Just soaked mine with silicone libricant.

Rear hatch moves like a light feather so hopefully they were fine.

I noticed on Mini-Mania that they have two different sets of hinges.

One 02 through 2/06 and 03/06 afterwards.

Mine is an 04/06 build date.

Did they change the design?

 

Ok, found the answer.

Early 06, the hinges were redesigned them twice as thick.

http://www.mini2.com/forum/first-gen...hifting-3.html

Similar to the ones used on the second generation.

 

I replaced the RH hinge myself. I could not get e LH loose but now the hatch locks easily but the alignment is terrible. Rain and snow come right in from a certain angle & the top of the molding on the hatch is even with the bottom of e molding on the body. I noticed that the bracket on the body where the hinge bolts was looking worn. I imagine the frozen hinge was pivoting the whole bracket causing the bolt hole to ream out and crack. UGH! I don't see where I can do much of an adjustment. I think the bracket it bent out of alignment now.

 

Odd thing happened the other day when I washed the Mini, opened the hatch to clean/dry the inner edges. When I closed the lid, it kept clicking open for about 15-20 minutes. It appears that some water ended up on the electric latch and kept opening the hatch until it evaporated. My solution will be to let the car dry before opening the hatch.

 

Any thoughts on whether the sunroof lubricant should be used for this application? Its called 'Kluberplex BE 11-462 Sliding Grease.' I bought some from the dealer, and am surprised they sold it to me; it says 'for industrial use only - not for retail sales.