are less degree of freedom.

Some others may want to chime in with something I might have missed.

Have fun...

PS: oops I meant the grilles, I just looked at my own picture!

[MikeWooldridge]

Looking at an exploded view, your door trim appears off on the rear, which makes me believe it's also off on the front. Your hood looks aligned with the door. Have you got a close up of rear of door and front where trim meets?

[LarryS]

Here's the link that Cru posted from, but no pictures. If you go down to the 12th post of that thread, PG7202 has a pdf you can download with pictures.

 

http://www.bmw2002faq.com/topic/61959-hood-installation-and-adjustment/

 

Larry