Freezing door latches

[ApexOnYou]

I've been having issues with my door latches the past couple of weeks. We had some freezing rain, and the next morning, all of my doors were frozen shut as expected. I got the RF door open and opened the rest from the inside, but the RF door then would not latch shut. I simply took a heat gun to the latch for a few seconds and it worked just fine after that. Then this week I finally washed the 20lbs of salt off the car (in ~15*F weather), and pulled the car in the garage with a torpedo heater running for an hour to get ice in the door jambs to melt so that I could dry them off. In the process me LR door latch became stuck in the open position, again a heat gun for a few seconds fixed it. Today, my RF stuck open again, pulled the heat gun out once more, and this time liberally sprayed every latch with WD-40 hoping to keep water off of the mechanical parts. That lasted about 6 hours. RF froze in the open position yet again, this time away from home. In trying to break it loose, the latch became frozen in the CLOSED position with the door home. Made for a very annoying drive home. Took the heat gun to it again when I got home and it broke free.

Cliffs: My door latches keep freezing open once I open a door.

I have never had these issues in the winter with any other car, some of which I religiously washed weekly. It is starting to get annoying. Has anyone else had a similar issue? My only thought is to pull the latches out of the car to get all of the old hard grease out and replace it with fresh new stuff, but that would be a PITA.

[bimmerfiver]

#8 suggestion here and read all subsequent posts:

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1086146

Read it again so it's square:

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1086146

[ApexOnYou]

Yes I have read that and am aware. The doors would have been frozen shut the first time regardless, there was a sheet of ice encasing the car for the most part. I assumed that WD-40 would do the trick as its purpose is to displace water but I'll try spraying the latches with white lithium.

[devildog0341]

I didnt have much luck with white lithium so I used light lubricating oil by Liquid wrench and in this last -3 degrees cold snap my doors latched perfectly every time.

[bimmerfiver]

Yes I have read that and am aware. The doors would have been frozen shut the first time regardless, there was a sheet of ice encasing the car for the most part. I assumed that WD-40 would do the trick as its purpose is to displace water but I'll try spraying the latches with white lithium.

You need this:

http://www.autoinsane.com/wp-content...icer_spray.jpg

OR do this trick bro:

http://www.ehow.com/how_5850660_de_i...car-doors.html



But first some of this too....

I own this stuff:

http://www.lutherie.net/tri.flow.both.jpg

I pull the door handle UP, this thing:

http://www.bmw4life.com/repairsImage...s/dHandle1.jpg

Holding it there I squeeze some TriFlow onto the hinges of the door handle.

I also install some into the lock opening, should I ever need it, this thing:

http://e30world.com/images/bmw-e30-door-lock-01.jpg

I then lube up the door latch too, this thing:

http://admin.sgpetch.co.uk/admin/sys...nism_large.jpg

I then get inside the car and remove the handle a little, expose it's cable and then remove the door panel a little and spray TriFlow like mad inside the door:

http://www.caranddriver.com/var/ezfl...cd_gallery.jpg

I would use white lithium grease on the door hinges, there are two of these per door:

http://image.made-in-china.com/2f0j0...inge-BR03-.jpg

I would then lube all my rubber door seals with this Gummi Pflege which is key as it resists the freezing that can take place at the rubber unions:

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/images/pr...dium/19962.jpg

I hear ya. My car has been encased in ice many times....making it really hard just to get in the car. Above items will help make sure you don't brake a handle.

As far as eliminating the ice over the door/car itself? I don't believe WD-40 is designed for that. THIS stuff is:

http://www.autoinsane.com/wp-content...icer_spray.jpg

[ApexOnYou]

Bimmerfiver I am still unsure what you mean. Could you maybe post a more detailed pictorial with more detail in between? You lost me at the plastic handle looking thing. I don't see anything like that on my car. Am I doing something wrong? Better yet.. You're close enough, I'll buy you dinner if you could come show me?

(I pray someone senses sarcasm.)

As for the last portion of your post, I did not mean that I was attempting to use WD40 for de-icing. That would be retarded. I assumed it would be as good as anything else for 1) displacing the water (once thawed) that was stuck in my latch repeatedly freezing and 2) lubricating said parts from sticking.