New windscreen = lost GPS

R

russ1911

Member
Hi all,

About a week ago I had my windscreen replaced by Autoglass due to a spreading crack near the edge. All seemed fine until a couple of days ago, when my car's nav suddenly thought I was driving through fields. Initially I attributed this to being on some newly built roads near Kettering, but it has now not resolved itself after a few trips on older roads. I found how to see the service menu, and that's where I can now see no GPS satellites are being picked up, highlighting a problem with the GPS sensor itself.

I can see from RealOEM that the sensor sits somewhere around the rear view mirror, which leads me to believe that the replacement of the windscreen has caused a problem, either with the sensor itself or the wiring leading to it.

I have contacted Autoglass, who can't get anybody to me until Weds at the earliest.

Does anybody have any insight if this is likely to be the cause - I can see this becoming an argument if there is no evident damage by the Autoglass installer? If anybody has any pics of the antenna location / wiring itself in advance that would be very helpful.

Cheers!
 
I bet they have chopped through the nav sensor wiring behind the rear view mirror ..

Common thing when changing screens on BMW's..
 
Very annoying - hopefully it'll be a simple admission of guilt and a fix, but somehow I'm not sure it'll be as easy as that...
 
So as an update, the Autoglass chap came today and removed the light cluster to reveal the GPS antenna.

All the wiring appeared in tact and the antenna wiring itself should have been particularly safe, as it doesn't really run near the screen. What I did find out, however, is that the clip holding the antenna in place is fixed directly to the glass, therefore the fitter would have had to remove it in order to put the new screen on.

Next step is to go to BMW to find out what the problem is, then, should they say the fault was caused by Autoglass, they should pay up.

Wonder if they'll pay for my fuel and lost time in getting it sorted out...
 
Was there power to every wire?

i ask as autoglass chopped through the entire loom on my car. I saw him do it, so god knows what woukd gave happened if i hadn't. Even then, he wanted to fit the screen and get me to call his office when he'd gone. I made him reconnect every wire and i tested before he could leave.
 
Ah, I did see that pic in my searches and in my haste I thought it was the wiring to the sensors behind the mirror that were severed, not the whole loom!

I will show the BMW tech that pic tomorrow when it goes in for their diagnosis.

Fingers crossed it will be sorted swiftly...
 
So, turns out that the installer damaged the GPS antenna pulling it out / putting it into its holder clip. BMW tech brought it over to me and there is a clear 1" crack in the PCB, clearly caused by stress in removal / replacement.

Diagnosis, new GPS antenna and labour came in at £190. Autoglass said on Friday it would "probably" be fine to proceed. I told them I was getting it done the next day and they need to pay for it. Awaiting a call today to resolve...

Good news is that there are no signs of other damage and all other related functions seem to be working correctly.

Deary me...
 
I had a windscreen replaced in my 530d some time ago. Wasn't happy with aftermarket parts given that they have sensors etc fitted. The insurers said they would pay the amount that autoscreens would charge and not more. I went to the bmw dealership, and said would they fit genuine for that price (think it was about £620), and they agreed. List price was a lot more.
Worth asking your dealers if they will price match.
Nick
 
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