I noticed today that when I open the door in my 2005 Mini, the window immediately drops about 1/2". When I close it, the window moves UP about 1/2 inch. I assume that this is to either clear the drip rail or insure that the window seals correctly. Now the question. If my battery dies, or is disconnected to do electrical work, will the absence of power cause problems with the windows? If I have a Yakima rack on there, is the window going to hit the Q-clip if it does not drop? This just seems like a bizarre way to handle the door closing - do they all do that?

 

Yes all MINI's do that. Just roll down your windows before disconnecting the battery. If the battery dies then just be careful.

 

I believe all BMW's do that too.

Godspeed.

 

Yes they all do it.And getting in with a dead battery would be a pain,but once I did not roll the window all the way up looked like it was but was not quite closed,the jump does not happen if the window is not closed all the way,but I was still able to open the door,did not figure out that the window was slightly down and the door closed but the window was outside the molding/weatherstriping,rolled the window down so not so much pressure was on it,was some what upset by this,two weeks old and this is happening
But I rolled the window up,opened the door,fixed:smile:
Has not been a problem since,even in freezing rain,wet snow that freezes to the windows,and at less than -40.
But I don't really like that the windows have to do this.But the seal when the windows are up is very good IMO.

 

Speaking of haunted windows. Has any one had this happen- with the car locked and windows up- while walking up to the car I press the open button on the key fob, drivers door unlocks then I notice that both windows are rolled down about 2 inches. The first time this happened I thought I had forgot to close the drivers window but since I was alone in the car and I didn’t have the passenger window open I knew something was up. The next time it happened I saw that the windows were down again a couple if inches and I’m sure that I didn’t leave them open. Since I didn’t notice if they went down when I pressed the door unlock button I can‘t say if they opened on their own or as a result of me opening the car, I assume they did. I didn’t have any of optional features like all doors unlock windows open with a single button press or anything like that programmed when I got the car.

As long as this only happens once in a blue moon (and it has only happened twice) I’ll write it off to a quirk of a computerized car with a eccentric British quirk. I’m also hoping to confirm that they are opening as a result of me pressing the door unlock button and they aren’t doing it on their own when the car is locked, that would be very bad. I can just imaging that it would happen one night during a rain storm and I would have a very water logged car.

 

You're holding your unlock button too long... if you hold it... all windows will go down and sunroof will open :smile:

 

As I said I didn't have any of these options programed. But just to conifrm I can keep the button pressed for a long time and the windows do not open at all and I do not have a sun roof.

 

So, when you hold it down, it goes down about 2 inches, but not any further?

 

What I'm saying is that the windows seem to open by themselves with out me wanting them to do so. I do not have the auto windows open option programmed and do not want them to open by pressing the key fob. I can not reproduce this at will, have just noticed this strange behavior twice now.

 

Since the MINI's front doors are frameless, the glass has the added duty to keep a tight seal when the windows are all the way up and this is the reason why the windows automatically drop and raise 1/4 of an inch each and every single time the doors are opened or closed.

This system is the best solution to date in the sutomotive industry to ensure "vacuum" tight seal of the windows on vehicles with frameless doors.

Mercedes Benz, Lexus, Cadillac, BMW and many others are using the same exact "1/4 inch automatic window drop" on their vehicles with frameless doors.

Be proud. Our MINIS have nifty features found on vehicles costing twice as much.

 

If you live in a cold climate, you'll get to experience the windows intermittently failing to drop upon opening the doors. Always watch the window when opening either door. When it fails to drop, it will catch on the car and then the window will snap free when it clears the rain gutter.

 

People, people, pay attention!

The automatic 1/4" of an inch window drop and raise when the doors are opened or closed is PERFECTLY NORMAL!!!

If your front glass does not automatically drop or raise when the front doors are opened or closed, YOU HAVE A PROBLEM!

There is a BIG difference between glass that drops 1/4" of an inch and windows that suddenly open or close ALL THE WAY with no apparent action in part of the vehicle occupants.

 

Exactaly. The 1/4" open and close is a part of the design, and a good one at that so these are not the Hunted Windows issues I am speaking of.

 

I live in probably the coldest climate of North America where MINIs motor about,coldest on the outside temp guage was -47C,or -40 alot in F,no problems with the windows.Even with heavy wet snow freezing to the car,the windows have worked.Except for the one time I did not roll the windows all the way up,no problems.Try it,they won't drop if not ALL the way up.But the switch kind of clicks when the window is up and you hold the toggle,I can FEEL it on my finger tip,then I know it's rolled up all the way.