The MINI has a variation of the old VW door handle wherein you need to pull with your finger tips behind the handle. This was one of two disappointments I encountered upon meeting my MINI in the flesh (metal).
I sure had come to appreciate the commonly found pull-the-whole-handle out method found everywhere else. When guests open their passenger door, a common comment is "It's locked"... and I have to describe how to reach around and pull with the finger tips.
Well, all this comes to a real issue now that we Michiganders are driving in the snow and cold. I approached my car with cold hands yesterday, and could not get the handle to release. I need to explain that I have some nerve damage in my hands and that cold weather further degrades their function. I had to crawl in the barn doors, and up through the back seat!
Of course, then I had this entire snowy parking lot to myself and had a blast exploring the Mini's snow handling!
BTW, the other disappointment upon meeting MINI was that the hood landscape was obscured by the narrowest of margins- the wiper blade. I like to see the hood, to look down over its graceful curves as I drive, and was hoping that the MINI was thus designed. Well, I almost fixed that by raising my seat high, and lifting the wiper blade's low point just enough to reveal the hood to my view.
So I fixed the view issue. Any ideas on where to go on the doors?

 

I completely agree with you on the door handles. Not a problem for me (so far ) , but my 83 yr. old mother has arthritis in her fingers and absolutely cannot squeeze the handle. I now automatically go to the passenger side and open the door for her first (not a bad thing to exercise a little additional respect when I actually think about it ), but MINI should come up with a better desgin making it easier for everyone, including those with various special needs.

 

Agree the door handles are sub-optimal for those of us with compromised grips.

As to the view - I like my seat raised too, but then the rear view mirror creates a huge blind spot. A diving right turn is almost completely blind, taking a lot of fun (and safety) out of twisties. Lowering my seat lets me see further ahead to the right-front.

 

Another issue, which I'm sure any snowbound drive will eventually experience, is that they can get ice build up on the inside of the handle. Since they're slightly exposed and catch a bunch of snow on top of them, it's common to find that ice has accumulated on the pull mechanism essentially locking the handle. You're forced to chip away at the ice.

If this is an issue that happens to you a lot. It wouldn't be that hard to have a company wire up your driver's door to pop open with the push of a button on your key fob....much like the pop feature on the trunk. Just thought that might help so that you're not crawling in the back of the car all winter.

 

Maybe we're overlooking that you don't have to grip the handle, but can also "lean" on it. With my old 2003 MCS (The 02-03s had a horrendous handle design that froze all the time...be glad your Clubmans have a significantly improved design) I would wrap both sets of fingers over the inside "button" (one set from under the handle and one above) and just lean back and with very little strain open the door.

 

If you think the MINI's door handles are hard to use, my '00 Intrepid's handles were also a menace. What I didn't get was that they had to be pulled up at an amazingly steep angle, almost 70-80 degrees! Other cars needed a far shorter angle to open the door. Odder: the rear door handles on the Intrepid opened at a lower angle than the front! Several times, I cracked my nails because I lost my grip on the flipper. Wearing gloves only made it harder. I had to take them off. So far, I've never had a problem with the MINI's door handles. I still think they might have been better with the oversize trigger type handle found on late 80s Volvo 740s. They were very easy for me to open, even when I was little, I didn't have trouble with it.

 

I'm used to the 'pull-trigger' handles...and mine are particularly easy, I can open with just my index finger. I guess I'd recommend....gloves. Caveat: My Clubbie will rarely see below 45 degrees.

 

On reflection (and having just gotten into and out of my car) - I don't really have to squeeze after all; I can just make a hook with my hand and pull directly outward. Neither the natural squeezing motion nor the 'hook' gives the sensation of ease and quality I'd hope for, but for those days when I feel particularly feeble it's nice to know I can still get into my car!

 

I think the design of the door handles is wonderful. They look great, and when you pull on them, your not pulling on any kind of mechanism, as the lever is inside the handle. That said, there were some real issues with the early 1st gen(02-03) handles. Snow/ice would build-up inside the handle, where the lever seated. When this happened it prevented the door/latching to properly cycle, as in, open-close, open-close. What would happen is you would open the latch, snow would get in behind the lever, and it would not return all the way to the close part of the cycle, so it would not open, as the cycle was not complete.

The fix for this was stronger internal springs, that can compress the snow so the cycle can complete. This happened in 04, and was the first "mod" for my 03 MC.

The design is still not perfect, but you can do a few things that help. First, brush snow off the handles before you try to open the door, as this will help snow from getting in behind the lever. You can use your hand to do this, just give the handle a wipe before you pull on the lever.

If snow/ice does build-up behind the lever, just use a small screwdriver/picking tool, to dig out any build-up inside the lever.

Mark

 

I'm wondering, how do all of you touch the door handle? I ran out to my car and grabbed the handle without thinking. Then, I looked and realized that I use the tips of my fingers and pull on the handle. I don't wrap my hand around the handle and squeeze on it. Is this what everyone is doing?

 

Beasleyboy - That's exactly what I do - it's seems that I don't touch the chrome.

One thing to watch for - don't rest your right hand on the car body when closing the drivers door with your left. I did that about a year ago with my wife's Cooper and closed the door on the tip of my right thumb. Very STUPID and very painful. I think that it's more likely to happen with a Mini because of the shape of the door - it flares toward the rear wheel well more than other cars....at least that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!!!

 

Yup I do what you do, pull on the lever with my finger tips, no squeezing.

Mark

 

OW OW OW!! I've accidentally smashed my thumb with a car door too a long time ago. I never forgot the pain! Let's just say four Advils still didn't help a bit!