Comfort access short

[Hackettsan]

My 2012 X5 diesel has a consistent battery drain and the driver side rear door handle does not function properly (presumably related). Does anyone know of a fix other than replacing the handle? I'd be open to simply disconnecting it as the battery drain is a far greater issue than the easy access, but I do not know how to do that.

[tomjonesBT33]

You can just disconnect the handle. If the capacitive touch circuit in the handle is bad, disconnecting will prevent the battery drain.

Note you’ll get a minor error code A0xx or something close to that when handle is not connected but it doesn’t trigger a CEL / MIL.

[dmppdx]

Disconnecting the handle is pretty easy. You can youtube how to do it, but in summary, there is a rubber plug on the inside of the door frame, and a hex head bolt under that. Once that is removed, the handle just pulls out and the wire to it can be disconnected. Its about a 5 minute job.

[jbash87]

Yup. What they said.

pro tip: Zip tie or tape the connector back to the handle wiring so if you ever do decide to replace the handles you don't have to go fishing for the connector.

[BMLex]

Had the same problem ended up replacing with a used handle. If the handle gets hot then the capacitive sensor is bad. I removed the fuse, removed the handle and cut the wires in the back of the handle. This will prevent current going to the sensor.