I have a 2005 Mini Cooper S with 34,000 miles. I started having trouble with the door on the driver's side not unlocking. The dealership told me a cable in the door needed to be rerouted for $45. It is being done today, so I will let you know if that fixes the problem.

also think it should be a recall item from what I've been reading. If it's a question of safety, I want to be able to get out of the car quickly, not have to pull the handle a dozen times to get it to open.
MiniJan

 

lol that video is hilarious his voice is cool. no one confirmed if we should get an accuator or not. dangit i want to get this done

 

anyone in MN or western wisconsin that can do this? PM me thanks

 

passenger side door, only unlocks manually.. not with remote or the flicker unlock switch by the radio

 

The dealership told me that if the switches in the center doesn't lock or unlock the doors it could be a problem with the Body Control Module.

 

If the lock mechanism is broken in the door or the cable is stretched or popped out of the mechanism it won't work either. These are more common then the body control module failing.

 

I have the 2005 Mini Cooper S Convertible with 34,000 miles on it and had the lock on the driver's side fixed at the dealer yesterday. They found the Bowden Cable came apart on the inside door handle, applied felt tape to cable and resecured. so far it works great. I still agree it should be a recall issue.
MiniJan

 

ok, how about this one. Door does not open from inside or outside. I can hear something working but the door doesn't open. With the door panel off, I reach inside and manually push down on the lever for the outside door handle and pull on the hook for the inside handle, but nothing happens. I can move the lock up and down(the part where the lock rod hooks into) and still nothing. It feels like there is a child lock on, but then again the door doesnt open from the outside. Both cable for the handles are hook up right, theres jut no action that allowed the door to open. Any ideas? Please help, its my moms car, and I deploy tommorow and She cant afford the $400 for the dealer to fix it. Thanx

 

I was getting to the point of when inside the car, I would unlock once with the unlock toggle switch for the doors and gas door, try the inside door handle once then use the toggle switch again and it would open. From what I've been reading there are other problems people are having different from what they fixed on my car. I can't believe what they charge for repairs. If it lasts, my fix was cheaper than most.

 

Ok ive located the problem. It seems when I have my finger on the mechanism and hit the lock/unlock, I can feel somthing go up and down, but that doesn't fully unlock the door. I have to finnish the travel of the mechanism and that unlocks everything. any ideas?

 

well if it is the actuator i found a professional bmw shop locally (imola) that will do it for $260 parts and labor. im going to go to them as soon as i get money.

 

'02 MC 108000 milies. passenger and driver side don't unlock with switch or remote key, but they do unlock manually.
Driver side window doesn't work anymore. The window worked for about three weeks and it just stopped working again.

 

passenger door opens from the inside door latch and locks with keyfob. Doesnt open from outside unless person inside car pulls the latch once. any ideas on this??>

 

sorry car had 60k miles. out of warranty :( I've had so many little problems with this car ><

 

I'm assuming that you have taken the door panel off and looked at the cable, if not I would look there. Passenger doors are always getting messed up due to passengers that don't understand the Mini and think since the door did not open then they need to pull harder. Your cable end might have come partially out of the door lock or might need to have the stretch pulled out of it. Normally it lies from front to back in a strait line. Try pulling it downward in the middle and see if that allows the latch to work correctly. If it does then your in luck and just need to secure the cable in its new location. If your not in luck you will need to have the door lock mechanism changed. Where are you located at?

 

I'm having the exact same problem with my '04 and would like to try to inspect and fix it myself. My local dealer (Towson, MD) provides some nice services, but MAN are they expensive! Are there any good instructional posts out there with pictures?

 

You are at the right thread. Just read back few pages. There are step by step instructions and pictures from multiple users including myself

Good luck!

 

Great! Thanks!

 

I have an 05 Mini with 55K. Both doors are messed up. The drivers door will unlock with the key only. The passenger door won't open at all. I can't get the door panel off of the passenger door because I can't get it open. Any suggestions?

 

vantag61:

I am a novice with little experience in diagnostics. You might want to reply to a more experienced-sounding indvidual in a thread. Sounds like you've got one heck of a problem with the passenger door, though. I keep getting angry when I think of all the folks whose cars, at between 50k and 55k miles, seem to be losing access to lock-unlock functionality. My local MINI/BMW garage wants almost $400 to fix the problem (just one door), and I think they should eat the repair/replacement on grounds that it is caused by a design defect.

 

So after not working for around a month, my driver side window decided to start working again. However, sometimes it doesn't always do the dip maneuver when opening and closing the door, and when the window is rolling down, at the half-way point it starts to whine. Because of that I haven't rolled it all the way down for fear of it getting stuck in the down position.

 

Ok. So I am pretty sure my problem is a combo of some of the issues listed here.

About a month ago my driver's side UNLOCK stopped working w/ remote. Handles still worked from both in and out. Remote lock still worked. Just this week my inner door handle ceased working to unlock the door. The action on the handle feels loose. Like there is no real resistance when pulling on it (though it does snap back to it's normal position when released). Manual key unlock and outside handle still work.

So would this be the actuator failing, loose cables etc? I am still under warranty (until January 1st 2010). Would it be covered if is is the actuator or simply loose cables?

I just want to be prepared in the case they try and pull some shifty stuff like they have in the past.

Thanks!

 

I just replaced my passenger door actuator. took about an hour. Door locks and opens from all points perfectly. Hint to make removal of actuator quicker I cut off the brass hoop with a pair of snips. This little brass piece will be your nightmare when removing. The new one must have been slightly smaller, as it went in reasonably quick. You should remove your inside pull (3 screws)and give yourself some slack in the wire, connect that wire before install. It's the only way to do it. loosening up the window rail is essential, but still not enough. got to cut that piece off.

 

Just did the drivers side not as bad as I thought it was going to be! So I took it apart to see how it works very cool not at all how I thought it was going to work. two drive motors with worm drives. they contact micro limit switches anyways one of the motors was burnt up could move the rotor in and out I sure thats what killed it. The white plastic cover is made like a circuit board in that all of the parts for power are molded in. I am sure with a little time you could repair these by replacing the motor, it would be plug and play to replace it.

 

I am located in louisville ky. my buddy is gonna look at it this weekend. sorry it took me a year to reply lol