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BMW Rain Sensor Calibration

Learn how the diagnostic software from Snap-on can help you quickly and easily reset and re-calibrate sensors when completing a vehicle repair.

With the ever-changing technology on modern vehicles, even something as straightforward as replacing a windscreen means that there are also sensors to be reset and recalibrated before a job can be marked as complete.

You might think that sounds like a lot of extra time required but the software in the diagnostic platforms from Snap-on makes the process quick and simple for you.

Let’s take a look at the steps you need to follow in order to recalibrate the rain sensors on a BMW 328i using a Snap-on VERUS Edge scan tool.

Once you have hooked your VERUS Edge up to the vehicle and completed the identification steps, go Scanner then System Menu and finally Rain Light Sensor Module and allow your tool to communicate with the vehicle to acquire more information.

That stage takes just a few seconds so when it is complete head to Functional Tests, Special Functions, and Rain Sensor Initialisation.

You will then be presented with the following message: “This service function only initialises the rain sensor and newly adapts it to the windscreen. The initialisation does not impact the light sensor.”

Hit Carry out the Initialisation, but before continuing further you will need to ensure that the following conditions are met:

  • The windscreen is dry, clean and undamaged in the area of the sensor
  • The ambient temperature is between 15°C and 35°C
  • The gel pad of the sensor must be bonded to the windscreen without bubbles – however, small bubbles can be removed by loosening the pad and adjusting it

Once they are all OK, hit Yes and the initialisation will run. Firstly it will delete the old values and then you need to switch the vehicle off for a few seconds.

The diagnostic software from Snap-on can help you quickly and easily reset and re-calibrate sensors when completing a vehicle repair.

Switch it back on again, wait for a further ten seconds to allow the sensor to calibrate itself to the new windscreen, then hit Next.

A message stating “Service Function Finished” will display so tap on OK and that completes the recalibration.