[Matt2408]

So a couple weeks back I noticed that my passenger door handle had a code for a malfunction and the comfort access wasn’t working. Now we had snow and so I left my car to sit, didn’t want to drive it in the snow and salt, I did start it after it’s been like 8 days and it started no problems/faults. Now two days later and go to unlock it, lights turn on all seems normal but mirrors didn’t fold out so I used the button to unfold them but then after starting saw the warning for “increased battery discharged” electrical devices temporarily turned off. I made sure everything was unplugged when I left it and no issues after 8 days but now just 2-3 days after that and I guess it failed to go to sleep. It still started fine, didn’t take long to crank. I drove it a couple miles and had it running for like 10 minutes, warning is still there. Does it just need more time to reset?

Back to the handle, I believe this would be the only thing that could cause this. Now sure if it keeps trying to read a signal or something. Can I simply unplug the CA cable? From what I checked there’s 2 connections, one for the light and one for the CA. If I unplug the comfort access for the handle would that work before I get a replacement? Or could it cause it to keep looking for the handle?

[ctcarbonari]

From the best of my understanding with CA, you should just be able to unplug the connection to the handle and that will eliminate the parasitic drain. The CA handles are notorious for shorting out at the soldered connection point with the circuit board. In your case, maybe water ingressed onto the circuit board and then froze?

I'd charge your battery up and monitor the voltage & state of charge for awhile as well.

When I had a CA go bad on my 15' 535i the symptoms were intermittent. I'd get the "Increased Discharge While Stopped" error message if the car sat for ~2 days AND there was heavy rain.

FWIW, these were my error codes at the time:
D90D1E: LIN bus error FBD receiver 1
9307B5: DAYS passenger door / rear side (BFTH): Short circuit DATA line to ground
9307B6: DAYS passenger door / rear side (BFTH): Invalid current value on unlocking line

In my case, I never replaced the handle. After a couple of weeks it stopped shorting out (and I lost the CA features completely). Now I'm left with this active error code:
9307B6: DAYS passenger door / rear side (BFTH): Invalid current value on unlocking line

The door locks & operates just fine. I just can't use the CA touch features on that handle. All other handles and CA operation work fine. No more parasitic drain.
So, for me, replacing this handle is low on the priority list.

[Surly73]

From my recollection the "Discharging while stopped" message and the "Charge battery" message each display for one or two ignition cycles after the problem is actually resolved.
[ i.e. if you encounter a Charge Battery message, then you connect a charger overnight, you'll get "Charge Battery" again the next time you shut down the car and then it will stop ]

In OP's case, I don't see any reason to believe that the problem has been resolved. On the other hand it seems to be escalating. I have read that sometimes the CA handles can feel warm depending on the exact fault. Also sometimes, if you walk around the car with the CA key with you, when you get close to the failing handle you can hear it constantly unlocking or re-locking the doors which can give you a hint as to which handle.

Or, just grab your Torx driver and start disconnecting until your problem is solved. You said that one particular handle had an error code - that's almost certainly it.

OP/Matt - you made my day by not posting that you went out and installed a new battery LOL. Every third post on the forums these days seems to be a "discharging while stopped" post.

[ctcarbonari]

Originally Posted by Surly73

From my recollection the "Discharging while stopped" message and the "Charge battery" message each display for one or two ignition cycles after the problem is actually resolved.
[ i.e. if you encounter a Charge Battery message, then you connect a charger overnight, you'll get "Charge Battery" again the next time you shut down the car and then it will stop ]

In OP's case, I don't see any reason to believe that the problem has been resolved. On the other hand it seems to be escalating. I have read that sometimes the CA handles can feel warm depending on the exact fault. Also sometimes, if you walk around the car with the CA key with you, when you get close to the failing handle you can hear it constantly unlocking or re-locking the doors which can give you a hint as to which handle.

Or, just grab your Torx driver and start disconnecting until your problem is solved. You said that one particular handle had an error code - that's almost certainly it.

OP/Matt - you made my day by not posting that you went out and installed a new battery LOL. Every third post on the forums these days seems to be a "discharging while stopped" post.

In OP's case the problem is not resolved until handle is disconnected replaced, or, as in my case, he eventually gets lucky and the CA handle breaks for good and stops shorting out. In my case, the handle would only short and cause a drain when rain water would ingress.

+1 to walking around and listening for the constant lock/unlock. That's exactly what my handle did.
+1 for BMW error codes - "Hey dummy, it's THIS handle"

+1000 for not running out, swapping the battery, and then posting registration/coding questions. (no kidding @ every third post seems to be a discharge while stopped during these winter months)