The charging cable plug (nozzle) would not release on the 2017 BMW i3 even though the car was fully charged and the doors were unlocked. Repeated lock/unlock cycles, wiggling and even the manual release pull would not release it. Some combination of all that finally released the lock. A trip to the BMW dealer showed how to use the manual release. It takes a lot of pulling tension to release the lock. When pulled hard enough, the release lanyard travels noticeably and the sound of the lock physically moving is apparent. Depending on what is causing the faulty release there are only a few seconds to pull the charging plug before the lock light re-engage.
The biggest thing to note here is that it takes a lot of pull to operate the manual release. The manual release is behind the foam block in the lower rear edge of rear passenger door frame.
The cause of the lock fail is not known but at least the manual release will work. Hopefully this lock problem is a one off anomaly.
For reference there is a large thread in a BMW forum about this issue.
An important quote from the forum is: Note, though, that it takes a LOT of pull on the emergency release to unlock it. You're pulling back a motor driven cam. The first time, I thought I'd break the plastic cable, but just kept pulling a little harder until it actually released. It helps to actually have one hand on the charging plug while trying to pull the release and work them together. I hope never to get good at it through practice!
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