I only noticed this because there's no way in hell my mom can push the door out and make it stay open....it always comes back and hits her ...and now I notice the same thing happens to me -- I open the door and swing it out and bam that bastard always comes back and hits me.

so the question is, can my dealer adjust them or is this just a crap design?

 

same problem. the door closes before you can even step out :(

 

it kills me to see that door come back and hit her...but she pops that door open before I can tell her "wait!"....then I have to get of the car run and around to open the door all the way for her :(

 

I actually kinda like that, I just swing it far open, get out and it closes itself. Idk, to each his own. I'm sure you could make those places the door "sits" a little more bulky if thats the right word to stop the door

 

You know, I've had a few Porsches that did the same thing... They must be a piece of crap too...

Instead of blaming the car, why not 'learn' that the doors do not have a stronger spring to hold them open and act accordingly... Like not swinging the door open expecting it to stay open...

The definition of insanity: Repeating the same action over and over again, expecting a different result...

 

It's just an adjustment for the driver to make. What I've found is that I get the best results by giving it a lighter push than I originally wanted to... the door swings open, barely passing the detent in the hinge so it doesn't have the bounce back momentum to get past the detent on the way back.

There's nothing wrong with it... it's just different than what you are used to from your previous vehicle.

 

i wish the mini has the same doors as my 7 that doesnt swing back when you open it even on an incline. tsktsk. i wish i could retrofit the detent"less" system of my 7. it would have been sweet.

 

I've found in my MINI there are 3 positions that the door will hold open (even on these hills). If you lightly push the door, it will land into the positions and you will feel the door tug when it hits one. Of course in every coupe I've owned, if you swing the door hard it will slam back on you.

 

I've owned about 10 cars so far including C4, C5, C6, Boxster, Prius, Audi TT, IS250/350, Mazda 3, etc...and none of the doors have been like this that won't stay open even on level ground...so Mini thinks they have come up with a better design? personally I think they just cheaped out.

 

I have head this before and am sure it must happen, but mine always stay open with no problem. Only car we own that does.

Jim

 

My driveway is a pretty good slope uphill, and my '09 holds the doors open just fine. Maybe your mom isn't opening it far enough to engage one of the detents?

 

yep, I'm going to try and get them adjusted...she's getting it open about halfway then bam...it shuts on her...

what pissed me off is you have to swing the door open juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuust right for it to stay open....push it too hard or too easy and it slams closed...there's no leeway...either do it perfect or its closing on you. I wanted to kick the crap out of it to 180° the other day.

 

Go out to your car. Push the door open slowly and feel the three detents. Close it and open it again while pushing harder. Feel the door go past the third detent and bounce back at you. If you still feel it is bad design, buy a car with heavier doors.

 

Constantly park on hills at work, no problems here.

 

LOL weight of the doors is not the problem...the problem is the detents are not substantial enough...and/or its not sprung correctly.

 

I guess I get irritated with the conclusion that the car is a piece of crap because something doesn't work the way someone thinks it should.

Everything can be improved, no doubt. But there is little to be gained by declaring war on the car. It is what it is. Didn't you take a look at the doors when you test drove it? Did they change somehow?

We really need to get off this thing of declaring to the world that the cars we bought are nothnig but crap. Pretty soon, the world will begin to believe us, and that belief will be reflected in the resale value.

If you hate the car, sell it, get one you like. But, please, save the venting for something productive.

My Mini is not a piece of crap, nor are its door pieces of crap.

Perhaps yours are different.

 

So it's been like this since 2008?

 

just the hinges and the springs are



....and I'm trying to be productive to see if anyone has successfully had them adjusted.

 

I have no trouble whatsoever with my doors, but my wife has been "bitten" any number of times by the car - reason being that on her Ford Focus 4-door, the doors are much lighter and have stiffer check straps. On her car, she simply gives the door a push, and it stays open. With the MINI, she gives it a hearty shove, only for it to swing shut again. And yes, she gets annoyed with it.

I've shown her my method - gently pushing the door open to a detent while still sitting in the seat - and she's doing better. But she'd still rather just give it a big push, which doesn't work, especially on our driveway, which is sloped.

The funny thing is, the MINI door check detents are actually quite positive - as long as you simply push the door open far enough for them to engage. If you just heave it open, the considerable weight of the door will overcome the detents and it will shut again.

Spridget

 

I agree that the spring/detent mechanism could be better (and yes MINI did cheap out on a lot of things in the car) but it takes such a minimal amount of thought and care to use the doors as designed and not have them swing back closed. Simply pay attention (yes, I know this is a big challenge for some) and push the door open smoothly to the detent of your choice and it will stay there even on a significant incline. A different design or another detent or two would have been nice, but there's a simple solution if you can manage to take a little more care than to just give the door a big shove to open it. Give some care to what you're doing instead of flailing about haphazzardly

 

My little gripe has been the location of the detents. While seated I push the door open to the first detent. That's barely enough room for me to get out of the car. If I push to the second detent, it's so far away and I risk hitting the car parked next to me. My wife has no problem with this as she can slink out of the car on the first detent.

My past cars placed the first detent ( I used to call it a cam) further out, making getting out of the much easier.

But, like many posters have said, you just have to get used to it...

 

I'm 6'1" and use the second detent. It has never failed to hold. I can't see where there is a design problem. I'm guessing user insensitivity, wear, or both over time.

Still wondering how a door can close itself on level ground.

 

That is exactly how mine work. You simply push the door to the detent you need and it stays. Its actually pretty effective. But it is different from many other cars.

 

Lol hahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa oh man im dying laughing right now... i think this every time i open the door and it closes on me hahahaa

 

your car is reacting to your potty mouth

if you've looked at & understand the parts involved you know there is no adjustment

Sell the car, it is obviously not for you

I've owned MINI since 2002 and never saw this 'problem' .... and as compared to my Mini, they are very user friendly. But that IS a very subjective point.

As a ship captain the XO and I would review crew complaints regularly and when the '***** box' was filled with complaints about the food we felt GREAT! Cuz everyone LOVES to complain and when the best thing to complain about is trivial - things are good.