All 4 Windows Frozen Shut

Last night I get in my car about 11:00. It is about 25 degrees outside and hasn't rained or snowed all day. I go to the drive thru window and attempt to roll down my window to place an order, and it doesn't even budge. I then try the other 3 windows, none of then budge either. So I had to do the open the door maneuver to place my order, pay, and then get my food.

Any ideas why this happened? I figure in a car of this quality and cost, I can at least roll my windows up and down no matter what the temperature.

i had the same problem, never happened in any other car i ever owned

It's a BMW feature

Not to make an excuse for BMW, but I'll venture a guess... Since they like to engineer everything to the nth degree (except for the easy stuff like window regulators ) how much you want to bet it has something to do with the window scrapers being so tight (for wind resistance, noise, etc.) that they form such a tight seal, that when you add a little ice, snow, etc. you get a frozen shut window... Other vehicles, with larger gaps, don't have as much scraper surface area to freeze, thus the window breaks free when you start to open it... It's a guess only, but it seems time and time again that our cars perform exceptionally well under perfect circumstances... but throw a little weather at them, and you've got problems... This coming from someone with a coupe that is NOT kept in a garage... I really look forward to going out on an icy morning and trying to get my doors open...

I had a really similar problem yesterday morning when my doors wouldn't budge because of ice on my windows. poured some hot water down the seam and presto!

I turn the heat on fulll blast for 10 minutes

Originally Posted by Salvator

... I really look forward to going out on an icy morning and trying to get my doors open...

Yep...always fun. The frozen washer fluid in the system is a nice touch also.

Originally Posted by stash182

I had a really similar problem yesterday morning when my doors wouldn't budge because of ice on my windows. poured some hot water down the seam and presto!

That works fine.. but it can backfire. The water you just poured down there will freeze and make the problem worse the next time..

Originally Posted by KrisL

That works fine.. but it can backfire. The water you just poured down there will freeze and make the problem worse the next time..

I would be afraid of what the stress resulting dramatic temp change would do to the metal bits in the door over time.

Originally Posted by Desertnate

Yep...always fun. The frozen washer fluid in the system is a nice touch also.

Uhh... are you using winter fluid? I can speak from experience with cars in subzero temps that summer fluid will freeze and possibly rupture your tank and/or lines. Winter fluid is usually good to -40F or thereabouts and you shouldn't have a problem. Best thing to do is purge all the summer fluid by running your washers and then refill with all winter blend.

Originally Posted by STEVE46

Uhh... are you using winter fluid? I can speak from experience with cars in subzero temps that summer fluid will freeze and possibly rupture your tank and/or lines. Winter fluid is usually good to -40F or thereabouts and you shouldn't have a problem. Best thing to do is purge all the summer fluid by running your washers and then refill with all winter blend.

I do now, but prior to my BMW I never had a total freeze, even if they did freeze up, engine heat would thaw out the lines and tank pretty quickly.

Last winter, my lines were frozen for three days straight no matter how long I drove.

Originally Posted by STEVE46

Best thing to do is purge all the summer fluid by running your washers and then refill with all winter blend.

Nice thing about the Cold Weather Package... I can blow through a gallon of windshield washer fluid in a heartbeat...

My wife's 323iT froze up on us once... We went somewhere that had an above freezing parking garage and thawed it out, then ran it out and replaced it with winter version...

I have ZHP High Performance Wiper Fluid...never a problem (Sorry, just had to say that). But I did replace the fluid that came with the car at ED with good old blue American stuff when the car got to the US since I'd heard the Germans actually do have summer/winter mixes.

Bah, you should drive a coupe, not only do the windows freeze "UP", because they are up, the door won't close until you get the top edge of the window down far enough to clear the frame of the roof and A-pillar. I have to wait until the workings are dry, then leave the window down a couple of MM to clear the car frame, and bingo, doors close again.

After reading this entire thread, I'm really glad I live in So. California! Just got home from some late Xmas shopping at the mall and had the top down all the way home. I was just thinking how warm it felt outside. My ext. temp. read 59F, and with just a jacket and a cap I didn't even need the heater or seat warmers!

--J.

Originally Posted by Salvator

Not to make an excuse for BMW, but I'll venture a guess... Since they like to engineer everything to the nth degree (except for the easy stuff like window regulators ) how much you want to bet it has something to do with the window scrapers being so tight (for wind resistance, noise, etc.) that they form such a tight seal, that when you add a little ice, snow, etc. you get a frozen shut window... Other vehicles, with larger gaps, don't have as much scraper surface area to freeze, thus the window breaks free when you start to open it... It's a guess only, but it seems time and time again that our cars perform exceptionally well under perfect circumstances... but throw a little weather at them, and you've got problems... This coming from someone with a coupe that is NOT kept in a garage... I really look forward to going out on an icy morning and trying to get my doors open...

I just had my third regulator repaired last weekend. My Rep told me they go out because of the extreem heat in Texas. He said he worked in Boston and it never happens their

Originally Posted by woody underwood

since I'd heard the Germans actually do have summer/winter mixes.

My local Wal-Mart sells Summer and Winter mixes... usually at the same time... I wonder how many people accidentally grab a bottle of summer mix one wintry day and then don't understand why it froze up... I always make sure I buy the winter version, figuring that I'd rather have decreased bug removal capability than frozen squirters once it gets cold... (assuming I don't use it all up before the cold snap... more likely to happen in my wife's car... she doesn't use all of the functionality that her car has to offer... rarely uses high beams, windshield washer, auto window roll down, etc. )