I have a 2011 Mini Cooper Clubman S. We got a lot of snow/ice mix last night and I'm worried about my automatic Windows. When I open the door I hear the window motor try to lower the window, but it is frozen so it won't move. Over the course of a whole winter of this happening, will it damage the window motor? I know that there are a lot of Mini owners up North, I'm curious if this is something I need to worry about and what you all do. I appreciate the help.

 

To avoid frozen windows you have to move farther south, otherwise trying to lower your frozen windows should not hurt your window motors, unless you keep trying to get them to come down repeatedly while still frozen.

This happens to all cars, if conditions are right... freezing temperatures and moisture from rain, fog, snow or any other source. They will eventually thaw out allowing actuation, but just leave them up when it's cold and they're stuck. It's an inconvenience we all run into once in a while up here in the north country. Heat from the interior will help unfreeze the windows after a time in some cases. Really depends on how cold it is outside.

 

not all cars operate the window on their own every time you open the door.

In any case it doesnt seem to hurt anything. Mine are frozen most every day this time of year.

 

Just scrape the window at the bottom enough before you open so the window can dip a bit. That way to don't strain the motors in the long run.

 

Yep, right, I didn't connect with the door opening move. Figured OP was trying to get window down from inside the car. Totally forgot that all Mini door windows do the dip thing.

 

Yea, the ice can be so think the window will not dip, so it will need scraped off.

 

That would present a real problem for Minis left outside here in southern-central Maine this year so far... lots of melting and refreezing. We had 2 inches of rain yesterday, and now it's turned cold again today.

 

I find that the rubber strip between the door and the bottom of the window will freeze to the window. I take an ice scraper and push down on the rubber seal, along the whole edge, to loosen it when this happens.

 

I don't see why it would. I don't think it's working any harder trying to get the window down than succeeding at getting the window down. It takes the same amount of power because the motor doesn't have different levels of power that it operates with.

 

I should really learn to read what's there in the first place!