opening hood problem 97 740iL

I recently got a 97 740iL with a lot of problems. One is that I can't open my hood. When I pull the lever, the driver side of the hood pops but the passanger doesn't. Through the grill assembly, I was able to get to the hood cable. I was able to open up the wire encasing and get to the actual wire (yes, without taking out the grill...painful but possible). I pulled it but it still doesn't open. Anybody have any ideas? I know its possible because my hood had been opened with this same problem before I got the car.

I think the passanger-side hood lock went...

I tried to open it and pulled good on the cable through the grill. It just pulled out. Looks like the passanger-side hood end was disconnected or broken. Does anybody know of anyway to open the hood without breaking the hood? Is there a way to get to the hood lock from underneath the car?