Frozen doors

[simpo two]

When the weather gets below freezing, I can open my door but it won't shut again - it just bounces open as the locking mechanism is frozen. I've tried oil, WD 40 and de-icer, but perhaps what it really needs is special arctic grease? All suggestions welcome.

[douglasr]

My other halfs Polo does the same thing. I used liberal WD40 followed by bicycle chain wax lubricant and it worked a treat.

>> Edited by douglasr on Monday 5th January 22:37

[Ultimasimon]

I had the same problem last week. Solution is to heat the outside (end of door) lock mechanism with a blowtorch for a few seconds Providing that you only heat the catch mechanism all will be fine, and don't use excessive heat. So far I have been lucky, but I was miffed that whatever I tried it still left me in the street with a 'bouncing' door. It is the only time it has done this since I have owned the car though, so I just put it down to extreme weather.

[simpo two]

Ultimasimon said:

I had the same problem last week. Solution is to heat the outside (end of door) lock mechanism with a blowtorch for a few seconds Providing that you only heat the catch mechanism all will be fine, and don't use excessive heat. So far I have been lucky, but I was miffed that whatever I tried it still left me in the street with a 'bouncing' door. It is the only time it has done this since I have owned the car though, so I just put it down to extreme weather.

Thanks guys. I was hoping not to need to take a blowtorch with me whenever the temp drops below about -2. Kind of spoils your cool departure when you've got to go back and knock on your host's doot and ask for a hot-air paint-stripper and an extension lead!

[Cotty]

I had something similar in my E30, the key just would not turn in the lock (the car had been left out all night in freezing tempratures) I put it down to metal contracting in the cold and left it for a while and it worked fine. Not sure what the problem was though

[M3BOB]

my trick is to heat up the key with a lighter, then push it into the lock, or get some door lock heaters fitted, some e30s had them

[simpo two]

Thanks folks - but the trouble is (or was) that the door would not shut after opening, but just bounce open.

[jon.evans]

simpo two said:

Thanks folks - but the trouble is (or was) that the door would not shut after opening, but just bounce open.

If this is your 730 then you almost certainly have a lock heater built into your lock anyway. It's activated by lifting the door handle for a few seconds.

Anyway, your problem is with the latch mechanism, not the lock barrel. You have got some water in there by the sound of it. You might be best taking the door trim off and making sure it's all well lubricated. There is a weakness in the casting which holds the lock solenoid, if the mechanism starts to get stiff the casting can snap, then you'll have to source a new door handle from a breakers and swap the lock barrel. Not difficult to do but time consuming. See here for details.

[simpo two]

Thanks Jon, great info. Would a 1993 model have built-in door-heaters though? If so, I had no idea!

[jon.evans]

simpo two said:

Thanks Jon, great info. Would a 1993 model have built-in door-heaters though? If so, I had no idea!

My 1991 735iL has them! So I think so. Maybe only the SE and above had them...

You can feel it get warm so it's fairly easy to test on a cold day. Just lift the driver's door handle (the interior lights will go on, another nice touch) for about 5 seconds, and the heater switches on for 30 seconds. I think you can repeat this a limited number of times before you unlock it, so there's no danger of some asshat flattening your battery. The full details should be in your owner's manual.