MINI COOPER FORUM

Hey all, wondering if anyone has some insight on this issue....

Purchase MINI Cooper S a few weeks back, 2004. Drivers' window did not work. I brought it in to MINI/BMW and they told me it was the motor and it would be $320 to repair.

So I get back in my MINI and leave dealership without the repair and to my amazement, the window rolls up and down with NO ISSUES!!

Now it's dead again..... Worked for about ten days.....

What the hell? I know they hooked up the car to OBD port but no repairs were made due to the cost.

Can it be the motor still, even though it worked intermittently??

Signed,
Confused!

 

what kind of sounds are you hearing when it does work? And when it doesnt?

If there is a grinding/rubbing noise, it's the wires loomed on a spool that runs the track.
If you don't hear a noise at all when it is working then it points out to an electrical issue.

When it doesn't work and there is no noise at all it points to the electrical issue again.

My best bet would be to order the part yourself for around 100$ and skip the stealership

 

I agree. Electrical. But is it the motor that needs replacing? Or something else?? Maybe the switch???

When it's not working, it's silent.... When it was working, there aren't any weird noises at all, it sounds just like the passenger window. Thanks for help!

 

These window motors have a well documented habit of getting stuck. Seems that the motor brushes wear and the dust causes them to lose electrical contact at times. This may get worse over time, but is generally intermittent. Do a search here and you'll get lots of info. You can usually get the window working again by slamming the inner door panel with your fist a few times pretty hard up front above the main speaker while at the same time holding the window switch in the down position. The motor is behind that area, and the vibration usually gets it going again. I've been doing that for 3-4 years now, and it always works again for 3-6 months after a good smack.

 

Yes -- That's called the "Fonzie"method. I did this on my '04 for a few years before I sold it. It worked every time.

 

Holy crap, it worked! Thanks guys!

I also have a passenger lock issue. I'll post about it tomorrow if I can't find anything in search. Thanks again!

 

It works.

 

It's crazy I was having issues w my passenger window, screatching and stopping. Two fonzi whacks and it works. That's crazy.

 

Same issue with both the Minis I have had. On the 2nd one the previous owner showed me the "smack" trick, but since it was on the drivers side and I need to roll the window down everyday to get onto base, I didn't want to worry about it.


The passengers side window had been doing the same thing, but the previous owner had it fixed about a year before I bought it, with an OEM motor. Well, now it's messing up as well.


After some research on just HOW common this is, I looked at Way Motor Work's site. He actually sells an aftermarket window motor (or whatever the main issue is) that supposedly ACTUALLY fixes this issue. I'll be getting one soon.

 

The only other time I had to do this was around five years ago. I'll take my chances with that kind of longevity.