MUNICH, 26 Jun 2015 (AFP) - The 31-year-old added a second round of 67 to his opening 65 to claim the halfway lead on 12 under par, one shot ahead of England's James Morrison.
Cabrera-Bello, a two-time champion whose last triumph was at the 2012 Dubai Desert Classic, has finished fourth, 13th and second in his last three events on The European Tour.
"On some occasions I have been a little unfortunate, other occasions the competition is very hard and other people have just outplayed me and other times I have made some mistakes which I have learned from," Cabrera-Bello said.
"Hopefully I put the pieces together this week; we will see."
On Friday, he carded six birdies but added a bogey on the eighth.
Morrison, last month's Spanish Open champion, birdied three of the last four holes to add a 66 to his opening 67.
Northern Ireland's Michael Hoey and Denmark's Lasse Jensen are two shots off the lead after rounds of 65 and 69 respectively.
World number seven Henrik Stenson added a 71 to his opening 67 to lie six under, but two-time major winner Martin Kaymer missed the cut.
Selected BMW International Open second round scores at the Munchen Eichenried golf club on Friday (GBR/IRL unless stated, par 72):
132 - Rafael Cabrera Bello (ESP) 65 67
133 - James Morrison 67 66
134 - Lasse Jensen (DEN) 65 69, Michael Hoey 69 65
135 - Thongchai Jaidee (THA) 68 67
136 - Alejandro Canizares (ESP) 70 66, Chris Paisley 69 67, Pablo Larrazabal (ESP) 70 66
137 - Peter Hanson (SWE) 69 68, Joakim Lagergren (SWE) 68 69, Peter Lawrie 70 67, Bradley Dredge 69 68
138 - Lucas Bjerregaard (DEN) 71 67, Edouard Espana (FRA) 69 69, Andrew Johnston 66 72, Anders Hansen (DEN) 69 69, Retief Goosen (RSA) 68 70, Magnus A Carlsson (SWE) 70 68, Daniel Gaunt (AUS) 65 73, David Horsey 70 68, Jaco Van Zyl (RSA) 70 68, Johan Carlsson (SWE) 69 69, Kiradech Aphibarnrat (THA) 67 71, Henrik Stenson (SWE) 67 71, Marcel Schneider (GER) 68 70
139 - David Howell 69 70, Matt Ford 70 69, Victor Dubuisson (FRA) 72 67, Anthony Wall 70 69, Shane Lowry 72 67, Paul Lawrie 68 71, Kevin Phelan 68 71, Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN) 71 68, Thomas Bjorn (DEN) 71 68 Eddie Pepperell 69 70, Bernd Wiesberger (AUT) 71 68, Julien Quesne (FRA) 68 71