first snow with the mini. not disappointed in the driving ability! it rocks! however, i opened my driver door to get in with no problem. i got driving, and realized my headlights had snow on them and i couldn't see, so i pulled over to wipe them off. DOOR WOULDN'T OPEN! i had to crawl out the passenger side. got back in. PASSENGER SIDE WOULDN'T CLOSE! Finally got it shut! neither door would open when i reached my destination!!!! Still stuck shut!!! WHAT IS THE PROBLEM!!! the handle doesn't seem to even click when i attempt to squeeze it!

 

problem solved...i had to beat up my door handle and it finally opened!!! hope this doesn't happen every time it snows!!!

i have no idea how to delete this thread. so if a mod wouldn't mind!!! thanks!!!

 

Starting in 2005 mini revised the doorhandles....and replaced earlier ones for free for cars that were under warrenty that passed through a dealership under a service campain....
Maybe since your car was in the south, it was never done?!
Try to lube tgem up well!!

 

Do you know the service campaign number?

 

No,but mine were changed at my first oilchange..an extra i paid for with about 5000 miles....car was delivered dec 2004....they also changed the ps fan wiring and a few other things...very proactive dealer..then told me they had made a few changes to comply with a few service campains...and explained the changes....the handles actully have a different look/feel to the part you squeeze.
Hearing some of the stories here, i know i was very fortunate having such a good dealer, mini of peabody ma, one of the dealers that delivered the first mini's in the us at the very start if it all!! Heck have a friend at a place i worked at that has the t-shirt and other memobilia they gave out....

 

I cant get my driver door open at all..how do I get it open so I can fix it?

 

pour hot water in the door gap, the door seals on mine completely froze shut and this is what MINI did for me, then they cleaned and lubed the seal.

 

This precise thing just happened to me. 2003 Cooper S. Snowed real good here, still snowing...went out last night to get groceries, tried to open passenger side to throw the bags in, no go. Driver's side opened fine. Today, went to move the car to shovel the driveway, driver's side won't open. I pried around the window seal to get the window open with the key, crawled through the window and started the car with full heat for 30 minutes. Inside handle won't open door either. Now I have no opening doors! Only had this car a month or so.

 

I've found keeping your door handles as ice/snow free as possible helps a lot. Also if you can't get your doors open hit lock/unlock until the door opens, that usually works for me. It can become a frustrating situation pretty quickly, if you have the older style handles i would seriously consider switching to the 05/06 style.

 

I'll definitely be updating ASAP. It's been snowing for almost 48 hours, about 2.5 feet right now. Got the driveway all cleared out, the plow went by, but I'm stuck at home with a car I can't open...and I don't want to drive the wife's Kia!

 

Got it open. Used a heat gun to warm up the handle, and the area around the handle. Once it was warm, I used my fist to pound on the area above and below the handle and it opened!

 

Mine froze on Saturday, and I had to drag my fat butt and screwed up knee out through the passenger side a few times. Today I couldn't close my passenger door - fortunately I was still at home, so I took a heat gun to the handle and locking mechanism (on the side of the door). I also discovered doors won't open if they're coated with ice - so don't leave the scraper in the car. :(

 

My driver side was being a pain last weekend, keep the handles free of snow and ice then after repeated handle pulls spray the inside with wd-40 and you should be ok for a bit.

 

I'm thinking that I'll disassemble the entire door come spring and spray everything with Fluid Film. I use it on my snow thrower and it sticks quite well even to outer surfaces. I'm also considering some sort of sound dampening - water displacing foam for the doors themselves.

 

Same thing today. -17C. Got in the car no problem, started it up to warm up. Drove it to work. Went to get out - trapped in driver's side.

At least the passenger side opens and I'm getting pretty good and climbing out of the car now. The secret is to turn around and kneel on the seats.