Had a wonderful thanksgiving at my mothers house. Ate lots of food and watched tv afterward. Grabbed a plate of left overs and dropped it off at my house before heading out to my grandmas. Had some pumpkin and apple pie for dessert, watched the Saints stomp the Cowboys, and talked for a while. Get my coat, walk out the door, unlock my Mini, go to squeeze the handle to get in, and ... nothing. The handle will not squeeze. Try the passenger door. Nothing. Im assuming they are frozen being that it just snowed/iced for the first time this year and the first time since I've had my Mini. I had to climb in through the hatch. I came home and did some googling but I cannot find a definite answer. Will this get fixed for free? I dont have $400-$500 to spend being this close to christmas. Especially on door handles on my car. I should not have to worry about getting locked out of my car when I have the keys in my hand!

Anyone have a definite answer for me? Anyone in the STL area able to help me out/hook me up?

 

I had something similar last year in cold weather. The microswitch in the handle freezes.
The solution I found was to warm up the handle. This involved standing with no glove on holding the handle tightly (not pulling the switch) until the switch warmed up. Then da da it opened.

Hope that works.

 

That isnt a solution. I shouldnt have to stand outside my car for 5 minutes with no glove on warming up the door handle just to get in...

 

yeah that shouldnt be happening at all! call the dealer and let them know.

 

That's what you get for trash talking the Cowboys! And they didn't get stomped.

 

Well Wookie, since you didn't give us any info about your car, it's impossible for anyone to know if it's in warranty etc, so we can't give you much advice on whether the dealer will fix it or what it will cost.

However, the MINI is not the first or even only car to have it's door handles freeze on a cold wet wintery day, so don't feel like the lone ranger there....

You were given a good suggestion for the odd time that this might happen to you, don't berate those trying to help you. No, you shouldn't have to do this every day in the winter - but it might happen in just the right circumstances, that's all we're trying to say. My '03 did this once or twice, as the other poster noted all it took was to warm the handle slightly to get it to open. In really bad conditions you can pour some hot water over it too....

 

If yours is an older MINI (made before 4/2004), this TSB published in 1/2005 may be of help.
You might be able to get the dealer to replace with the newer door handles even out of warranty,
or if not, at least this shows you the problem and a fix.

http://motoringfile.com/files/freeze_out_fix.pdf

 

ppl were offering suggestion for ur situation..a little thxs woud have been nice..