[Chris777X5]

Hi There,
The AUTO LIGHTING AND WIPING SYSTEM FAILURE MESSAGE came on.
Took it to the dealership, they want to charge $650 to $800 to replace the rain/light sensor.
I removed the plastic faring/cover near the rear view mirror and noticed a loose wire.
Anyone know what this is and how to connect it back ? I've circled it in red.
Is there a missing piece or is the wire supposed to be soldered to the windshield like the one attached ?
[ATTACH][/ATTACH]
Thank you,
Chris

[RickObe]

Your post says "2024 X5 45e". Isn't the car still under warranty?

It does look like that wire needs to be reattached to the windshield like the one next to it. I have no idea if it's soldered, glued or something else. Have you showed this to the dealer. Perhaps they'll know how and be able to reattach it.

[Chris777X5]

It is under warranty, 2023, I mis typed. Am the 2nd owner.
The dealer says the glass was replaced by the first owner and the rain sensor is malfunctioning and not covered by warranty.
When I opened the plastic faring/cover. Can see clearly the loose wire.
Am curious if this can be fixed by reattaching the wire of if the rain sensor needs to be replaced as well.
In any case I want to reattach the wire and see what happens.
Am taking to to a glass repair shop, they may be able to solder or glue the wire back.
Am surprised that the other wire is directly soldered to the glass, I'd think there should be some sort of connector on the glass for the wires to clip into.

[nZtiZia]

how is that not covered by warranty? I’d contest that

[RickObe]

Since the glass can be replaced, then clearly those connections can be removed and re-attached. The question is how.

If you don't have any luck changing the dealer's mind on warranty, I'd try to figure out who did the glass replacement and try to get them to fix it.

[Chris777X5]

Update:
Took it to an independent glass place.
It appears the windshield was replaced with a non OEM windshield by the previous owner.
The dangling wire is for the heating circuit in the windshield for the lane keeping camara.
Apparently it comes attached to the glass from vendor, its a 12v circuit and cannot be reattached to the glass via soldering.
They said best to replace the front windshield with OEM windshield, which will come with the wires attached.

There may be a silver compound to attach the wire back to the electrical contacts. am searching online.

The dangling wire is a separate issues (heating element) from the rain sensor error code.

The dealership won't cover rain sensor replacement under warranty as they say is was damaged by the windshield replacement folks by the previous owner.
Not sure if the rainsensor is faulty or the gel pack has bubbles etc.

[Chris777X5]

This is what the rain sensor looks like from the outside.
Looks like they hacked up the Jell pad when installing the windshield.

[Jcit]

One time I put some 8' lumber in my SUV and when I closed the rear hatch it pushed through and cracked the windshield. Thankfully I have full glass coverage so it was replaced using OEM parts by my insurance company. Accidents like this happen all the time right?