Opening the doors on my car is nightmarishly hard - is there a TSB on this, or some personal things I can do (no wise cracks about working out my hand muscles!)?

Thanks!

 

Mine are stiff as hell too. Pretty sure it's just "normal" operation, though I'm in full agreement that it's a bit ridiculous.

 

My opening handles aren't too bad, but the drivers door lock/unlock button is hard to actuate, especially in comparison to the one on the passenger door. I have to really push it in as far as it goes to get it to work.

 

Exact same thing on my MINI. Didn't used to be that way, either. It's a recent development, which makes me think it can be fixed.

 

Also have Comfort access. In general, don't feel well made, and as if the mechanism needs some lube somewhere.

 

I've had some stiffness in my door handle too - no comfort access. Funny thing is, it seems to be intermittent. Sometimes it works normally, other times it takes a death grip.

Spridget

 

I have noticed this recently also. It's starting to get so I have to use both hands. I was just chalking it up to weakness (I have elbow surgery coming up) but if I'm not the only one, maybe it is the car!

 

Same here.

 

Well, Didi is going in for other work Friday, I'll ask the SA to add that to the list. Will report back.

FWIW, the comfort access nubbin is crap. Sometimes it's a light push, sometimes I think my finger will come out the other side of the door. GRRR.

 

We have a similar system on our Mazda CX9, and it works much better on the CX9. It looks and works so similar in fact that it wouldn't surprised me if the comfort access component weren't sourced by the same vendor for both vehicles.

 

Have similar experience with reluctant handles. Did you resolve yours? If so, is there a service bulletin covering this?

Ray

 

Same here, no comfort access, but the handles have been hard to open recently.

 

Agree the handles are rather hard, but I find if you grab as far toward the back of the car -- away from the fulcrum -- it's a bit easier.

 

My drivers door (the only one that gets used daily) is getting rather hard to open. The passenger door is easy to open and the drives used to be like that. So i am sure it is something that can be fixed but I have not even thought about looking at it yet as the weather here is still very cold. Once it warms up I will take a look at it to see if it needs adjustment or lubing.

On the comfort access button issue where it seems sometimes you have to press real hard. You really do not have to do that (at least in most cases) as part of it is the way the system works. When you press the button it wakes up the Car Access System (CAS) if it has been more than 30 minutes since the car was locked. If it has to wake up the CAS then it just takes longer to open. After waking up the CAS the CAS has to authenticate a key fob as the proper one to open the car.

Pressing harder will not make it work any faster. I noticed this only about 30 days in to ownership and find if I just press it and let go it will eventually unlock the door. Sometimes it may take as much as 5-7 seconds to do so but when you are standing there in the rain that 5-7 seconds can seem like an eternity. I have also found that if I am wearing a coat with my cell phone in the pocket of the coat and my key fob is in my pants pocket so the phone is between the key fob and the car the car may not even see the key properly the first time.

 

There are no bulletins regarding the handles from BMW, sorry.

If the dealer is not willing to help or too far away, here's what you can do:

Adjust the striker on the b-pillar.



You can get a cheap torx set from your local automotive parts store(Advance, Auto Zone etc.). I haven't done one in awhile, but I want to say you need a T50 torx bit. If anything just ask the guy at the counter to come take a look and match whatever bit you need to the screws on your car.

Now that you have the tool, you want to loosen the screws just enough to have some movement. What I do is, once the screws are loose I push/hold the door closed, while also pressing the outer release handle, that "sits" the latch in place. After I tightened the screws, I try to see how it feels. If it doesn't feel right, then I try again. It will take some tries, but you always end up with a better feel.

If this method doesn't do it for you, you can try to just move the latch out. What you are trying to do ultimately, is having less pressure pushing againts the door when closed, that should aleviate some stiffness. Yes, I have seen bad handles, but 99% of the time, this procedure will remedy the problem.

Good Luck!
Joey

 

I have had this work for other cars but in this case it has not worked for my MINI.

With the door open I closed the catch as if it was on the latch and still have the same tension problem as when the door is closed. So I need to take the door apart to find out what is sticking so bad. The passenger door works great but then again it does not get used but maybe once a month.

 

I guess you are the 1%

 

Well, I'm back from the dealer. NPF on handles. In fact, they felt better the morning it was picked up for service, so that's kind of what I expected. It's as if it's variable. Some days it's great, others it's stiff as all can be. I'm staying tuned in, hopefully someone can dig a root cause here.

 

Given the rash of posts in agreement, my current theory is this may be correlated to cold. Waiting for warm days to see if then it feels consistently much easier. Not sure that points to a fix, but may explain better when it is more pronounced.

Anyone remember stiff action when warm? Anyone reading in Hawaii or Central or S. America this time of year?

 

Not a factor in my case.. it's 79f here at 8:10pm. Warm weather comes early in the Sonoran desert. Triple digits will be here all too soonn.

 

I have had the comfort access button pushing my finger through the door problem for a while now on my 09. Within the last few weeks, I have been having major exterior door handle release issues wether it was locked or not. Door only partially opens and I have to push it back fully latched and repeat over and over before it opens. It seemed worse while we were getting the pre-christmas rain, but not always while raining or after it has had time to dry out.

 

Did you adjust the striker ?