So... I get to schedule my first warranty work for the car. Girlfriend went to get out and the handle wouldn't let her out. She knows how the unlock works and I have it programmed to unlock when engine turns off so that isn't it. I even got in the passenger seat, closed the door and tried again to no avail. Locked it unlocked it nothing works. So get to schedule some warranty work.

Anyone hear of this happening before? If it is something simple I would rather jsut fix it myself then try and schedule a time to get it in.

Any thoughts appreciated.

So did a search on the forum, found some posts on frozen door locks, but that is definitely not the case since it is around 80 here. And it is just the inside door handle, the outside one will open fine when the door is unlocked, but the inside one will not open the door when unlocked or unlock the door when locked.

 

Sounds like a mechanical problem rather than an electrical one. Try removing the door panel & checking the door handles cable going to the door latch. (see squeaky window thread for door panel removal) Before trying that, too many things have been corrected by simply disconnecting the battery for a few minutes. Nix that. If it were electrical the outside handle wouldn't work either.

 

Thanks I was thinking of doing that tomorrow, since I have low hopes of the dealer being able to get me in on monday, maybe if I play up the safety issue. It is something I was planning on doing anyways to do the HK speaker fix with felt.

 

My drivers side door would not open when I pulled the handle, I had to unlock it manually. I took it to the dealer for my scheduled service and they told me the handle came off the acuator in the door. One week later and its broke again, so it could be another 90 minute trip or a diy job when I get time.

 

I don't have any info on the problem, but when I was in the dealership last week with my car, someone else came in with this exact issue.

 

My driver side door handle just did this yesterday! At first it would open if I manually unlocked the door and then it decided to not open at all. At least it is reasonably simple to roll the window down and open it from the outside but still. I figured that a cable or something that attaches to the handle came loose or something b/c the handle is very loose in comparison to the other one.

BTW, when was your car built? I'm wondering if this is some issue with first of the year built cars (mine was completed on January 11th)

 

Mine was built in June. Just got it and a mere 1200 miles on the odometer so far. Slightly miffed that something happened so soon. But I am not really that irritated. This will give me a chance to fix the panel rattles and put some dynamat in.

 

Well I still had the driver's door to dynamat so I got to work on that today. Popped off the passengers door to give the lock another go. And between me and my dad fiddling with it we got it fixed.

Apparently the cable goes to an orangy kind of sleeve that is supposed to be snapped in, but this came unsnapped. Finally found where it snapped, and with some loving pressure got it in place. Feels solid now and door works great.

Yah, I forgot to take any pictures again. But basically if you can see the orangy sleeve, then that is bad. Also you may need to pop off the metal rod with the lock indicator on it to get it to fit. Don't be scared to pop that out cause it goes back in to the green clamp real easy.

It just takes a lot of fiddling and finding the right spot.

 

happened to me yesterday - passenger door handle goes bye-bye.

bringing in for fix tomorrow.

not the end of the world! - drew

 

i would assume its the bowden cable in the door. i've seen quite a few of these in past month. part #51 21 7 143 538 about $7

 

Add another to the list! Mine quit 3 weeks ago. Really a pain to go around the car to let my passenger out everytime I stop somewhere. PLus it looks a little "funny" when its a another guy in the car.

 

My driver's side went out a few months ago, perhaps in Dec. 05. Build date is June 05. Planning on getting it fixed by the dealer at the 10K mile service, along with the fast clock and annoying rattles.

 

I've got this awful rattle on the passenger side of my MINI. I can't tell if it's coming from the door pull area or behind the dash in that corner. But I suspect that it's the passenger door pull, or the cable bit that gets disconnected. The pull was acting up a month ago - wouldn't operate from the inside.

I'm waiting for it to warm up around here so I can pull the door apart and 1) fix the pull, 2) the rattle, 3) do the h/k fix 4) install some dynamat.

 

We have had this problem off and on in our 2003 MINI mostly on the passenger's side. The dealer fiddled with it several times, but to no avail. Finally they replaced the handles with "new style handles per bulletin", and that has fixed the problem - finally.