E61 Heated Rear Window

[mon the fish]

The heated rear window in our E61 has stopped working. It's not the fuse, I've tried that. I have read somewhere before about the tailgate wiring breaking down - is this likely to be the cause? All the other tailgate functions work fine - wiper etc.

Where am I best to start looking?

[CoolC]

Worth checking behind the trim that the connector to the glass hasn't come off.

[AlwynMike]

CoolC said:

Worth checking behind the trim that the connector to the glass hasn't come off.

+1

[Spanglepants]

Just repaired the heated rear window on mine. Horrible fiddly job and a fortune if you get BMW to do it.

Try these -

https://www.dropbox.com/s/l4ohzxt2dh1nmor/bmw%20E6...


http://forum.bmw5.co.uk/applications/core/interfac...

[stevesuk]

Also, if the E61 has similar battery charge monitoring to our E91, it could also be a symptom of the battery failing or running low on charge. The car cleverly disables items that drain the battery excessively when it realises there's not much charge left. Are your heated mirrors working?

[mon the fish]

Thanks for the replies. I used the guide posted to remove some of the trim, and I couldn't see anything wrong - still seems connected, and when I put it back together the wiper and washer were still working (didn't test the window, will wait until it steams up next) so at least I didn't break anything or make it worse.

Re: the battery theory - checked it today, it's showing 12.11v. Car was last used at 1730 on Sat night, on a 20 mile trip. Is that low enough to cause the issue stated? Also, stupid wife left the car parked with the sidelights on 3 months ago, flattened the battery, and I had to jump start it - so I'm conscious the battery may be weaker after being flattened

[TX1]

Probably the battery as my e92 does this when it has stood still for a few days however starts to work during a good run.
Also noticed that the control display brightness gets noticeably brighter when you rev the engine when the battery is running low.

[stevesuk]

With our E91, we found that if we sat in the car for say 10 minutes - with the key in the ignition but not switched on, eventually the car would go "bong!" and bring up a battery icon on the display screen. That was our first indication that the battery wasn't at it's best. Even giving the battery a full charge didn't seem to help much.

Not sure how the systems on the E60 compare.

How old is the car, and is it still on the original battery?

I bit the bullet and replaced our battery last autumn, because I feared it wouldn't make it through the winter. But the car (and battery) had just celebrated it's 11th birthday, so I was fairly happy with that

Just to add - in my experience, not all main dealer techs or BMW specialists seem to have any idea about the battery condition monitoring, and the switching off of high drain devices. An hour on Google, and I knew a lot more about that aspect of the car than our local specialist did...

Edited by stevesuk on Monday 6th March 21:26

[mon the fish]

Car is an 06, we've had it 4 years, AFAIK it's still on the original battery. Apart from being flattened a few months ago as said, we've had no other signs to say the battery is on it's way out.

I don't drive the car everyday, my wife does, but it does 25 miles each way to her work so gets a decent run each time it's used

[stevesuk]

mon the fish said:

Car is an 06, we've had it 4 years, AFAIK it's still on the original battery. Apart from being flattened a few months ago as said, we've had no other signs to say the battery is on it's way out.

I don't drive the car everyday, my wife does, but it does 25 miles each way to her work so gets a decent run each time it's used

Ours was still starting and running just fine - it was just the heated rear screen that was dead (it's been fine since we changed the battery).

Assuming the E60 uses the same system, you should also find (if it is the battery that's failing) that it's disabled your heated mirrors.

[Edward Leeming]

Hello

My E61 rear heated window has stopped working..
Is the connector for the window heating the red 3 pin plug that goes into the aft facing edge of the Diversity antenna?

Thanks

Edd