Comfort Access & High Battery Drain

[mrchin1974]

Hey. Just bumped into this thread and would love to get some direction. Just dropped out 2013 X5 at the dealer yesterday. I have worked on some car stuff before and can figure it out. So I don't mind doing the dirty work.

Though with these BMWs, dealer wants to do everything. So here goes. We've had a starting issue lately and it slow cranks and finally starts or sometimes barely. I thought it was the Crankshaft Position Sensor. Though Dealer now let me know that its this door handle circuit. It just constantly stays on causing the high draw from the battery.

They want to either disconnect the driver door comfort circuit for $450 labor or replace it for the same cost plus the part costing an additional $400. Seems ridiculous.

Can anyone direct me to getting the parts ourselves to replace or pop off the door panel to disconnect that door so we're not shelling out an arm and a leg.

Appreciate any help. thanks. Martin

[Scider]

I had to do a rear driver door, which is pretty straight forward and doesn't even require removing the door card or getting into the door very much. I can't confirm if the front is as straight forward, but I wouldn't expect it to be very different. Because it was in the rear, I just snipped the wires in the front of the handle that supply power to the comfort access touch pad and reconnected everything so that the pigtail didn't get lost down into the door. Voila, drain problem solved. It certainly wasn't $450 of labor IMHO. There's some pretty good videos on YouTube about it.

To save some cash I dealt with the minor inconvenience for a few months. I put a search on eBay for comfort access door handles and snagged one for $127ish when one in the right paint code became available.

[Croxy1992]

^I second this. Definitely do it yourself. You'll save over $700.

[mrchin1974]

I see it on eBay for $135-140. Without having my car as it's at the dealer currently, any way to find my paint code from my VIN, so I can get the right Silver. Unless there's 10 different one. I see Titan Silver.

I'll look for YouTube vids about taking apart the door panel. If you have a li to a vid that you'd recommend instead, I'd appreciate the share.

Time to get some grease on my paws.

[Croxy1992]

https://www.mdecoder.com/

Use this.

[mrchin1974]

So dealer said they unplugged it for free tether that. Charging me my $509 just for the labor. Part came in from eBay. I replaced my handle though it appears you can just replace the outer handle which has the circuit in it and the inside is just mechanically for the door pull.

Either way. All back together fin include inside trim. But now car is t unlocking or locking. Inside unlock button or key fob? Do I need to reset the computer due to the new handle? If so, how?

Thanks in advance. Martin

[Diesel X5 35d]

I've had two of these handles fail, draining the battery, etc. You can remove the handles just by using an allen screw accessible from a hole on the edge of the door. I disconnected the plug and reinserted backwards (no electrical contact) with a piece of tape just to hold the wire in place. Would not want the wire to wrap around the window regulator.

PROBLEM SOLVED. Now all 4 handles are disconnected. No more idiotic comfort access, what a pain.

I get faults on the ISTA, bad circuit or something but I just ignore it. Best thing I ever did.

[Gretel]

My 2007 4.8 had a battery drain. I pulled all handles. No change. I unplugged the CA module in right rear compartment (white module) and the drain was gone.

[ard]

Originally Posted by mrchin1974

So dealer said they unplugged it for free tether that. Charging me my $509 just for the labor. Part came in from eBay. I replaced my handle though it appears you can just replace the outer handle which has the circuit in it and the inside is just mechanically for the door pull.

Either way. All back together fin include inside trim. But now car is t unlocking or locking. Inside unlock button or key fob? Do I need to reset the computer due to the new handle? If so, how?

Thanks in advance. Martin

Can not under
stand


try proof
reading.

[mrchin1974]

I figured it out. Install went well. Just that my door locks wouldn’t go up since I took apart and reassembled the door trim. I thought I busted something. Ended up being I had my key fob too close to the inside of the car. Wouldn’t want to lock with keys inside.