multiple errors on dash caused by comfort door handle

[chris-w]

Just wanted to document this as the more information I found the more confident I was in trying to resolve the issue myself.

about a month ago I noticed the locks on my doors opening and closing a lot and when I closed it by pressing the button on the fob they popped open immediately again. I eventually got it to behave and thought nothing of it.

2 days ago I get in the car and see a notice about the battery being drained and something to do with consumers being offline after it was only parked up for 1 night.

First assumption was the battery is 7 years old and its getting cold as winter sets in so its not holding a charge any more or maybe it just needs a good charge. Plugged in my Ctek to the + and - in the trunk (first mistake)

This completely throws off the computerised battery level in the car, I only found this out after fully charging the battery. Never charge your car from the battery terminals.

Car is OK and it starts fine but all the errors are still present. It starts on the button fast and hard, battery doesn't seem to be an issue.

Started doing some digging online and found a few posts about comfort door handles causing issues and instantly remembered my crazy locking procedure the prior month.

Long story short I found out Fuse 2 (in the glove box) was burned out so confirmed comfort door handles. Got 4 spare 5 amp fuses and set to work removing each door handle (a 60 second procedure) and unplugging the comfort plug which is the 4 pin plug. and then put new fuse in and start car if fuse blew I knew I had the wrong handle.

on the second attempt I identified the rear drivers side handle as failed and left it unplugged all errors immediately gone and car runs fine again.

IMO really really stupid to have such an unnecessary feature / option wired in to the car in a way that makes the car completely unusable!

Currently leaving it left unplugged until a replacement in the right colour I found on ebay in Germany arrives.

All together a horrible experience and the battery issue is a big pain in the ass. I just don't understand why it all needs to be so complex, as an end user I cant even buy a new battery and just hook it up as you need to register it with the car!? madness.

[Dwaynos]

I had the exact same issue with my car, no blown fuses for me though. I would also get the key not present warning and have to put my fob against the steering column.

Near side front door handle thought someone was touching it all the time and caused a parasitic draw.

Mine is also left unplugged. I might get a new one one day.

[OneExtra]

All BMWs and most modern cars are charged through terminals under the bonnet, its why the battery is so hard to get to.

Surprised you didnt Google it first. Easy for me to comment after the fact though.

Great diagnosis on the handles.

[chris-w]

Originally Posted by OneExtra

All BMWs and most modern cars are charged through terminals under the bonnet, its why the battery is so hard to get to.

Surprised you didnt Google it first. Easy for me to comment after the fact though.

Great diagnosis on the handles.

Yea I'm only starting to realise that now, I've just always been a car nut and worked on a lot of cars in the past. Old habits die hard.

It literally took me 60 seconds to have the trickle charge on the battery terminals. Its more elusive to find the charging points in the engine bay!

I was so pleased I managed to bring the car back to life with a few minutes unplugging handles.

[Grizzle34]

i had both front handles and wiring harnesses replaced a few months ago at Eastern BMW in Edinburgh, took several weeks for the handles to come from Germany.

All fixed under warranty but the symptoms you described were handle related the draining of the battery and erratic locking and unlocking.

[Robbiejacomb]

Hi Chris, hope you are well? This is a long shot I’m not sure if you are still active in here but I’ve seen your thread on the comfort door handle problem. Could you drop me a message as soon as you can mate please as I think I have the same problem but would like to ask you a few questions. Cheers, Robbie

[Hoa]

Originally Posted by Robbiejacomb

Hi Chris, hope you are well? This is a long shot I’m not sure if you are still active in here but I’ve seen your thread on the comfort door handle problem. Could you drop me a message as soon as you can mate please as I think I have the same problem but would like to ask you a few questions. Cheers, Robbie

He is last active on Feb 2020