A few notes from my experience.
2009 135 (late 2009 production).
Hood was starting harder and harder to open - was ignoring it. Finally could not open it anymore.
- Pull out both kidney grilles. Just grab them and in one swift motion yank them straight out - thats the key - not being at an angle.
- Once grills are out - use a small screw driver to push the latch hook (push from driver side towards the passenger side) - while somebody else is pulling the release handle inside the car.
In my case - the Front cable - connecting latch to the juncture box was in poor condition. It was cracked in several places, and the thicker covering was really bad where it was connecting to the latch.
Remove the latch. clean it with brake fluid cleaner to get it nice and clean.
Lube it with lube of your choice (I used bicycle chain lube).
Remove old cable, noting the routing and re-install new cable.
I was also going to replace the rear cable - but found it operating well when on its own.
However, what I saw was that the black insulation at end of the cable at juncture box was slightly messed up. What happened was - as the pulling got harder and harder - the black insulation got bunched up and slid away from the cable end.
- To fix - remove the metal ring at the end
- flatten or cut out damaged plastic black shielding
- use electrical tape and tape the end covering full length of metal braiding
- reinstall metal ring at the end, align it with end of metal braiding and clamp it with pliers.
- if the rear cable seems to be to long - just readjust it inside the engine compartment so the end aligns well with the cjuncture box and connect two cables inside.
I think in most cases replacing the front cable should be enough to fix the issue - as the rear cable is a pain to replace
