Rear Demist

flybobbie

Elite
 Stourbridge
Managed to cure all my rattles, but recently a rattle appeared in the nearside corner of rear window. So finally got round to tracking it down. Only to find the rear demist connection had become detached from window and was tapping against the black plastic trim attached to the roof lining.. The solder joint had broken off the glass.

First sign of trouble here was when i first bought the car and a grey patch was seen within the black border on the rear window from the outside. Several months later i discovered the rear demist connector had become unbonded from the window and had pulled off the black paint, but was electrically connected, so didn't want to fiddle with it too much. Managed to hide the patch with a blob of black paint.
So now unsupported the metal tab to window as broken off.
Might be able to solder back on next Summer, but could be a weak point to look out for.

Looks like the push-on connector to window element was glued to the rear window, but the black border provided a poor contact surface for the glue.
 
I had that a couple of years back and had the rear screen replaced under warranty. Must be the flexing of the roof etc... Glad to know it's not just my car, though no solace to you I know. If its under warranty get it done FOC.
 
Way out of warranty. Only time i had this problem on a Peugeot 106 when i accendently broke the connection when cleaning rear window.
When the weather gets warmer will try to resolder on.
Fortunately gets little use as it seems to clear quickly by using the front demist.
 
Well tried to solder the connector back on, but the base material is too thin to take any heat, so will have to live without.
 
Is there some kind of glue that would work that is electrically conductive?
 
That's not a bad thought... ebay lists both liquid and tape options....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/conductive-adhesive
 
Have you spoken to a dealer re this issue? It maybe that BMW know that this can happen and may offer to fix as a goodwill gesture. I had to have my roof on my E88 1 series replaced and car was a year out of warranty. BMW knew there was an issue and dealt with it when it arose. Basically I paid them £200 and I got over £3k worth of work done as goodwill.
 
flybobbie said:
Not worth the aggro, for them to break something else.

+1

Having said that I had mine replaced... its not 100% aligned but only I can tell because I'm anal that way :rofl: Still, rather that than a constantly fogged up rear window.
 
Back
Top Bottom