When I first heard of the design where the window drops down before opening the door I thought ... cool. Then I thought ... hey, what if the window is frozen and can't drop down?

Well I've found that you can still open the door (obviously). Has anyone had this and developed a problem from it. First I think of the motor trying to drop the window and it can't (strain on the motor and/or on the connection to the window). Then I think of pulling the door open and having the rubber flex in a way it shouldn't. Maybe it isn't a big deal, but it has already happened to me many times in the morning and there is still a lot of winter left.

I guess there is nothing that can be done about it, I just want to know if this is a known design problem that I should watch out for in the long run.

 

good ?

 

Good question. If you have washed the car or it rained, and then got cold, there is no way the window will lower. I know this living up in New England a few winters and having doors and windows stuck on at least half a dozen different cars.
No problem yet since we haven't seen real cold weather since we have had Nell, but physics will take over having nothing to do with the car.
Can't wait to see the answers to your question.

 

i'd say hit it, or use a hair dryer

 

We've had rain freeze overnight but haven't encountered this yet. This is my second winter with the '05.

 

Questions on the frozen glass. Is it frozen to the top that keeps it from opening or is it frozen on the sides or bottom? I would think if washing was the problem then drying the rubber gaskets on top and sides might help. How about putting silicone on the gaskets to keep the window from freezing to it. Any tricks of the trade here?

 

Well, the first (of two) times that BOTH of my window motors failed was in the spring. Was living in CT at the time, lots of days with frozen windows...

 

I've had my windows freeze shut. It was a really rainy day in the 50s, then it dropped to 20 overnight.

I doubt you have to worry about the motor getting fried because it is activated for such a short period of time for that small 1/4 inch. Now if you held on the down switch for awhile, that'd probably mess some things up, but since the time is so short I doubt it could even be classified as a "strain" on the motor.

 

Not a problem.

Just be careful not to slam the door shut as it will make some nasty noises as the glass hits the (hard, frozen) rubber seal.

This will be my Cooper's 5th winter in northern Vermont.

 

We did have the windows of our 04 freeze to the extent that the glass would not drop down its 1/4". The door itself would open and shut, the glass just wouldn't move up and down. I had to hold the glass inward a bit to keep the edge of the glass from hitting the door frame when I closed it. It really freaked me out. I put the car in the garage overnight and in the morning it worked fine. I wouldn't want it to happen again but it did survive one freeze-up.

 

The freezing happens on the bottom (the rubber seal on the door freezes to the glass). The last time it happened it was just from the moisture that accumulated over night (no garage). I couldn't even see anything to scrape off and didn't have to scrape any of the windows. I was surprised so little frost stopped it from going down.

The reason I was concerned with damage, is that on an old car (not a MINI) the window froze and the motor pulled so hard that it pulled away from the window leaving the window in place. So I had to take everything apart and put the window back in the channel. No fun.

 

x2 A few mornings with them frozen around here, I've found the best way to close the door, is to slowly pull it toward sthe closed position and stop about 1" shy of being closed and then with a firm pull close it the rest of the way. This minimizes the chase of the glass striking the plastic rain gutter.

Work well for when the motor fails too

 

I was wondering about frozen windows and here are some answers!

Great info. Thanks!!!!!

 

Does no one consider getting a good car cover for their Mini's? Might be just enough to keep things from freezing.

 

I'll stick with my garage for sure... Although I don't think there is much chance of the temps getting low enough down here. Yet another reason not to live where it gets really cold...

 

I put my outdoor cover on last night, no frozen windows

Today I cleaned out my garage and now she gets to be indoor/outdoor MINI