my girlfriend tried to open my passenger door today (it worked fine last night) and it wont open at all. we tried locking and unlocking numerous times and even tried from the inside and outside. when you pull the inner handle and outer handle it feels like there is nothing there...no resistance like its still locked.

any idea?

thanks!
-mike

 

Mine did that too (twice) this winter. As best as I could determine, it was caused by the outer handle mechanism being frozen. (the black part that moves within the chrome)

I believe the frozen handle would "hang up" upon release so leaving the mechanism stuck parially engaged.

Lots of wiggling of the moveable part (up/down and engage/disengage) worked for me.

 

there's a cable in the door that pops off . pull the skin and reattach it and clip it or wire it to not come off again . do a mcgiver .

 

well ill give it a shot. thanks for all of your input!!

 

has anyone done a how to on door panel removal?

 

Here's a link from the archive that might help. Check post # 3 and 24. Good luck.

 

well once again thanks for all of your advice...but the issue fixed itself. went outside today and it opened right up...must be the cold freezing the mechanism up or something.

 

thanks for the info guys, my driver door wont open from the inside OR the outside...I'll try taking apart tonight

 

I had the same problem. I think it was frozen since the car is outside all the time. After much fiddling I got the door open... locking, unlocking, bumping against the inside of the door with my shoulder. Later, I wanted to refill my washer fluid and couldn't get the bonnet open. I hope it's the same problem and not something broken. This winter has been brutal (thanks, global warming), we've got almost 2 feet of snow and the temp hasn't reached the 30's in weeks.

 

NEED HELP. my driver door wont open from the inside or the outside. i tried last night to remove the door panel but seem to get it off. i removed the screws & tried to pry the inside "circle" of the panel off but it wont come off. here's the question:
1) doesnt the "circle" part of the door panel come off seperate from the rest of the panel or is it all one piece?
2) will either one of them come off with the door closed? i cant get the door open until i pull the door panel off...
any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

My driver side door would not open from the inside and I just fixed it! It was clearly a stretch of my limited ability, but with the detailed directions from " Motor On" in the link mentioned a bit earlier, I managed to get the bowden cable back where it belongs. I had to use a compact mirror and more than a few 4 letter words, but now it works. I put a dab of silicone caulk over the little orange nipple thing at the end of the cable to hopefully keep it from popping out again.

Incidentally, the fix requires 2 hands working entirely by feel. You can see it with a flashlight and small mirror, but you can't see and work on it at the same time.

Good Luck!

 

I could use some tips on getting the door panel off with the door closed. My passenger door will not unlock (actuator went a while ago) but now it won't even unlock when pulling on the interior handle. So, it's locked and won't open from the inside or the outside.

Seems like it'll be a bear to try to remove the panel - I need to remove the passenger seat, yes? Any thoughts?

 

there are three clips up the side(s) and 4 along the bottom. use a large screw driver wrapped in maskingto get next to the clips nd twist the screwdriver. POP! x 7

 

2002 Mini Cooper S..

My passenger door opens from the inside when you pull the handle twice, but not from the outside with my key fob. When unlocking the door remotely, only the driver side's lock pops up, while the passenger side stays in the down position. If it is in the up position, my key fob is able to lock it again. I opened the door up and the cable looks fine, is there another cable? Do I need a new actuator?

Thanks!

 

Thevastdifference,
My '04 MCS has the exact same problem. Did you ever get it fixed and what was the cause.