This morning a friend told me that he had a problem with his 2005 mcs. He was able to get in the car, but when he got to work the drivers door would not open from inside. He had to go out the passenger door. I read that numerous people have had this problem with the door mechanism being frozen. Since it was wet and cold last night, I told him that the door mechanism had probably been frozen. Can anyone tell me if this has been corrected with newer builds? His car was built around October 2004. Is there any recall for this situation? Thanks, Chris

 

November build, winter in New England, no problems with frozen doors here.

 

Jan '05 build ... door handle froze and had to get in through passenger side.

 

I didn't opt for that option! I like the unfrozen doors!

 

According to Motoringfile, MINI updated the door handles to fix the freezing problem as of 4/04 build cars. I guess it wasn't entirely successfull.

http://www.motoringfile.com/2005/02/...g_door_handles

 

My dealer just put 05 handles on my 03.The problem was snow and ice getting stuck in the handle were it sits when released.After I learned to clean out the snow,my 03 handles were never a problem,but before my tech. showed me what to do it was a real pain.
Hope these new handles are better,but I plan on cleaning the snow out anyway,only takes a few seconds to do.

 

My friends car is an Oct 04 build. He called the dealer and has an appointment for Friday. Wonder what they will do. The car is an 05, so already has 05 handles and still froze?? Once again, he was able to get in his mcs but just couldn't get out Kind of odd, You would think that if he was able to get in from outside the door would open once inside? I guess the mechanism which opens the door from outside is different from the one which opens the door via the inside handle?

 

If the outside handle can not fully return to the resting position,because of snow/ice,the door can not recycle to the "ready to open" part of the cycle.
Some cars have icing problems with the cables inside the doors.This is fixed by relubing and sealing the cable ends.

 

I guess this is the fix my friend will get on Friday; However, this still doesn't answer the question as to why this problem continues to happen. A service bulletin was issued in April 04, yet 2005 cars still have the same problem. This service bulletin was obviosly not the answer. It seems that just cold weather is not the cause. I think it is a combination of wet weather, then when temperature drops overnight, the water that somehow got into the cables or mechanism freezes and then the problem occurs.

 

Picked up MINI in December. Two -40 cold snaps, one freaky mid-winter rain and a few car washes @ 20 degrees. Absolutely no problems

 

First two winters with my '02......no problems. This year during a 10" snow I was first locked out.....then locked in. Luckily, when the latter happened in my own driveway I had my cell phone. Called my wife who came out and opened the hatch allowing me to climb out. They lubricated the handles and new ones are on order.

 

I thought the issue (or at least one issue) was the window freezing in the up position. I found my self trapped in OK when I stopped for a photo op. I had gotten in fine, but during the (~1hr?) trip in clear weather it froze. I had to climb out the passenger side (and explain to the nice OK State Trooper who showed up why I was stumbling out of my passenger door.)

Things thawed out further down the road (when I got stopped by the TX policeman for an 'obstructed license plate) so fortunately I was able to open my window and door so he could search the car for drugs.

 

i almost had a panic attack this morning! yesterday (up in maine) we had a freaky rainstorm then last night it dropped twenty degrees and became a blizzard! this morning it took me a few minutes to pry the door open, then when i got to school i was locked in... i got the window open and tried to open the door from the outside but no luck. fortunately for me i managed to kick the passenger door open... i'm glad i didn't get that one stuck too or i'd look pretty silly trying to climb out the window.
from all of your experiences, when the ice in the doors thaws should the door handle mechanisms go back to normal or is this now going to be a consistent problem?
i'm not going to be able to get to a dealer for a week or two and would rather not have to climb out the windows! if this just happens during freezes though i can deal.

thanks!
christina.

 

any special way we're talking about or just getting the snow / ice off the handles?

 

bump

 

The feeling of panic and disbelief is incredible the moment you realize you're doors won't open from the inside and the windows won't work either. Finding that you don't have your cell phone to call for help is the only thing that could make it worse. Fortunately, I had my phone the time it happened to me.

 

You have to get the snow/ice out of where the black lever seats in the released position.hold the lever in the open position and brush the snow out with a snow brush.If it is packed in there,use a small pointy thing,like a small slot screwdriver to pick it out.

 

Mine is May '04 (new door handles) and has been coated with ice several times after rain has frozen, stood temps of 20 below, and had blowing snow fill up the door cracks, but not once have I been unable to open the doors. I believe the fix is in the new handles. Go get some.

Herby, if you are stuck inside, you can always use the mechanical boot release under the rear seat and hop out the back.

 

and no problems in So. Maine, but then again I keep her in a garage.

 

Thanks for the heads up, jwardell.........didn't know there was a hatch release under the rear seat. Are you sure there's one in the '02's? Where should I look in the Owner's Manual? I can't find a reference.

 

I believe so. Just grab the front of the back seat and give it a yank upwards, it should pop off easily.