Driver Door won't close
 

Hey all,

I'm trying to diagnose what door component of my 2016 F56 has failed.

This morning in New England was a chilly one, but nothing that has not been seen numerous times this winter. A little frozen upon opening the driver side door, but nothing unusual, right? Yes, the window was frozen, so it didn't lower upon opening, but again I've had this happen before and it thaws out in a few minutes. However, this morning when I get in the car and attempt to close the door it will not close. Okay, so I thought maybe because the window didn't roll down? Nope, I can roll the window all the way down and back up and it still wont close. The door handle seems fine as does the interior door handle.

The door latch does not latch the striker. I can move the latch mechanism with my finger to the 'closed' position and the car will acknowledge the door as being closed, ie the door open notification goes away and the interior light turns off. I can also pull and hold the door closed from the inside handle and the car will think it's closed, but if I let go it does not even have that almost-closed-kind-of-locked position. I'm not sure what that's actually called.

Nothing seemed to work. Granted, I was still half asleep at 5:30 this morning.


Any ideas? Is it the door latch or could it be the

A little desperate since this is my only ride and doorless driving isn't really my thing and it's supposed to rain soon.

Thanks,

Kayla

My R55 recently went through this annoyance due to the cold. I sprayed a little bit of WD-40 into the latch mechanism to lubricate it, and the door has been good since. Maybe yours just needs a little bit of lubricant for the latching mechanism to close and catch.

I'll definitely give that a go when I get home. Hopefully, that does the trick.

I could easily move the mechanism within the latch with my fingers (see photo with frozen fingers), that's why I was unsure if there was an internal component that may have failed.

Update!

Unfortunately, WD-40 did nothing for to fix this.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...a7297d6e9.jpeg
Door panel removed to look at the latch components. Couldn’t see anything without removing the foam.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...15472f770.jpeg
Foam cut back and system latch fighting against removal. Not much space to get back there with the window guide where it is, but I managed.

After opening up the latch it looks like something in the mechanism is definitely broken. I can’t tell what, but it won’t stay ‘locked’ not to mention there is a spring loose. Not sure where that goes. So the car out of commission until the used latch from AllMag gets here. And found a garage for a few nights.

Out of curiosity I opened up the latch system.

Photo #1: For reference, the door latch is right below my thumb on the photo below. The red circled area might be the part of the actuator that ain't actuating. It won't engage the lock mechanism when I was fiddling with it.

Photo #2: The opened latch system with internals exposed. Awfully big and complicated for a piece I've never really thought about before.


Still waiting on the replacement latch. Hopefully will have it delivered and get it installed tomorrow night.

Thanks,

Kayla

Hi Kayla,
A few quick questions :
- how much did you pay for the replacement part?
- did you install the mechanism yourself? was it difficult?

Thanks!

The new ones from MINI are pretty high in cost

Door Lock Unit Front - Left Driver side

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...217281931~oem/


Aftermarket:

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-uro-part...217281931~uro/

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-bremmen-...17281931~oem~/

&

Door Lock Unit Front - Right Passenger side

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...217281934~oem/

Aftermarket:

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-uro-part...217281934~uro/

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-bremmen-...17281934~oem~/


Looks like its the same as the r56 ones. Couple screws and bolts into that door jam. number 6 and number 10 you unhook and rehook back in.

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=51_9297


number 17 looks like the two torx screw that hold it in to the door metal

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...147291342~oem/

Hiya,

I found a perfectly used latch from ALLMAG Auto Parts for $79.99. Looks like they are still in stock at that price. https://www.allmagautoparts.com/coll...f56/door-parts
I did do the install myself and it was a HUGE pain. There is very little space. If you can see from the photos above, the latch is buried way behind the metal of the door. It's a few hours work and probably a bloody knuckle or two. The window guide makes it very hard to maneuver within the door. I did not get a quote from the dealer or independent shop to see what that would cost. If I remember correctly, I also had to disassemble the entire door handle to install the latch properly.
If I did it again, I would buy the part used and probably pay someone else to fix it.
Kayla

Same problem here, when parked outside in the cold (~20°F or less), the door latch goes limp and will not latch onto the striker. The latch moves freely with my finger, but doesn't click into the locked position, it just springs back open.
I bought a brand new URO replacement latch assembly ($100 USD), and installed it myself (took me about 4 hours). After installing, everything seemed to work perfectly (in the heated garage) and I thought I had it taken care of. Then I parked the car outside in the cold last night and woke up to a door that wouldn't latch again. I am at my wits end with this. Everything works perfectly when thawed. Is it just that the electromechanical components in the latch don't work in extreme cold temperatures?
What else could it be?

The latch is mechanical. The electrical parts are for the door lock, which is just the interface with the handles.
The latch should move pretty easily and spring back when either handle I pulled while the door is unlocked. You should feel typical resistance.
If the door is locked, the electric thing moves the lever out of the way and prevents the latch from opening. You should feel less resistance.
If the latch feels like it is not returning, it would be either lubrication, the return spring or mechanism, or one of the handles is bound and making the latch think it is being demanded to unlatch.

If the latch is binding on the striker, you will feel more than typical resistance when pulling the door handle, as you are doing the work to release it. Adjust striker plate to reduce binding.