Comfort Access Issue/Limp Mode with Several Fault Codes [Fixed]

[K44OLO]

Hi All,

Thought to share a little experience.

My 2013 640i F06 (tuned) was always showing battery low message every morning (for several months) and it would disable some functions like folding mirrors till the car warms up or get started.

This continued for months as I ignored the issue. One morning, I got in the car and I was greeted with Christmas tree lights on the dashboard and iDrive. This included drivetrain, brake system, airbag and a few more. Power steering also disabled. Car was stuck in comfort mode. Speedometer stopped working. Only the rev meter and temperature meter were working. Fuel gauge went bonkers. I noticed the fuel consumption was different. I guess the car lost its efficiency functions. The gear, handbrakes and Parking sensors developed minds of their own - playing up as they wished.

I changed the battery (new 105Ah from stealership) and registered it with ISTA D but the problem didn’t go away.

I visited independent workshops, the took £50 for diagnosis and said car isn’t communicating with DSC module then offered several weeks away option of looking into it. The car is my daily, couldn’t wait - needed a quick fix. Called stealership and agreed to recover it to them. They looked at it within 72hrs (£160 per hr) and said DSC fuse keeps blowing that it must be the car door handles. That was the weirdest diagnosis ever - in my opinion. Told them to fix it but they gave unknown day of getting my car back. Being my daily, I couldn’t wait again.

So I collected the car and went on the internet - forums, YouTube, etc. Found out the comfort entry door handle thing is a big issue with these models - F series.

I disabled the comfort entry door handles by removing the connector at the door handle itself. See how here:

Then I put new 5amp DSC fuse, pressed the start button. Instantly, all fault codes related to limp mode disappeared. Power steering returned, car regained full power. Only fault code that remained is that of the door handles. I have driven for 24hrs now, fuse is intact and hasn’t blown.

Then I ordered new set of comfort entry door handles.

Will update as soon as I install them.

[FlyinLowSD]

Thank you for sharing!

[K44OLO]

Originally Posted by FlyinLowSD

Thank you for sharing!

Glad you find it useful. 😊

[K44OLO]

Thought to update…car drives perfectly with no issues. No battery drain, no fault lights/notification on dash and new door handles work perfectly. No issues for the past few weeks.

I decided to hook up ISTA today to see what’s stored and possibly clear out any lingering fault codes, as the previous fault notifications on the dash disappeared after fitting new door handles - didn’t clear codes.

ISTA showed the stored codes for the door handles. I cleared them, but they were still there when I checked again. The only explanation I have is that the car doesn’t fully recognise the door handles because they are not OEM.

I feel I can live with the codes as long as the car drives well and there are no issues.

Am I wrong? Should I be worried?

[omnif06]

Having this same issue today. Does your comfort access still work wven with the aftermarket parts?

[K44OLO]

Originally Posted by omnif06

Having this same issue today. Does your comfort access still work wven with the aftermarket parts?

Yup! Works amazingly well, no issues. Who says the Chinese will not eventually become superpower? 😂 They taking over 🤣

Only thing is, in an attempt to keep selling parts, the West (Germans) have configured the software to only recognise their parts. 😂 So you will still have it showing on ISTA as an issue, but no warning light (whatsoever) on dashboard.

I think it’s safe to buy some of these cheap aftermarket parts. But you have to be clever enough to know when not to go cheap. For example, anything heavy on hardware and little electrical, I go AUTODOC. If it’s light on hardware (plastic) and light on electrical (except if it’s vital sensors like camshaft sensor, etc - definitely OEM), I go cheap - Chinese. If it’s a vital part of the car, heavy on hardware and electrical, I go stealership - OEM.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

[omnif06]

My mechanic sent me the autel report and is telling me it might be my dme. But i told him the dorr handle stopped working before i found out the current issue