Exterior hood release lever broken?

[racebmwm3]

On the hood, the metal catch is spring loaded. Should the black plastic lever be spring loaded as well? Mine is not. As a result, when the hood release lever inside the truck is pulled, the only way I can open the hood is to reach inside the grille and pull the black lever out. I was under the impression that the black lever should pop out when the hood is release, so I don't have to reach inside the grille to get to the black lever.