Driver door won’t open from inside or outside! Aaargh...a Mini is not the best vehicle for scooting over from the passenger side...I am not a little fellow! I checked all the fuses that were related to the doors or locking mechanisms but no joy. I don’t know if this is an electrical issue or a mechanical issue....any thoughts? My Countryman has, not sure what the official name, the proximity door lock feature...little black button on the door handle. Is cold where I live (-20ish this past week) but has been a few days now and have driven the car for over an hour a few times to warm things up and confirm that something was not just frozen...I can’t confirm something is not frozen and don’t have access to a heated space.
Does the actual latch mechanism have a direct attachment to the inner door pull or does it control something electronic? The door pull feels normal and the button goes up and down as normal.
Any thoughts or ideas appreciated...thanks in advance.

 

It's mechanical.

I wonder if the door is literally just frozen to the frame?

 

I’ve been researching other door issues on this forum...since I don’t have access to a heated space I am going to give a hairdryer a try in the morning. I tried both door latches from the inside and they both have similar feel and sounds. Have been on a few trips in the snow lately and noticed lots of snow build up that is visible when you open the doors....maybe enough to form ice on the mechanism?

 

It wouldn't be the first time that condensation has built up on the rubber door seal and in very cold weather has frozen the door shut. Access to a warm spot for an hour or so is probably needed.

 

I had this happen to me last winter.
The door mechanism was frozen. It had been freezing rain and then got down to 20 degrees.
I forced the latch while it was frozen.
The plastic cable end popped out of the handle mechanism inside the door.
Take off door panel and reconnect the cable. Hopefully, your cable is in tact.
It's not as hard as it sounds. Just need to take out a few torx screws and plastic clips around door panel.

 

Thanks for your response. It has been extremely cold these past few days (-46C last night!) so haven’t touched it, but warming up tomorrow. Curious what you mean by forcing the latch open...what did you do? Have had someone pushing the door from the inside while I pull from outside but it won’t budge. Am going to hit it with a hairdryer tomorrow and possibly some hot water as a last resort...even though that may cause later issues, but will dry and get some sort of lubricant to help prevent re-freezing. Any suggestions on treatment...dry graphite, silicone or ?
Thanks again.

 

Success! Was able to get into a friends garage for an hour, also hit the lower lip on the drivers side door with a hair dryer. It was frozen almost full length along the bottom, got the door open in about 30 minutes. Snow here is very fine and dry...like talcum powder. I think a few long trips in loose snow caused accumulation in between the door and frame, and possibly one warmer day in the sun melted that snow and froze. The drivers side is towards the sun all day when parked. Some ice on the other doors but not nearly as bad as the driver door. Amazing the strength of that ice....the door did not budge one bit during many days of pushing/pulling.
Found a spray to apply to prevent snow/ice buildup and will obviously watch for that in the future.

 

Told you so ....