Has anyone else experienced a frozen door that, once opened, refreezes while you are driving? I have been trapped in my MINI more than once because of this (go ahead, get the laughing out of the way now). Parking with the engine running and heat on will eventually free the door, which inevitably then refreezes. I have tried to figure out where the door is freezing to make sure I clear away ice and moisture, but cannon locate the culprit.

Any thoughts or solutions?

Dave

 

yes it seems to be a common issue...
BMW sells a specific lubricant for the door seals... its called Gummi-Pflege

http://www.z3bimmer.com/OffTopic/E24Bimmer/Gummi/

Gummi-Pflege (82 149 407 015)
which translates roughly to "rubber maintenance" - is BMW's solution for exactly this issue.

 

I can think of worse places to be stuck..."Hello boss..ummmm...I have to drive my Mini around all day because I am stuck in it." LOL

 

The door seals are freezing to the body, just use some ArmorAll or 303 Protectant on the rubber seals.

 

Freezing door handles were fairly common on the early cars...
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=20366

 

yea I have had that happen. I was looked at weird crawling out the passengers door. I thought I broke the latch in the handle the part you squeeze into the handle cause it wouldn't come back out.

Sofar both cars I have owned were bad at freezing in the winter. Both my Mini and my e30 does the same thing...

 

There is a tsb out to fix those frozen door handles.

 

When I was much younger I could tolerate snow, salt and maybe even
frozen doors (as I did when doing graduate work at Penn State). But now, old and wiser, I wouldn't think of subjecting any of my cars to such abuse. Move south, my friend!

 

yeah i need to start doing that... hate snow, hate slush, and hate the fact my dark silver turns into streaky white every few days!

i had that happen a few times now too... thankfully i have a garage and the only time it'd happen is usually when i go out to wash my car at below zero (did that over last weekend, at -13!)

 

This would be the preferred solution, believe me! But I will try treating the rubber seal for now. It looks like I'll have another chance to test it out soon...more freeze-thaw predicted here later this weekend

 

I hold a rag up to the handle and spray WD40 into the handle and lock. Haven't been frooze yet, and we had 1" of icy junk this week. I also keep the weatherstripping rubbed with talc powder, repels moisture.

 

mine was doing this a couple of years ago and the dealer had to change the handles . there was a write up / recall on them . unadvertised of coarse .

 

if all else fails this is what I do. sometimes if ur trying to get in ur car, just give the handle a couple nice solids taps with the palm of your hand, and the handle should pop out. if ur stuck from the inside, have a bottle of water at hand at all times open the window, pour the water on the handle and then do the solid taps, works for me.

 

I would spray the door seals with WD-40, as it expels moisture, then treat with a good rubber protectant.

Mark

 

As posted above......just go to the dealer and have the handles replaced under a TSB. No need to carry things around to fix it.

 

lol very true. but unfortunately it's my solution as I'm out of warranty.

 

Warranty doesn't matter with a TSB service. It is basically fixing a manufacturing defect.

 

Not true. I tried 3 times at good dealerships that would definitely do the work for free if there was a way to. And they couldn't.

The TSB says something like "covered under warranty" which seems to mean that if you are no longer under warranty, you are not covered.

Of course, I'm sure some people have managed to get it covered out of warranty... but don't expect it to happen.

 

The bowden cable inside the door freezes. I have a 2003 Cooper S and am seven months pregnant. It was snowy weather - cleaned off the car and got in to go to work. Tried to go to the store after work and both door handles were frozen shut. NO WAY OUT OF THE CAR. My husband had to pull me and my pregnant belly out of the driver's window. Talked to many dealerships (my car is out of warranty) and the TSB doesn't mean anything to them. Complained to miniusa and doesn't mean anything to them either. We love our cooper, but this problem is scary? My two and four year old drive with me too, what if I need to escape in case of an accident or emergency and can't?? Left wondering... Miniusa needs to issue a recall - not just a TSB. I guess it will take someone getting hurt or even worse. I have four more months of winter to go...

 

Do you know if the door handle button is stuck in? Because if that's the problem, next time just open the window and give it a couple solid taps and the lever should pop out. If that doesn't work pour water on it and then tap it. All else fails, have heat packs in your car and slap it on the door handle.

 

Hearing about this just really chaps my !$$. Just thought I'd add my own experience here.

I had the same problem happen multiple times the first winter I had my car (bought used, but still had warranty).

MINI USA elected to ship my car to the nearest dealer (NW MINI in Washington) because they thought it was a hazard. Since it was going to a dealer, I decided to schedule it in for some other warranty work, and some paid maintenance services done at this time too (no MINI dealer in Alaska).

Later, I get a phone call from MINI USA saying that the door handle freezing problem was 'normal'. Despite sending them a copy of the TSB - they refused to put new handles on the car, saying first, that the TSB "does not exist". Many phone calls later, they claimed that the procedures in the TSB were found not to work anyway - hence it being removed from their system.

Despite numerous phone calls to MINI USA managers, I could never get that TSB performed on my car. To add insult to injury, they decided to stick me with the bill for shipping the car back to me - despite the original agreement that roadside would pay for shipment both ways. I eventually got them to reimburse $700 of the $2,035.50 cost to ship it back, but that alone was like pulling teeth.

In all fairness, the dealer did a TON of warranty work (the quality of which is yet another story). But still, with all the work they did - what's a couple of door handles?

From start to finish, I was without my car for 3 months! As much as I absolutely love these cars, my whole experience with MINI USA has left a bitter taste in my mouth. They could have kept me happy as a clam, had they pulled through on their initial promises.

 

I forgot to mention - sometimes when the car locks me in, I'll roll down the window (if I'm lucky), and give the chrome door handle a good couple of thumps. Sometimes that's enough to free whatever has gotten stuck.

It sure is embarrassing to have to crawl out the windows ala Dukes of Hazzard, or even worse - pull the rear seat cushion up, pull the emergency hatch release, and come out the back.

I've had plenty of cars where the weatherstripping would get frozen, and a couple of instances where the latch got stuck - preventing the door from fastening shut AFTER I have gotten out of the car.

But to get stuck *IN* a car because the inability of the latch to operate at all?

 

SO SORRY ABOUT YOUR INCIDENT, INDIMINI - THAT REALLY MUST BE FRUSTRATING. MY HUSBAND AND I LOVE OUR MINI, TOO. I'LL DEFINITELY TRY THE SUGGESTIONS FROM THE RESPONSES. MY DOOR HANDLE DOES NOT GET STUCK - THE BOWDEN CABLE ON THE INSIDE FREEZES AND DOESN'T LET THE DOOR UNLATCH. I WOULDN'T MIND, NORMALLY - BUT IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY OR ACCIDENT?? ESPECIALLY BEING PREGNANT AND HAVING MY TWO AND FOUR YEAR OLD GIRLS WITH ME SOMETIMES. I'LL FIGURE OUT SOMETHING. SEEMS LIKE A SAFETY ISSUE, NOT AN INCONVENIENCE ISSUE...

 

The cables inside the door can freeze, but what is more likely happening is snow/ice is building up behind the lever in the outside door handles. When this happens the internals in the door can not cycle, in other words, the internals must completely latch-unlatch-latch, before it will unlatch again.

First thing to do, make sure you wipe any snow off the handle before opening the door, because if it gets in behind the lever, it will build-up and prevent the internals from completely cycling. If you do get a build of snow/ice in there, take an awl, small slotted screwdriver, small pointy thing, and pull on the lever, and pick the ice out from behind the lever.

My 03 MC had this issue, back in the winter of 03-04, the dealer installed 04 handles, and I have never had an issue since.

If your dealer won't fix-it for free, and you need a cheap fix, make a "boot", get some clear rubber tubing about a inch in diameter, 2-3 inches long, cut a slit in it length wise, and put it over your door handles.

Mark

 

THANKS FOR THAT HELPFUL INFO, MARK. I JUST GOT OFF THE PHONE WITH MINIUSA TRYING TO RESOLVE THE ISSUE AND HAVE THE HANDLES REPLACED. IF ALL ELSE FAILS, THAT'S A GOOD PIECE OF ADVICE. BY THE WAY - IT'S GOOD TO KNOW THAT SINCE YOUR HANDLES HAVE BEEN REPLACED, YOU HAVEN'T HAD ANY PROBLEMS. DEFINITELY REASSURING NEWS!! JILL