Ok I think it was about time I tried to figure out what in gods name is wrong with the hatch on my R53. I got rear ended about a year and a half ago now and it wasn't too bad, it was only at about 8 mph, but clearly it did more damage than I thought. I got it all fixed and got the car back roughly a week later, when I got it back I was just driving along having a great time in my Mini and then this *THUNK* noise came from the back hatch. I looked at my speedometer and noticed the hatch open light had come on. I got out, closed it, moved on. Not even 10 minutes later, it happened AGAIN. I took it back up to where I got it fixed and informed them of the problem, they said they would take care of it. Got it back, it worked fine. A couple days later (after we had a slight rain) It popped open AGAIN. I was starting to get annoyed because I know for a fact when they fixed it, they fixed it. Because it worked when they gave it back to me, it's just when it would rain it wouldn't shut. I ordered a new hatch lock thinking that was the problem, replaced it, worked even worse than the original. At this point I was pretty ticked off. I took the hatch handle off and tried to look at all the wiring inside the handle and everything seemed alright... But maybe I was wrong. I'm thinking maybe the wiring is getting wet..? Something other than the lock because that definitely isn't the problem... I have had my hatch strapped shut with a load strap for almost a year now and I think it is time to figure out what's wrong with it. I would like to be able to use my second back seat.... So if anyone has any ideas as to what it could be, I would LOVE the help.

 

Since it the issue coincided with getting rear ended why didn't you let the body shop continute to try to fix it??
could be an adjustment issue with it being too tight or bent, and never really getting latched.....
Other than playing around with the little rubber bumpers on the hatch that adjust how tightly it closes, i would guess something is,bent out of wack....

 

I agree with Zippy. It does not take much of a body flex to get the hatch out of alignment.

If you are set on troubleshooting yourself and you are thinking it is water related, I suggest closing the hatch and spraying the rear with water to see if you can get it to open. Spray from back and underneath.

 

I took it back to them twice and they took days on end to fix it and so I gave up and tried to figure it out. So I think I may be making a trip back up there to see if they can do anything about it to see if it is bent or anything.

 

+1 with ZippyNH And good luck nathanrw, that must be annoying!! To say the least...

 

Yeah it's a little irritating....