On a frosty morning

[Minky92]

Don't know if anyone else has experienced this, but I just tried to get into my E to move it (at about midnight, sub zero outside) and the doors were inoperable. Nothing to do with the handles, but the frameless windows; they were completely frozen to the upper seal, and as the windows need to drop down slightly to open correctly, there was no obvious way of getting in. I did eventually manage to crack open a rear door and climb in to grab a scraper and turn the car on, and I'd eventually removed enough ice from the driver door to operate the handle. Seems like a pretty major design flaw to me... Is this a universal problem with frameless doors in general? Either way, be careful in these colder temps- you really can't force the front doors open without risking damage to the glass, so unless if you have warm water or a scraper to hand, you're pretty screwed.

[bogga]

Don't know if anyone else has experienced this, but I just tried to get into my E to move it (at about midnight, sub zero outside) and the doors were inoperable. Nothing to do with the handles, but the frameless windows; they were completely frozen to the upper seal, and as the windows need to drop down slightly to open correctly, there was no obvious way of getting in. I did eventually manage to crack open a rear door and climb in to grab a scraper and turn the car on, and I'd eventually removed enough ice from the driver door to operate the handle. Seems like a pretty major design flaw to me... Is this a universal problem with frameless doors in general? Either way, be careful in these colder temps- you really can't force the front doors open without risking damage to the glass, so unless if you have warm water or a scraper to hand, you're pretty screwed.

With my Mx5, sometimes I couldn't open the doors as the windows were frozen to the rubber seals. I had to rub vasaline on the passenger door seal, so I would always be able to get in the car and start the engine (and heating).

I didn't think this would be an issue on a car that you can remotley start the heating however, if course when your in a rush.. .

[Trykpaa]

Don't know if anyone else has experienced this, but I just tried to get into my E to move it (at about midnight, sub zero outside) and the doors were inoperable. Nothing to do with the handles, but the frameless windows; they were completely frozen to the upper seal, and as the windows need to drop down slightly to open correctly, there was no obvious way of getting in. I did eventually manage to crack open a rear door and climb in to grab a scraper and turn the car on, and I'd eventually removed enough ice from the driver door to operate the handle. Seems like a pretty major design flaw to me... Is this a universal problem with frameless doors in general? Either way, be careful in these colder temps- you really can't force the front doors open without risking damage to the glass, so unless if you have warm water or a scraper to hand, you're pretty screwed.

Can be an issue with all cars due to the rubber seals. Frameless windows probably makes it more sensitive. You can get e.g. silicone spray or the rubber gaskets for that exact reason.

I always use lukewarm water on mine when frozen, though it can have a obvious drawback (never experienced it myself). Now global warming is making a noticeable impact on danish winters stuck doors are almost a thing of the past.

[rickwookie]

Don't know if anyone else has experienced this, but I just tried to get into my E to move it (at about midnight, sub zero outside) and the doors were inoperable. Nothing to do with the handles, but the frameless windows; they were completely frozen to the upper seal, and as the windows need to drop down slightly to open correctly, there was no obvious way of getting in. I did eventually manage to crack open a rear door and climb in to grab a scraper and turn the car on, and I'd eventually removed enough ice from the driver door to operate the handle. Seems like a pretty major design flaw to me... Is this a universal problem with frameless doors in general? Either way, be careful in these colder temps- you really can't force the front doors open without risking damage to the glass, so unless if you have warm water or a scraper to hand, you're pretty screwed.

Had doors freeze on most cars I've owned at some point, but was definitely more of an issue on the wife's old BMW Mini, again with frameless windows on the doors.

[londiniumperson]

Had doors freeze on most cars I've owned at some point, but was definitely more of an issue on the wife's old BMW Mini, again with frameless windows on the doors.

I agree, my previous car was a 2003 R53 Mini Cooper S which with its frameless doors was a pain on frosty mornings. It often failed to lower the frozen windows on opening the door, it made me cringe every time.
I've not had any issue with the Honda on frosty mornings yet because I've been using the pre-conditioning/warming.

[ChesterUK]

I'd say it's more of an issue with cars that need to drop the window slightly. My Mazda 323F was fine, and my wife's MX-5 Roadster Coupe was not too bad either; both didn't drop. My BMW E81 (3-door) 130i could be a bit of a nightmare if it was icy, frosty not so much.

[Sousaphone]

My door seal care regimen has worked fine for 500k km of Volvo driving (without having to replace seals), so it’ll be interesting to see if it’s enough for the e. Here’s what I do:

Twice a year, usually when swapping to/from winter wheels, the car gets a thorough hand wash. After the wash I go to town on the seals with a microfibre cloth and lukewarm water with a drop of dish soap in it. Once the seals are clean (enough, I’m no fanatic) they get a (very) generous application of silicone using a brush. A few hours later a light wipe takes care of any excess, and I ignore them for about half a year.

[ajms0288]

Good tip

[ChesterUK]

The few days we've had this past week where it seemed to go well below zero, with the pre-conditioning set on the car for 20 minutes, the problems we had the first night (when this was not set and we really struggled to flip out the handles and proceeded to open the doors with anxiety and gritted teeth!) make opening up completely non-eventful. That does sap about 5% of the battery when it's really chilly though!

[keithr]

I just tried to get into my E to move it (at about midnight, sub zero outside) and the doors were inoperable. Nothing to do with the handles, but the frameless windows; they were completely frozen to the upper seal, and as the windows need to drop down slightly to open correctly, there was no obvious way of getting in.

I've only had this problem once so far, but the window wasn't frozen to the door seal. When the door was open I checked the door seal and the window on the inside, and both were bone dry. I think the ice-cracking sound, and the resistance to the window dropping down, must have been from the outside bottom of the window seal (that is presumably there mainly to stop water running down inside the door) that I guess had become wet and frozen. So if I encounter the problem again maybe I'll run some warm water over that outside seal.