This is kind of funny except for my son who bore the brunt of this learning episode.

I picked my son up from Tae Kwan Do and headed to my daughter's softball game. We brought along a change of clothes for him so he wouldn't have to wear his gi (uniform) amongst the baseball crowd. He was to change in the car and to meet me up at the field. I have pretty dark tint and the sun was down so nobody would be able to see him in the car.
This is where it gets interesting. When he got in and shut the door, I locked it using the remote on my key. I told him to be sure and lock it with the toggle when he got out. So I went and sat down for about 20 minutes when I heard two people behind me talking. They mentioned my name so I turned around and they told me my son was in my car. I said he was supposed to be changing. Well as it turns out he couldn't get out!!

Maybe the MINI would make a good police car after all!

_________________

 

It's on page 25 of the 2002 manual - the page with the heading "OPENING AND CLOSING - FROM THE OUTSIDE" It probably wouldn't jump out at you unless you were to actually be READING the manual.

Glad you had an easy learning experience!

_________________
"The dude minds! This aggression will not stand, man."

 

yep it's there...but I can't fathom why this feature exists...and yes, I read the manual but honestly skimmed over how to lock and unlock doors...my motoring adviser showed me the process. I have the remote "all open" program, too, and love it. Guess I will actually have to read all of the manual...

reminds me of a Calvin and Hobbes panel where Calvin is putting a model airplane together albeit only a slight resemblence to an airplane...Hobbes looks at the model, looks at the directions and then asks Calvin if he read them. Calvin answers, "Do I look like a sissy?!"

 

I agree, I can't think of a single reason (good or bad) for this feature to exist. Well, I guess a bad one would be so that you could lock kids or pets in the car while you shop or go tanning.

 

I gather it exists so that someone breaking into your car can't unlock the doors.

 

Just a reminder on MINI boot jail.

A week ago I closed my boot and drove off my MINI.
When I wanted to remove my things from the boot the hatch would not open.
I could not unlock the hatch at all from inside the car using the toggle switch with the doors open nor with the remote.
The lock for the hatch had malfunctioned and it made a loud buzzing noise when I did get it open and pushed on the release button.

To open the locked hatch go to the rear seat bottom and remove it to find the rear hatch pull ring. This is not on every MINI as the early 2002 builds sometimes lack it.

Also my lock refused to close as well once I did get it open. I had it replaced and it seems to be OK now.

At the same time my right xenon light ignitor refused to turn on in the morning and will also be replaced.

 

>>To open the locked hatch go to the rear seat bottom and remove it to find the rear hatch pull ring. This is not on every MINI as the early 2002 builds sometimes lack it.<<

My car was built in September '02, and it lacks it. Yet another lame corner cut by MINI.

 

>>>>To open the locked hatch go to the rear seat bottom and remove it to find the rear hatch pull ring. This is not on every MINI as the early 2002 builds sometimes lack it.<<
>>
>>My car was built in September '02, and it lacks it. Yet another lame corner cut by MINI.

My MCS was built in October of 02 and has it. Go figure. I needed it too!

 

wow, that could've been very dangerous.

 

This little glitch has been fixed for '03. Pulling the door handle once unlocks the door and pulling it a second time opens it.

 

Actually, I thought this was MINI jail:

 

On a related note, you can't open the boot with the battery unconnected. I discovered this after hooking up my alta intake and trying to open the boot to reconnect. After some careful prying of the privacy shelf thing I was able fold down the seat and reconnect the battery. Funny little quirks that make our cars special.

 

My February 2003 MCS does not do this. I believe this double lock feature was disabled on 2003 and later MINI's. There is a Tech Memo indicating that the dealer can modify the lock to disable this feature. Check with your service advisor and have this dangerous feature deactivated.

 

Yup, the '03 and later builds have the double pull handles- you cannot lock yourself in. The early stories were pretty horrendous- folks stuck in the boonieis w/ dead batteries, unable to get out of their cars.