Mini Cooper Doors Jammed

[MeganAnne121]

I'm driving a 2002 Mini Cooper out in the Midwest. We've had a relatively warm winter this year and just had our first real freeze the past few day accompanied by an ice storm. This morning, after scrapping my car off to head to the grocery, the doors seemed a little frozen, but I was able to get one open, and then open the other from the inside. The doors opened fine when I got to the store, however, after about 2 hours in the store, I came out to find my doors seemingly frozen shut again. I couldn't get either open this time, so a friend climbed through the trunk (yay for easy fold down rear seats) to the front, only to find that the doors would not open from the inside either. In hopes that the doors were still simply frozen shut and would thaw with some heat, I drove home, but they doors remain jammed. After messing with them for about half an hour, I'm pretty convinced they aren't frozen. The locks appear and sound like they are functioning properly but it sounds ike something isn't catching correctly. Has anyone had this problem or does anyone have any idea what (other than a random mechanical failure that somehow happened simultaneously in both doors) could be the problem? I'm hoping to be able to resolve this myself instead of taking it in to have them rip the door panels off. Thanks!

[BobtheBodyman]

I have the same problem. Its not a cold weather thing on this one because its 70 degrees in the shop. All the cables are intact, the door locks are actuating , it seems that the latch itself is jammed. It worked fine until I notice that the door was not locking. I hit the door lock fob from inside the car , and tried the door and it would not open from either handle after that. I am going to try and give the latch a rap with a long screw driver to see if it will knock loose. A great design. I will post back if I get it open.