Well we all know how troublesome the Comfort Access door handles are. Water gets in behind and corrodes the cables, shorting it out and potentially draining the battery. I of course had no Comfort Access on the driver door either.
I got a brand new OEM one in the correct colour on eBay for less than €200, they're more than twice that at the dealer and potentially four times as much installed in the correct colour.
After reading all the various methods of removing the handle, I did it with a flat head screwdriver to push the brass slider forwards, whilst pushing in on the brass tab with a hooked wire hanger.
Removing, unplugging the old one and installing the new one takes two minutes flat. But it can take a while to jimmy the slider etc into the correct position.
Anywho, the wires on the back of my handle were corroded and actually snapped in half, see below.
Old door handle out: (BMW again want €250 for two special tools to get the handle out, crazy)
New and old:
Old and new:
Corroded cables:
Now working again!
Well chuffed with the repair.
Now to repair the old one and keep as a spare.
Last edited by voodoomelon; 01-30-2014 at 07:35 PM.
Thank you, Voodoomelon. This is pretty good information. I'm in the US. I have the same problem on my 2007 750Li (e66). All three of the remaining doors function properly, but my driver's door (front left) is dead. Over time the control module will turn off the entire Comfort Access system due to the battery drain. It's rather funny that if I drive the car for long distances (3 or 4 hours) the CA system comes back on. I assume due to the alternator keeping the battery at a good charge (??), and the three "good" doors function again.
I was told by an independent garage that the replacement handle (OEM) would be around $625US (~ 400 pounds, I think) installed. Can you tell us if you've had any luck repairing your old handle? From your photographs, it looks like a little soldering might do the trick. huh?
Thanks, again for sharing.
Hey there.
Glad the post helped out.
Funny thing is, 18 months on and it's started to fail again. Comfort access only works 50% of the time.
These handles are a real pain in the ass. Haven't had a chance to see what's causing it this time, but will post back when I take a look.
You're right, looks like the original might be fixable, it's worth a shot.
Did you have to reprogram the handle to match the key hob or access the addition entry features?
There is a BMW bulletin and there may be an extended warranty on the door handle problem
If your good with tools and soldering. You can also open it up and solder the wires back together.
That's what I did on my B7
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