:bustingup No, no, no, no, no!!! hahah!! That's NOT the part I am talking about! I agree, that WOULD be difficult to remove/lose! ha! But seriously, this is a special tool that is supposed to be down in the spare tire area and is removed and attaches into the actual tailgate itself in order to keep it open/down while removing the spare tire.

Any takers?!

I went and checked my manual; spare tire; pages 181-183 gives a fine description and pictures of all of the correct pieces. Good luck

I have no idea what you are talking about, but this might help. If the part is not here I have no idea.

http://realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?...=51&fg=80&hl=1

:yourock: WE HAVE A WINNER!!! YES, it is item #13 "support, trunk lid, bottom." I don't seem to have this part OR item #1 "spare wheel lift." Hmmm, maybe the previous owner had to use it and just chucked it?! Who knows?! Anyway, thank you for helping me out here! I looked at RealOEM previously, but never found that page!

Thanks again!! :thumbup:

No problem man. seems a little pricey though. about $130 for both of those. I think I'd just yank my tire out without it if I ever needed to.

:iagree: But for $8 or whatever for the tailgate holder-opener, I'd like to have that for the day when I need to keep my tailgate from closing, if I am carrying something long, for example.

right on. Good luck man.

Here's a picture of the spare tire area with all the "special tools". I've also include a picture of what's in the tool bag that's stuffed in the wheel choke area. The wheel lift is probably stuffed under the spare tire when they put back the spare on the last use as that lift is attached to the car and would be difficult to chucked unless it was intended to be tossed out by the previous owner.

Yeah, I am DEFINITELY missing the spare tire lift assist tool and the support rod. But now I have a NEW concern/question: your spare tire's wheel is MUCH different than mine! I have a very generic looking rim that you might find in a crappy car - yet you have a nice looking, what appears to be, full sized spare. Did the 4.6L get a smaller spare due to exhaust size or is it because I had the retractable cargo floor perhaps?

Dont worry about it, I have the same spare in my 4.6 that you do. White rim very generic. I think that has to do with the year built and that BMW does use full size spares in alot of its cars (like my 330ci) but in the 4.6 with a 20 inch rim its not very practical. I think 3.0 and 4.4 have a full size spare