Parasitic battery drain
 

2013 35xi e70 LCI

I've had a pesky intermittent battery drain that is getting worse [common] than before.

It's more common when I arm the car than not. I'm told these e70's are known for the welcome lights going bad and giving me the drain I'm experiencing...

I shut the welcome lights off in settings but the still come on. I accidentally found which one is faulty as when the car was off, the passenger side front door handle was hot to the touch...

I'm confused by the fact that I shut off the welcome lights in the settings but they still come on at night which might be related to the cause of this symptom...

Other than pulling the door panel? and getting in there and disconnecting the light,is there a fuse you can pull?
TIA!

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Do you have comfort access? If the door handle is warm/hot to the touch it's more than likely the comfort access handle causing the issue as it's very common and you'll need to unplug that handle or replace it as there is an internal short causing the issue. Do a search here and you'll find tons of threads on it.

There is a defect that keeps the light on all the time the software won't fix that.

Most of the functions for the door go though the window switch box so I'm betting like on e53, water got in and caused corrosion and is the source of the problem. I'm not sure why passenger side gets power when car is off but likely to turn on the welcome light when the handle is tugged.

There is virtually no chance of a fix without opening the door but that process is not terrible. Use an extending break off razor knife with 3-4" exposed to cut through the goo adhesive and a heat gun to soften to reactivate when putting back together.

One "duh" method to kill the pet l power drain is to remove the lamp but can you do from outside or do you have to pull the door panel anyhow?

Urgh! I love the puddle lights at night it's a classy touch but what a pain in the a**! It flat out sucks that it won't shut off through the settings. What exactly would I have to replace? The light itself? Or the whole door handle [as in unattach cables and reattach?]
&*%$$#@!!

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It would shut off with settings if not broken. More than likely the window switch module is where it's controlled. That pulls out with a plastic trim tool. If I'm correct you can unplug there with any luck has its own plug.

Thanks for this.
Good question. I'm hoping somebody would chime in that has replaced that the Door handle As I would like to keep it original or if there's a fix like a new lamp or taking it apart and cleaning and then using some silicone for protection from corrosion or even modifying with a protective cover so the water drips elsewhere… dunno
If I'm gonna go in there I would certainly want to fix it rather than make it not work. Whether that's completely replacing the door handle or trying to fix it and/or modify it so it stays fixed is the challenge...


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I don't think the defect is in the handle it should be in the door window switch box. Pull that out and unplug the connector/s.

There should be 2-3 connectors. You should also be able to see if one connector goes to actuator and splits off to light the handle. I have e53 no handle light just under door puddle lights so I can't compare