[W126 Coupe] Can't open hood

[Vance Rowley]

Silly problem occurred while I was lifting the hood to do an oil check. I pulled the hood release as normal from inside and the hood released to it's first position. Then went to push the left and right final release levers from the outside as normal to lift the hood, but the left lever (facing the front of the car) flicked off and dropped into the engine bay. Therefore, I can't release the hood at all now.

Is there an easy way to get around this, as I can't see through the small gap what exactly the lever is pushing (or pulling) to be able to release it. There must be a way to poke a screwdriver through the gap to release this left side or something. Once I have managed to get the thing finally opened, I am sure it must be an easy job of re-fitting the lever back into place.

Cheers,

Vance.