Rain Sensor Issues

[imola red zhp]

I have a problem with my rain sensor detecting water on any setting. Windshield was replaced and I think that is the cause. Are the any ways to troubleshoot or adjust setting to make wipers function correctly.....
Thanks

sent by new technology DA

[kayger12]

Not that I've read.

I've read countless threads about aftermarket glass not playing well with the sensor, though.

[imola red zhp]

Thanks Keith my research comes up same, may be a glass issue. My windshield was replaced with Pilkington with a DOT# that say mfg. in Mexico. ..

sent by new technology DA

[kayger12]

Thanks Keith my research comes up same, may be a glass issue. My windshield was replaced with Pilkington with a DOT# that say mfg. in Mexico. ..

sent by new technology DA

Yeah, unfortunately it seems like if we want continued functionality we have to pony up for the OEM stuff. PITA

[imola red zhp]

Yeah, unfortunately it seems like if we want continued functionality we have to pony up for the OEM stuff. PITA

Yea guess I'll start following trucks to get a new one.....LOL

sent by new technology DA

[kayger12]

:rofl

[mLuMaN83]

Mine hasn't worked since day 1. Had windshield replaced and still no dice. Bogus. That was one of the features I was looking forward to with this car.

[Newjack]

Yeah, unfortunately it seems like if we want continued functionality we have to pony up for the OEM stuff. PITA

Wasn't the OE glass on our cars Pilkington? I remember some of it being Pilkington and some a different brand.

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[gmurphy]

Wasn't the OE glass on our cars Pilkington? I remember some of it being Pilkington and some a different brand.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

I believe it is Pilkington.


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[wsmeyer]

My buddy needed a new windshield for his 550. Jumped through hoops to get his insurance to cover OEM glass then found the installer that does all the work for the local BMW dealer. After all of that the guy shows up to do the install and we start talking about the sensor and aftermarket glass. He was adamant that the glass is never the problem, it is always from a poorly installed sensor or they tried to reuse the old sensor. He said there is no way to remove the sensor from the glass without destroying the adhesive and it's still tricky to get a new one on the glass perfectly with absolutely no air bubbles.

[webster]

i hate the auto wiper feature. i end up always using the control stalk manually to active the wipers, which is also a PITA. but anything above a faint drizzle and my auto wipers FREAK OUT and start wiping super fast. which if the rain is steady but not heavy, causes streaking and rubbing sounds, and accelerates wear on the wiper blades.

[kayger12]

My buddy needed a new windshield for his 550. Jumped through hoops to get his insurance to cover OEM glass then found the installer that does all the work for the local BMW dealer. After all of that the guy shows up to do the install and we start talking about the sensor and aftermarket glass. He was adamant that the glass is never the problem, it is always from a poorly installed sensor or they tried to reuse the old sensor. He said there is no way to remove the sensor from the glass without destroying the adhesive and it's still tricky to get a new one on the glass perfectly with absolutely no air bubbles.

Great info.

[NorCalZman]

So it sounds like a good rule of thumb would be to find shops that do glass work for the BMW dealership. :-)

[derbo]

i hate the auto wiper feature. i end up always using the control stalk manually to active the wipers, which is also a PITA. but anything above a faint drizzle and my auto wipers FREAK OUT and start wiping super fast. which if the rain is steady but not heavy, causes streaking and rubbing sounds, and accelerates wear on the wiper blades.



Even at the lowest setting on the stalk for INT?

[ELCID86]

I had the same issue with my recent install of Pilkington glass (also with my auto headlights being on during daylight). I ended up pulling the fuse and reverting to intermittent wipers. I have purchased another used sensor and when I get the glass reinstalled (hopefully Fri dependent on Snowmageddon #2) I'll try both sensors. The glass tech did say he thinks they often get dust in them and don't work right.

Will let you know if I can isolate it.

[webster]

Even at the lowest setting on the stalk for INT?

yep, even at the lowest setting. easily the worst feature of the car IMO. probably the 2nd biggest annoyance next to the rear deck rattle.

[kayger12]

^It's just not functioning properly. I find it very unobtrusive. Probably one of my favorite features. Set and forget...

[derbo]

That's rather interesting, I feel like mine never moves until its pretty misty.

sent from Moto X Dev edition

[webster]

oh i forgot about the sunroof that inevitably dies as well. lol.

anyone got a link to a technical explanation of the rain sensing auto wipers? i'm guessing it's expensive to have any service on that component?

also forgot to mention that the wipers will speed up with the car's speed. so at lowest setting on INT, at the same rainfall pace, the wipers will move faster on the freeway than on the backroads. similar to the radio auto-volume adjustment (which i despise as well...isn't the point of all that heavy sound insulation to make the car sound the same volume at 20 mph as 80mph???? ok then, the radio volume does not need to change!).

funny how a car i love so much can have such weird problems. on `my acuras and nissans of past, i never cared about the driving experience, but they didn't have these kinds of minor bugs.

[Newjack]

oh i forgot about the sunroof that inevitably dies as well. lol.

anyone got a link to a technical explanation of the rain sensing auto wipers? i'm guessing it's expensive to have any service on that component?

also forgot to mention that the wipers will speed up with the car's speed. so at lowest setting on INT, at the same rainfall pace, the wipers will move faster on the freeway than on the backroads. similar to the radio auto-volume adjustment (which i despise as well...isn't the point of all that heavy sound insulation to make the car sound the same volume at 20 mph as 80mph???? ok then, the radio volume does not need to change!).

funny how a car i love so much can have such weird problems. on `my acuras and nissans of past, i never cared about the driving experience, but they didn't have these kinds of minor bugs.

Without veering too far off topic, you can adjust and turn off the sound increase with speed increase. I'm at work and can't really search for it, but I'm pretty sure its on the E46 wiki.

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[webster]

thanks, would love a link if you can find one!

[webster]

nvm found it:


Changing speed sensitive volume control

On cars without NAV

First, don't be driving while doing this procedure.

Turn the radio off then on again. Don't touch any button except the 'm' button - the button you use to tune the radio frequency manually. Press and hold the 'm' button for TEN seconds or until the display changes. IIRC, it shows the serial number of the unit. Normally when you press 'm', the display will reflect that by replacing 'ST' (stereo tuning) with 'm'. When holding the 'm' button for this procedure, the display should not do this - you will continue to see 'ST' for the ten seconds.

Now if the display has changed, you are in a configure mode on the radio. If you press the '+' or '-' button you change modes. The mode you want will display as "GAL (1-6)". This mode allows you to adjust the speed-sensitive volume control. Use the radio preset buttons 1-6 to set the amount of volume change you want at speed. Setting 1 is the smallest change, 6 is the highest.

I use 1 with the windows closed, and 4 when it's a nice day and I drive with the windows open which makes for a lot of ambient noise at speed. The car is so quiet with the windows closed that setting 1 is plenty. On my car the default setting from the factory was 3 and it bugged me too.

Then turn the radio OFF to save the settings. Turn it back on and go for a drive to test it. The other semi-useful test mode will tell you the signal strength of any given station from 0 to 15 (highest). Use the preset buttons to change stations in the mode. This capability is probably used in the automatic tuning functions in the radio.

On cars with NAV

Get in the car, close the door, and turn the ignition to position 1 (accessory. As soon as the monitor comes on, press and hold the RDS button for aprox 12 sec. Using the arrow keys, near the Tone and Select buttons, scroll to heading "GAL" (German acronym for speed depandant volume) The default setting will be displayed. To change, use the number keys 1-6, 1 being less increase, 6 being maximum. Edit: The radio needs to be on when making this change.

[derbo]

My buddy needed a new windshield for his 550. Jumped through hoops to get his insurance to cover OEM glass then found the installer that does all the work for the local BMW dealer. After all of that the guy shows up to do the install and we start talking about the sensor and aftermarket glass. He was adamant that the glass is never the problem, it is always from a poorly installed sensor or they tried to reuse the old sensor. He said there is no way to remove the sensor from the glass without destroying the adhesive and it's still tricky to get a new one on the glass perfectly with absolutely no air bubbles.


Totally right. There are two sections to the rain sensor. The actual lense itself is attached to the windshield with some sort of clear glue/silicon. I noticed many aftermarket glasses do not have the said purple lense and many vendors will try and reuse the old lense. Most often than not, they do a terrible job and results in a poor visibility for the lense. It's not really the installers fault, its just what they are given and what to make due with.

They solved it for the newer bmw cars where you can get this:

You need the substitute hockey puck thing below

61359248398

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/diagrams/g/r/233.png

[BRGcoopahS]

My rain sensing wipers don't wipe enough and I always find myself pressing it down to wipe it clean. What's funny is my old Mini had the same feature.... Except it actually worked. My Mini also had a much better H/K stereo. Cheaper car with better working features. Go figure.

[az3579]

i hate the auto wiper feature. i end up always using the control stalk manually to active the wipers, which is also a PITA. but anything above a faint drizzle and my auto wipers FREAK OUT and start wiping super fast. which if the rain is steady but not heavy, causes streaking and rubbing sounds, and accelerates wear on the wiper blades.

Adjust the sensitivity on the stalk.


yep, even at the lowest setting. easily the worst feature of the car IMO. probably the 2nd biggest annoyance next to the rear deck rattle.

Funny thing is, I refuse to drive a car now that doesn't have it. Having to constantly manually adjust it is the thing I find the most irritating on cars that don't have auto wipers. Works perfectly 99% of the time for me. :dunno

[gmurphy]

Adjust the sensitivity on the stalk.



Funny thing is, I refuse to drive a car now that doesn't have it. Having to constantly manually adjust it is the thing I find the most irritating on cars that don't have auto wipers. Works perfectly 99% of the time for me. :dunno

I love the auto wipers too.


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[ELCID86]

I had the same issue with my recent install of Pilkington glass (also with my auto headlights being on during daylight). I ended up pulling the fuse and reverting to intermittent wipers. I have purchased another used sensor and when I get the glass reinstalled (hopefully Fri dependent on Snowmageddon #2) I'll try both sensors. The glass tech did say he thinks they often get dust in them and don't work right.

Will let you know if I can isolate it.
Install delayed due to weather. Hoping for Mon or Tue.

[webster]

Adjust the sensitivity on the stalk.





you mean the little notches on the INT setting, or is there another way to adjust it? like i said, i have it on the "slowest" setting and it still is too fast.

[ELCID86]

New pilkington glass installed today. I swapped out the RLS for one I got from a guy on e46f. The "new" one works even though it doesn't look as good as the old one. We put both in to ensure the old was faulty.


Thumbs, iPhone, Tapatalk.

[Dual]

I thought I'd update this thread with my experiences from the last 6 months or so.

Late last November I found a small rock chip on my windshield, in a location where invisible glass repair wouldn't take. Because I was unaware of discussions like this one, I let my insurance company's glass installer (Safelite), come to my home and install a third-party windshield and molding*.

As to the windshield, I won't bore you with everything I've been through since November, except to note how amazingly supportive the manager of the local Safelite operation has been. All of the subsequent work has been done at their shop. We are now waiting for a BMW OEM windshield to be installed at their expense sometime in the coming week- they’ve already replaced the sensor and molding,

Here’s what I learned from my indie shop’s owner in the process. He says, as mentioned above, that any tiny flaw in the gel pack sensor mount will cause problems. Here’s why: the sensor is looking for rain. If it sees fake rain (any tiny flaw in the mount) appearing across multiple startups it views it as an event that can’t possibly be caused by rain and triggers a sensor error. Resetting the sensor will fail, because the sensor still sees the flaw.

It’s effectively impossible to install a sensor by itself because of flaws that will be introduced. The only way to install an error-free sensor is to install a windshield with a gel pack preinstalled on the glass: an OEM windshield. (Also, FWIW, the system has to be reset after any new sensor goes in, and at level higher than my PASoft can address. PASoft is giving me messages to the effect of “Sensor still not reset”.)

Not wanting to spring for a BMW windshield (yet) Safelite installed a new sensor, which improved things, but not completely: the wipers don’t respond to steady rain. Upon examining the sensor mount I can see a tiny flaw in the mounting gel.

So we’re now waiting for an OEM windshield with the sensor mount in place to be installed this week. I’ll report on how this goes. I hope this has been coherent- it's hard to pull all this information together.

*Both of these items are critical, as it turns out: BMW molding is required because it's shaped to channel rain up and onto the roof above the windows: an incorrect molding lets rain get blown into the car.

[BMWCurves]

Thanks for the update

[ELCID86]

Thanks for the update

+1. I think. Now you have all of us who have had front glass replaced wondering...

[az3579]

+1. I think. Now you have all of us who have had front glass replaced wondering...

I do wonder what would have happened if I didn't go back to Safelite and complain about the aftermarket glass they put in initially. They ended up giving me a Genuine BMW glass after that, no questions asked (amazing service), which is what I have now. I do occasionally have an issue with the rain sensor, which is that occasionally the auto wipers will be constantly on even though it's just a light drizzle. I never did a calibration on it though, so I may just do that. It's not an issue most of the time as it functions normally enough to make me not get driven crazy by it, and this is why I think a calibration isn't going to help in this case.

[san]

My rain sensing wipers never work [emoji853]
Guess u know why now


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[nextelbuddy]

I thought I'd update this thread with my experiences from the last 6 months or so.

Late last November I found a small rock chip on my windshield, in a location where invisible glass repair wouldn't take. Because I was unaware of discussions like this one, I let my insurance company's glass installer (Safelite), come to my home and install a third-party windshield and molding*.

As to the windshield, I won't bore you with everything I've been through since November, except to note how amazingly supportive the manager of the local Safelite operation has been. All of the subsequent work has been done at their shop. We are now waiting for a BMW OEM windshield to be installed at their expense sometime in the coming week- they’ve already replaced the sensor and molding,

Here’s what I learned from my indie shop’s owner in the process. He says, as mentioned above, that any tiny flaw in the gel pack sensor mount will cause problems. Here’s why: the sensor is looking for rain. If it sees fake rain (any tiny flaw in the mount) appearing across multiple startups it views it as an event that can’t possibly be caused by rain and triggers a sensor error. Resetting the sensor will fail, because the sensor still sees the flaw.

It’s effectively impossible to install a sensor by itself because of flaws that will be introduced. The only way to install an error-free sensor is to install a windshield with a gel pack preinstalled on the glass: an OEM windshield. (Also, FWIW, the system has to be reset after any new sensor goes in, and at level higher than my PASoft can address. PASoft is giving me messages to the effect of “Sensor still not reset”.)

Not wanting to spring for a BMW windshield (yet) Safelite installed a new sensor, which improved things, but not completely: the wipers don’t respond to steady rain. Upon examining the sensor mount I can see a tiny flaw in the mounting gel.

So we’re now waiting for an OEM windshield with the sensor mount in place to be installed this week. I’ll report on how this goes. I hope this has been coherent- it's hard to pull all this information together.

*Both of these items are critical, as it turns out: BMW molding is required because it's shaped to channel rain up and onto the roof above the windows: an incorrect molding lets rain get blown into the car.


im sorry you are having so many issues with this but im going to say right now that most of what you have learned or were told about the windshield. molding and sensor gel pad is BS.

First let me explain.

my car is a 2003 and had NO RLS system. I retrofited it which means I had to get a new windshield as mine didnt have the sensor optical pad at all. I had a 3rd party windshield installed. I never even cared what the hell was installed or if it was BMW OE just as long as it had the sensor optical pad with it.

Before I even went down that route, the car I got my RLS sensor from was an M3 and had the optical pad on it. I used a heat gun and heated it up and peeled it off initially just so I could test it with the wiring retrofit I did before investing with a replacement windshield.

Because mine was peeled, it means there imperfections in the adhesive when I mounted it on the OLD windshield. not a ton but definitely had ripples and waves in the adhesive. in short it doesnt have to be 100% perfect to still work.

my sensor I used still had 0 issues with the Auto lights AND rain sensing capabilities. for my test for rain all I did was use a spray bottle and spray water onto the windshield where the sensor pad was and thats it. it worked as long as my wiper stalk was in the 1st setting NOT off. (RLS cars need the stalk in the 1st position for auto to work)

when I got the new windshield that had the brand new optical pad installed it was NOT a bmw windshield AND it came with a completely different molding. I asked about the molding and regardless of the answer the molding that was installed to me was still miles better than the OE one that they took off.

Once I installed the RLS sensor into the optical pad I had issues from auto lights not working all the time to rain sensor not activating.


All i had to do was use INPA to perform an Initialize of the sensor and then after that I just used the INPA live view to read the actual digital data that was displaying so I could see when it sensed rain AND i could see when the photo diodes saw bright light to deactivate the headlights.


in short, you are most likely wasting safelites time and yours by jumping through hoops to get an OEW windshield AND an OEM molding. more than likely thats not going to help and you just need to go down the INPA route to reinitialize the sensor.

sorry to be so blunt about it

[Dual]

My system could not be reinitialized when the pad was replaced, that's a big reason why we're going this "replace everything" route.

It's clear from reading this and other threads that individual experiences vary greatly in this regard. I'm passing on what I was told by my indie, who has worked on thousands of RLS systems. Safelite and I were unaware of third-party glass being available with the gel pad preinstalled: it might well do the job. As mentioned, we're in a wait-and-see position right now, waiting for the glass-with-pad to be put in..

I didn't mean to give the impression that I thought the molding was involved in the sensor problems- it's not. I wrote "BMW molding is required because it's shaped to channel rain up and onto the roof above the windows: an incorrect molding lets rain get blown into the car."

[nextelbuddy]

My system could not be reinitialized when the pad was replaced, that's a big reason why we're going this "replace everything" route.

It's clear from reading this and other threads that individual experiences vary greatly in this regard. I'm passing on what I was told by my indie, who has worked on thousands of RLS systems. Safelite and I were unaware of third-party glass being available with the gel pad preinstalled: it might well do the job. As mentioned, we're in a wait-and-see position right now, waiting for the glass-with-pad to be put in..

I didn't mean to give the impression that I thought the molding was involved in the sensor problems- it's not. I wrote "BMW molding is required because it's shaped to channel rain up and onto the roof above the windows: an incorrect molding lets rain get blown into the car."

i understand, it just makes no sense that the sensor itself cant be reinitialized due to the pad the initialization doesnt care, I could remove the sensor from the

pad leaving it dangled from the harness and initiate the re initialization process and it would work lol.

do you have a picture of the current RLS sensor you are using that shows the PN on it? there were 2 different RLS sensors that look virtually identical other than the PN. i also had issues with one RLS sensor being an incorrect older version and getting very inconsistent results until i got the proper one.

there were actually 3 RLS sensors. one was just a RAIN sensor in older E46 and physically looked different and had a different optical pad, then after that was the first revision RLS with different software and internal hardware and then a later revision that had updated software and internal hardware but looked physically the same and still fit into the same optical pad as previous generation one.

[Dual]

I certainly appreciate your input. Here you go-

29970

[nextelbuddy]

thats the right part number but that looks like a very recent revision. 2015 date and has a -02 moniker after the PN. did you get that brand new from somewhere?

if there was someone near you that had RLS sensor like a 2004 and above that could just loan yours for a min to test then that could help.

[Dual]

As I think I mentioned above it's a new sensor provided to me by Safelite. I don't know of people who could help with the test you mention. Hopefully a new windshield and pad will go atop the new sensor and everything will be great! Thanks for your help here.

[Dual]

Went on today. Praying for rain....

30008

30009

[kayger12]

Subscribed...

Windshield cracked. Calling Safelite in the morning...

[Dual]

Well, I have to say-as supportive as Safelite was, it certainly would have been easier if they had done it right the first time. If this is an insurance job- maybe you have other options?


iPhone/Tapatalk Pro

[kayger12]

Well, I have to say-as supportive as Safelite was, it certainly would have been easier if they had done it right the first time. If this is an insurance job- maybe you have other options?


iPhone/Tapatalk Pro

Yep, insurance job. One of those times when the $50 comprehensive deductible should come in handy.

I'll definitely ask about my options. Love the convenience of Safelite if they'll commit to doing oem glass and molding right out of the gate.

[danewilson77]

Yep, insurance job. One of those times when the $50 comprehensive deductible should come in handy.

I'll definitely ask about my options. Love the convenience of Safelite if they'll commit to doing oem glass and molding right out of the gate.
This is perfection. You'll pay for it though.

Sent from my S8+

[nextelbuddy]

Went on today. Praying for rain....

30008

30009


you dont need to wait for rain, make sure your wiper stalk is in the 1st position (putting it into the first position from "rest/0" will trigger the wipers once)

once its in the 1st position and you have no rain.. it should not move obviously, then get a spray bottle of water and spray water onto the sensor which should trigger the wipers.

while you are there, if you are in the garage, make sure your LCM is set to AUTO and your lights should be on, then take something like your phone with the LED/FLASH on or a flash light and shine it into the sensor and the lights should shut off in 5 seconds or less.

[Dual]

Yes, thanks for this: I knew about the rain sensor part. My sensor problem was a bit more complex, in that the wipers responded differently depending on how hard it is raining: thus a real world test is best for me.

[kayger12]

So far so good on my end.

Shout out to NJ Manufacturers Insurance who approved the $661 BMW glass for my 12 year old car. The Safelite tech must have told me ten times that he couldn't believe they approved the BMW glass-- he said he's seen companies deny OE glass on one year old cars.

Safelite started by verifying my rain sensor worked (he said that's required now as people are blaming them for non-functioning rain sensors that weren't working before the glass swap). Out with the old, in with the new, and verified the rain sensor was working.

I won't know for sure if everything is good until I drive her in the rain, but she passed the spray bottle test.
So at the end of the day, I got lucky and got a BMW windshield for my $50 deductible. :roundel

[danewilson77]

Win. As usual. Winning follows KG.

Sent from my S8+

[Sockethead]

I had NJM when I was in Jersey. I hated to give them up. The Ins. Co. In Jersey.
They said I'm a lifetime member if I ever move back

[Dual]

Forgot to update this, but in the end Safelite did shell out for all new OEM components: sensor, molding glass. I had the calibration checked by my indie shop. Everthing is working great!

[webster]

Congrats. I'm sure that's a good feeling.

[Dual]

Congrats. I'm sure that's a good feeling.

Thanks! Glad to have it resolved