[nukezero]

I just had my windshield replace last month with a cheap chinese aftermarket windshield. I see no discernible differences between this one and the OEM one other than the OEM one cost 5 times as much.

But, one thing I noticed was the rain sensor was no longer operating correctly. It would not respond as fast or it would take its time to swipe even under moderate rain. There would be pauses and such and it would never go into the fastest speed.

However, rest assured, you need to bust out the BavTech tool and go to the rain sensor and hit reinitialize. I don't know what it does but after I did that, the wipers are swiping properly and can go into the super fast mode. My guess is that the sensor needs to be calibrated to the new windshield.

Just FYI.

[e92_enthusiast_1]

First, thanks for the info nuke. Second, is the BavTech tool available for purchase? I couldn't find it on their website. I ordered a cable and it came with INPA/EDIABAS/DIS. Im also going to test bmwLogger2. Should I try BavTech's tool? easier to use and such? Sorry to hijack your thread.

[grzes]

oh, good to know, thx for the info

[NormE91]

I've heard some others say they had to do this, I didn't. I had my windshield replaced a few months ago and the auto wipers work fine.

I wonder why some need the reinitializing?

[ctuna]

There are a lot of things you can't do with Bav Tech.
Same with BMW logger.(Although that is the one I would do
for easy use.) The above programs are limited for
programming and resets.
You need to slog through the Inpa ebidas ncs expert
dis setup it will get you a lot more power.
I don't see why you would have to setup the rain sensor it should work the same.
I would think that might have to do with the opaque
ness of the new glass and how cleanly they mounted it.

[e92_enthusiast_1]

Appreciate the info, ctuna.

Originally Posted by ctuna

There are a lot of things you can't do with Bav Tech.
Same with BMW logger.(Although that is the one I would do
for easy use.) The above programs are limited for
programming and resets.
You need to slog through the Inpa ebidas ncs expert
dis setup it will get you a lot more power.
I don't see why you would have to setup the rain sensor it should work the same.

[toniostyle]

I just had my winshield replaced a month ago too but I demanded OEM, which I got and the rain sensors work just fine since replacing it.

[fun2drive]

Mine was replaced with OEM with the sensor installed. No recalibration required and the service tech made sure the rain sensor was working correctly before replacing it with the new windshield with rain sensor...

[kdbryce]

My brother just had his replaced a few months ago. I wonder if his works or not.

He's at school in Philly, so he doesn't use it.

I'll have to check it out

[SSW]

I just had the windshield replaced last month under my insurance policy. Was told they were buying OEM parts for the replacement.

Have no clue if the rain sensor works or not because I don't drive it in the rain. The car was also supposedly recoded so that the sunroof closes when it rains. Also have no clue it that works or not either.

[ctuna]

Maybe you could test it by drizzling some water over the sensor while the moon roof is open.

[teeohdoor]

I had mine replaced a few months ago with OEM glass and it seems like it's working fine. Does the sensor always need to be re-initialized?

[Squark]

I had the same problem with the rain sensor when I bought my car. It would never wipe faster than a fast intermittent speed. I figured out that the previous owner had the windshield replaced. After I reinitialized the sensor it started working perfectly.

[a31cefiro]

Thanks for the info, It's been raining up here in NorCal as well and while driving in the rain today my wipers seemed to act funny, similar to yours. Had my windshield replaced with Pilkington 2 months ago. Would the dealership perform this reset/re-initialization upon request?

[Darryl79]

Originally Posted by SSW

I just had the windshield replaced last month under my insurance policy. Was told they were buying OEM parts for the replacement.

Have no clue if the rain sensor works or not because I don't drive it in the rain. The car was also supposedly recoded so that the sunroof closes when it rains. Also have no clue it that works or not either.

Guess I better get them checked out the next time I'm working w/a coder or take it into a shop.

Why don't you drive it in the rain? Afraid it's going to melt?

[SSW]

Originally Posted by Darryl79

Why don't you drive it in the rain? Afraid it's going to melt?

I only drive my F250 in the rain because it can drive through anything and I don't feel the need to wash it afterwards.

[nukezero]

If you replaced your OEM windshield with an OEM windshield, you probably won't need to re-initialize it. I should change my title.

But chances are, most people will use aftermarket windshields. I would recommend to reinitialize it. It doesn't harm anything.

[kisho]

Curious, do you have a condensation sensor as well? If so, does yours work?

[SSW]

Originally Posted by SSW

I just had the windshield replaced last month under my insurance policy. Was told they were buying OEM parts for the replacement.

Have no clue if the rain sensor works or not because I don't drive it in the rain. The car was also supposedly recoded so that the sunroof closes when it rains. Also have no clue it that works or not either.

I just sprayed some water on my windshield to check out the rain sensor. The wipers work on automatic, so the sensor works.

But, the sunroof doesn't close when the wipers are activated by the sensor, so the coding that was supposed to have been done to make it close when it rains apparently didn't happen. However, now that I think about it, I don't think I want the sunroof to close when it "rains," because (unless there's an override) it could close if I just use the windshield washers. So, I'm not going to bother changing that.

[nukezero]

Guys you need to understand just spraying water directly on the sensor doesn't predict how well the wipers will work. When the guy installed my windshield, sure he sprayed some windex water and the wiper responded quickly and wiped accordingly.

But it is when you put it under load and a real rain environment that you will know whether or not it is working correctly. For example, it has to detect the intensity and frequency of the rain and adjust the wiper speed as well whether or not there are pauses.

While in my garage, I could not get the wipers to engage to full speed (only medium speed) no matter how much and how fast of windex I was spraying at the sensor. But when I'm driving atleast 40+mph in moderate rain, then the wipers will kick in to full speed mode and adjust accordingly.

[SSW]

Originally Posted by nukezero

Guys you need to understand just spraying water directly on the sensor doesn't predict how well the wipers will work. When the guy installed my windshield, sure he sprayed some windex water and the wiper responded quickly and wiped accordingly.

But it is when you put it under load and a real rain environment that you will know whether or not it is working correctly. For example, it has to detect the intensity and frequency of the rain and adjust the wiper speed as well whether or not there are pauses.

While in my garage, I could not get the wipers to engage to full speed (only medium speed) no matter how much and how fast of windex I was spraying at the sensor. But when I'm driving atleast 40+mph in moderate rain, then the wipers will kick in to full speed mode and adjust accordingly.

Just bought my 335i in Dec and I'm still learning about the unique features of this car. Well, at least I know the sensor works well enough to turn on.

Guess I will have to actually drive it in the rain to see if it is working "properly" by varying the speed of the wipers w/the intensity of the rain.

Bringing the car in to get some coding done next week and will ask if the coder if he can "re-initialize" it just to make sure it's the way it's supposed to be to begin with.

[dsjr2006]

I might need to do this because mine almost never wipe correctly and the windshield seems to have been replaced by the previous owner.