Comments on: Freezing Door Handles

By: Mars

Mars — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 20:51:28 +0000

I have a 2005 Mini. I live in Sunny CA. My driver side door handel does not work from the inside. I have to roll down my window and open it from the outside. I have called my dealership, and am waiting for a call back. My warrenty just expired….I hope they will fix this on thier dime seeing how they know that they have a problem with the handles!

By: marc

marc — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:26:04 +0000

I have an '04 MC that was built in late '03.

The doors freeze shut like clockwork almost every single time we get snow or ice.

Its a constant problem.

Read this forum today though and called my dealer to get the problem fixed.

Thanks for the info!

-Marc Kansas City, MO

By: Blake Learmonth

Blake Learmonth — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 18:40:35 +0000

I got locked in again twice today. After dozens of pulls on both door handles–nothing worked. I restarted the car and the drivers side opened. I thought that was the trick–more power and the door opens. Ten minutes later I got frozen in again and starting the car didn’t help. After five minutes of pulling on the handles and some fairly firm thumping on the door panel near the lock button it suddenly started working again. This strikes me as really dangerous. I can’t believe there isn’t a recall to fix this. Are the doors really totally electric? If the battery dies do you have to break a window to escape? I love my MINI, but this is worrisome!

By: Mike0909

Mike0909 — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 18:09:33 +0000

So i have this issue with both my passenger and driver doors not opening from the inside or outside. It happened with in a matter of 5 minutes. I went into a building to make a delivery and when i came out the only door that would open was the hatch. The doors lock and unlock, i can hear the mechanisms inside working. But the doors still feel like they are locked, they pull in like they are still locked. They do not pop like they are supposed to. If some one can tell me how to fix this it would be great, because i need to get back to work asap….

By: Blake Learmonth

Blake Learmonth — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 20:33:18 +0000

I was locked out of my 2004 S yesterday in not very cold New Mexico. Once I got the door open, the button stayed depressed and the door wouldn’t latch. It just bounced back open. There was also an interestingly familiar (for owners of original Minis at least) burning insulation smell that went away after I chipped the ice away from the handle and popped the button back out. Slightly scarier, I was locked into the car about an hour later when the inside handle would not release the latch (I got out the passenger side). I’ll talk to the dealer after the holidays.

By: Gabe

Gabe — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 01:48:08 +0000

I’d give MINI USA a call to see if they can give you a hand.

By: Darren A

Darren A — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 01:18:05 +0000

I live in Kodiak Alaska, and bought my '04 MCS (11/03 build) used. I've been locked out of my car on many occasions this winter due due to frozen door handles. Decided to do a quick search on the web and found this site. After taking a look at this TSB, I've determined that my car has the older design door handles.

My car is still covered under warranty, but we don't have a dealer anywhere in Alaska. I don't think I'll be able to make a road trip back to the "real world" before my warranty expires next year. Any ideas for how I can go about getting the updated door handles?

dasuncion@g$$mail.com (remove dollar signs for my email address)

By: Ray

Ray — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 16:51:28 +0000

Good luck getting this covered in or out of warranty. I just called the dealer in Michigan and was told this TSB is a fake and that anything "off the internet is mostly fake". I am sure it is not a "fake" and this is one of many similar incidents I've had with this dealer. Unfortunately, they're the only one in the state.

I guess they won't be selling me a new car anytime soon

By: Clinton Brown

Clinton Brown — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 05:47:59 +0000

Mini Roadside Service took my car to Seattle, it was then finally repaired and sent back to Alaska after nearly 40 days. Now less than one year later the DOOR LOCKS are FROZEN again. If it was up to me this car would be GONE!!! My wife loves her mini and will put up with their substandard designs and piss-poor service.

By: whiteroofradio.com » Woofcast #116

whiteroofradio.com » Woofcast #116 — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 14:56:32 +0000

[...] Do your door handles freeze? Motoringfile posted a fix. And you can see Josh Wardell’s RainX vs. Aquapel comparison here. [...]

By: MotoringFile » Archive » White Roof Radio #116

MotoringFile » Archive » White Roof Radio #116 — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 14:53:32 +0000

[...] A little tire and wheel talk in preparation for some cold weather prep discussion. Since Todd and Gabe were under a big pile of snow, we thought the time was right. Do your door handles freeze? Motoringfile posted a fix a while back. And some headlight talk. If you have retrofitted Xenons to your MINI, let us know how much you paid in the comments section. [...]

By: J. Holmes

J. Holmes — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 00:20:32 +0000

Yes, B. Balkar. I’ve had the same difficulty on my ’04. My dealer lubed the latches, but when it’s wet out and freezes hard (which it often does here in Michigan), the interior door handle won’t move at all. My dealer tells me no one else has reported this problem…

By: Clinton Brown

Clinton Brown — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 04:04:19 +0000

MINIUSA took my MINI from Alaska to Seattle to fix the frozen door locks. Now they have my car in Seattle and are refusing to send it back to Alaska, saying that they never made the promise to begin with. They also refuse to allow me to speak with the Western Region Manager, saying that “he is on a busy travel schedule and is unable to speak with customer.” If you have any information about the Western Region (Ontario,Ca) please contact me immediately. jaegerak@gci.net, my car has been in Seattle since 1 Dec 05 and I cannot get anyone to listen!!

By: B.Balkar

B.Balkar — Wed, 23 Feb 2005 19:00:15 +0000

I have an 05 mcs and obviously they havnt fixed the problem with the door handles. I could not get out the drivers side door and had to get out of my vehicle through the rear hatch. Has anyone else experienced the same problem with the 05 Mini

By: Tom

Tom — Sun, 06 Feb 2005 15:30:21 +0000

Thanks for the official notice. I bought two ’03 MCS’s and had horrific experiences with both in NW PA winters. Our new ’05 MCS works fine and we just had my son’s handles changed over last week. I put my query to some of the Mini forums and got the standard..’it’s not the handle, you just have to clean the snow from the lock crap..’ I can’t believe there are some people out there who think this was a trivial matter. My wife was locked in her car one day and could not exit. What if you needed to exit in an emeregerncy situation?? My ’05 has been good all winter so the fix seem to be OK.

By: Gabe

Gabe — Sun, 06 Feb 2005 00:29:21 +0000

I wouldn't be surprised if there is never an updated manual to be honest with you. Unfortunately you might have to just hold tight until the '06 manual comes out in PDF form.

BTW what info are you needing?

By: MrV

MrV — Sun, 06 Feb 2005 00:19:22 +0000

Slightly off topic here, but not entirely since lots of the last few posts have referenced the new changes in the MINI in 2005.

Any progress getting a pdf of th "new" 2005 manual. It should include information on the post-January additions and changes.

Anyone...?

By: Brian

Brian — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 21:19:25 +0000

TSB = technical service bulletin.

By: mataku

mataku — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 19:14:49 +0000

I guess since this is my first car I don't know much about how company's deal with things like these. so you're saying most companies would just leave their customers out in the cold? sounds quite lame to me.

oh and what's a TSB?

By: TJKonarski

TJKonarski — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 17:29:18 +0000

Wow, you have a zero-tolerence policy on here. Good for you.