one of the great things about the MINI is the almost endless list of small, irritating things that can go wrong. i've experienced a few (boot latch replaced 3 times, driver's side window won't lower---which a fellow poster solved for me: a smart blow to the lower part of the door just next to the speaker, which apparently wakes up the motor---etc), but not for awhile, and i'm proud to report that something has just cropped up that i haven't seen mentioned before (i just did a search), as follows: my key won't fit in the driver's side door. the remote locks and unlocks just fine, and to be honest, i only insert the key in the lock to roll up the windows and close the sunroof, which, when i went to do this a few minutes ago, uncovered this little problem. it looks like a piece of metal inside the lock has slid partially closed, and won't permit me to insert the key. inserting a flat head screwdriver to try to push it back doesn't work either. anyone ever experience this? any ideas? i hate to go to the time and trouble of a trip to the dealer over something this minor and wierd.

thanks in advance,

parzifal

 

same thing happened to me a couple of weeks ago... like a little sliding door was partially blocking my key from going in.... I squirted some powdered-graphite lock lubiricant into the key hole (from outside the car), wiggled a small flat-head screwdriver around the partially-opened keyhole, repeated, repeated, and eventually the little piece of metal that was partially blocking the keyhole disappeared somewhere inside the lock/latch/door.

I can now fully insert the key and lock/unlock the door with the key. The keyhole no longer has that little metal "door" that will close when the key is removed and I'm likely to have some trouble when rain or dirt gets too much into the interior of that lock assembly, but for now it works.