I have a problem. Went to fill up gas yesterday and my gas flap (door) is stuck shut. Cooper model. It locks when the inertial locks engage or when you lock the vehicle. It automatically unlocks normally on shutdown or exit. I can hear it engage and tried to disengage, but door still stuck. I assume something on the lock mechanism has broken. I will not pry this open and break further since I am not sure Mini will fix it (cover under warranty repair) if I break. My main frustration is that a). this happen on a car with less than 7K b). There is no cable release in the inner boot area ( I have disassembled and looked) c). Obviously a poor design (or stupid concept). I am more fixated on c). since you need fuel to power the car and to have no cable release as Gen 1 & Gen 2 car had seems to be an major oversight. I have even seen videos on YouTube of Gen 3's having the release cable but maybe the 2021 Oxfords eliminated this for cost???? Come on! This really sucks since the dealer is further than my reserve gas will take me and I have to have it towed???? Total BS. I even called the BMW dealer that is close to my house and I will not even tell you what they said.

Want to find out if anyone has encountered this and has a work around or ingenious way to get this thing open without destroying it.

Love my Mini, but this could be a major point for not buying another one. Stupid reason for sure, but the dufus that designed or built my model without a cap release (or designed this without any robustness) SUCKS!!

 

There is an emergency cable.
Look for a Lime Green button attached to a nylon cable of the same color.

 

Thanks for the information on the cable release. It is not there. I dis-assembled the entire passenger side boot area thinking it was hidden under the sound proofing mat. No luck. I did however see where it should be and was able to get the fuel flap open. The actuator appear to be faulty. It will only retract partially not allowing the pin that lock the flap closed to fully retract.

Have an appointment this afternoon to get it looked at. I am sure this part needs to be ordered (typical). I am going to ask if they can also install this release cable since I am sure this may happen again. Not a good design.