I searched other threads for window problems and ended up responding to a thread in the Clubman Forum. I figured I'd post my story here as well for more feedback. Anyone have/had this same issue?
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My '08 is at the dealer for the third time this week because of this same window problem. (driver's side)

Everything was fine since I got the car in April. The window would drop a little when opening the door then seal up when closing. Just recently, the temp here got into the teens and stayed for awhile. Since then, I noticed when the window dropped when opening my door, it made a cracking sound like it was frozen. (that same sound when you try to roll your window down in freezing temps) A day later, it stopped dropping and then if I rolled the window down and then back up, it would hit the top and then roll back down on its own. I also got the window warning light on my dash. I brought it in and they re-programed it while I waited. It was fine for a day and a half and then it did it again. I brought it in again, got a loaner and they held onto it overnight to make sure it was fixed. They said MINI gave them a new program for the car because there has been a lot of people complaining about the same thing. So they re-programed with this "updated" program from MINI......and then it happened AGAIN 2 days later!!!! I was able to rush it in Friday night before close. My advisor felt terrible and hooked me up with a pimp-*** BMW. He said they are going to do some diagnostic tests since the programming is obviously not working. They have contacted MINI to get to the bottom of this. I think I'm going to be without it for a few days but at least I have a nice ride in the meantime!!

I just researched this issue on here now, so I did not know you can do the reset thing yourself. If I had known, I would have tried it this week.

As for this window issue, I haven't had any other problems in my first 7500 miles (knock on wood!) and I'm trying to be patient with this. My advisor told me that there was another customer who came in the same day who had the same problems as me, as well as two other customers with different window problems. Apparently, all their windows, including their sunroof, would open when they turned off their car. Unfortunately, these two people didn't realize this when they left their car for the night and woke up to a rain soaked MINI the next morning!!! (although, how you don't notice your windows AND sunroof opening is beyond me)

This is obviously some glitch that MINI needs to figure out. I'm convinced it has to do with the cold weather (the dealer doesn't seem to think so but I;d bet on it) so I'm really hoping this isn't something I'm going to have to deal with 3-4 months every year!!!

 

I just had my JCW in last week for a similar problem: drivers window acting flakey. They reprogrammed the car, as I had a few other glitches. One time the iPod adapter didn't recognize my nano and the BT didn't recognize my iPhone. Another time, it forgot my DRL and turn signal settings.

Hopefully it'll all be OK now, but we'll see.

 

I have an '08 Cooper and have experienced the same trouble. Just tonight I made my second appointment with my dealer. The first occurence was in the beginning of December when we received rain followed by a freeze. Not only did the windows freeze shut (a common issue even with my last MINI, an '05 Cooper) but when I finally was able to open them my drivers' side wouldn't close all the way. The 'auto-up' feature on the drivers' side was also disabled. A quick trip to the dealer for a reprogramming solved the problem. Tonight's issue is the same. This time, however, my dealer told me they'd provide a loaner since they will be keeping my car for several days for a full reprogramming.

 

I see you're in Woodridge! You go to Bill Jacobs in Naperville? Thats where I go and they are very well aware of the issue. Mine has been fixed now and hasn't had a problem since I got it back before Christmas.

 

I had the same problem with my 08 S. Had it reprogramed, so far so good. It's important when you have ice built up on the window to make sure it is scraped off before attempting to open the window all the way. Of course if your ice scraper is in the car and your windows need scraping you may out of luck too.

 

I believe the auto-opening windows & sunroof has been attributed as the malfunction of the feature that rolls down the windows and opens the sunroof in the event that Mini drives into a lake/river. The problem seems to be (or have been, I don't know if the TSB has an actual fix) that condensation (or rain water getting in) can trigger the sensor as well. So the transition from warm car to cold car can could cause condensation on the sensor and trigger the auto-open.


As for the other, the auto-dip feature malfunctioning when the window freezes/sticks, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that it's because it's programmed to drop down if it runs into resistance (say your hand/arm/head were in the window). The stick might cause it to mis-calculate where it is when it drops to open the door, which causes it to try to go up too far when you close the door and then it runs into resistance (which causes it to 'let go' and drop back down again).

Keep in mind, that's just speculation on my part, but it sure sounds reasonable

[Edit] Oh, and I totally agree that they are problems that need fixing - hopefully Mini manages to do that before I get my 09

 

First I've heard of that!

 

Yeah, same here - but it seems like an entirely reasonable (if still unacceptable) cause for windows rolling down when something inside gets wet

I'm looking for an article specifically mentioning that now (other than something from a forum, heh). I'll edit this with the link when I find something.

 

LOL yeah right, except the window motor and all the fuses would blow if you got the car in the water. Unless they mounted the water sensor on the bottom of the car to give you a 5 second head start before the water reached the battery.

But you are correct on the second idea, the computer monitors the voltage from the lift motor to look for over-torque condition which would be cause by some thing getting trapped.

 

Yeah, the ice scraper in the car wouldn't do me much good!

A lot of times, the window freezing isn't even a matter of visible ice. If I've been in the car for a longer period of time and it warms up inside, when I turn it off and it sits outside in 15 degree temps for an hour or so, the windows make that frozen sound then too.

Cameroom- my dealer did say that the windows automatically opening is some safety feature but didn't specify what. I didn't think to ask till I was gone and thinking about what he told me.

They re-programed my windows with the new program and it still had problems so they replaced the motor with a new and improved one. So far, so good!!!

 

I haven't seen anyone's post to "excatly" what the reset method is for the windows...more sepeculation of how to do it. My window problems started with cold weather and now won't go up without bumping back down half way unless I stop it right be fore the top. I live in AK and the nearest dealer is 1500 miles and boat ride away! Help!

Thanks in advance.
AlaskanMini

 

have them change the part near the driver's side footwell - worked for me. If I remembered what it was called I'd tell you.

 

My 07 hardtop had this problem. A switch in the driver's door went out during a rainstorm. It took 4 weeks to get the part from Germany, but from what I understand this problem is popping up frequently and the parts should be more readily available now. I just went and picked it up tonight and now my driver's window has a whistle at highway speeds. I think the window might be out of alignment since they took the door apart to fix the window-gremlin problem, but whatever it is I am not looking forward to making the 25 mile trek to the dealership after just getting it back.

 

Glad to hear the Foot Well Module solved the window gremlin for one of us. Unfortunately, it did not work on my car....PW Motors, Foot well Module, reprogramming, and reinitialization are all solutions to this problem of the enchanted windows but none have worked (have not had the PW motors changed out yet.....) thus far for my Clubman, unfortunately. See "Drivers Window Dipper" thread for more details, and good luck with your fixes.

 

I should let you know that my window has failed again....it's not dropping down far enough when I open the door...so when I try to close my door the door closes with the window "outside" the car...it's resting on the weatherstrip so when I get into the car I have to lower my window and re-raise it so I don't listen to the wind noise coming in from the gap....if that makes any sense.

 

I had the same window problem. When it got cold here in MN, 23F and lower. Would go up and then come half way down. I had play with the switch to stop it just a few millimeters short of being all the way up. Took the car in for reprogramming. The next day it was fixed, and the window has been working fine for 5 days so far.

 

I have the same problem. I believe it is somehow cold-weather related too. It was about ten degrees the first time it happened to me. I used the drive-up ATM and the window rolled up and then rolled all the way back down. I had to manually stop the window to keep it up.

Dealer did a reprogramming and told me that if it happened again, they'd have to keep it for a few days to reprogram the whole car. It's been about two months and the problem is back, so it looks like I'll be with a loaner for a few days.

These repeated problems have really taken the luster off of owning a Mini Cooper for me. I bought this car brand new last summer and this will be the third trip back to the dealer for service. On the thirteenth day I owned it, I had to get towed to the dealer because the check-engine light came on and the car was sputtering. Turns out some part was defective and the car started running on three cylinders instead of all four. Loaner car. Then I had to go back for the window. Now I have to go back again for the window. Loaner car. It's embarrassing to have a brand new car and have to keep explaining to people why I have a loaner.

There's nothing else on the road that compares to the total package you get with a Mini (low cost, style, heritage, fuel-efficiency, upscale features...), but being high-maintenance goes a long way to negating all that stuff (for me). I just won't be able to keep a vehicle that needs service every quarter, particularly when the dealerships are so few and far between.

I hope they can fix this window once and for all and I can be done with gremlins for at least a couple of years and enjoy this car. I am really tired of making trips to the dealership.

 

I just got off the phone with the dealer. The window reset procedure is to press the the window switch down and hold it down as the window lowers and keep holding it down for 15 seconds after the window has gone all the way down. Then flip the switch to the up position and hold it up while the window goes up and keep holding it up for 15 seconds after the window is all the way up.

Please note that when you go from holding the switch down to holding it up, that should all be in one motion. In other words, to do this correctly you should be holding the switch down or holding it up through the entire procedure. The switch should never rest in the middle position.

I haven't tried this yet. I literally just hung up with the service guy (who said he was well aware of the window issue). I'll post back to say if it works or not. I asked him if this was a permanent fix or if this would just be temporary (like when they did whatever they did to fix it a couple of months ago). He basically hedged and said that if it does happen again, they'll have to keep the car a few days.

I suspect if this does fix the problem, it probably isn't a permanent fix. It is good to know how to reset the window though so I can at least delay getting the permanent fix until I have to go in for scheduled maintenance.

 

It didn't work. I'm waiting for a call-back to set up an appointment. (sigh of exasperation)

 

mine has just been reprogrammed for the same fault it did not work so the dealer has sent in a puma request i'm still waiting for the outcome

 

Hmm mine had to be kept at the dealer overnight to fix this problem. And it hasn't returned since. It's been about a month.

Though I must say that I don't mind getting a loner car, last two times it was a BMW 328xi.

 

Yup, got it last week. Took it to the dealer last Saturday, and the SO says the tech did the following:
"Went in through GT-1 and de-normalized and re-normalized windows".
If so, this is not something you'd be able to do on your own - unless you had the GT-1 diagnostic computer [I believe that's what the GT-1 is].

Anyway, my window problem is gone for now. HOWEVER, the SA was honest and told me this is a temporary fix only, that MINIUSA is working on a permanent fix.

We shall see!

 

On the first day of owning the car, when I noticed how the windows worked when you get in and out, I wondered to myself if that was going to be a problem over the life of the car. I just didn't like how it worked. It seemed like something that had a good chance to fail over time and it's done exactly that, except it took no time at all.

 

Just had the response from my dealer BMW say it needs a software update so its booked in for mon 23rd i will let you guys know if this has worked

 

For those of you getting a software update, who also have the Bluetooth option, be sure to check that your phone still works before you leave the dealership. On my first "update" visit, I didn't think about doing this, and realized later my car and my phone were no longer talking to each other. Went back, and they told me they "updated the update", which could be legit, or the tech could have installed the wrong version of the update the first time...

My window is still working properly, fifteen days out.