[WilkesE90]

Hey guys,

I just recently picked up a 2007 BMW E90 335i this weekend. Given a slew of issues, this weekend would have been one of the only times I could have been able to have time to pick it up, thereby making time for a thorough thorough check over and review of its history a bit out of the question. Like most car guys, I wanted this car, and every car purchase "makes sense" when you're dying to go drive it!

Anyways, I noticed a few things after I picked it up that seemed a bit odd to me:

1. The front windshield is marked with what looks like a small circle of permanent marker. This made me think "was this replaced?" I looked in the lower left corner and it says "Guardian" instead of BMW symbol with the associated company (starts with a "P" I think). All the other windows have the BMW symbol, etc.
2. The front left headlight is also marked with a small circle from a black permanent marker. It is, however, a genuine BMW xenon headlight if it IS a replacement.
3. How do I know if my car has automatic rain sensing windshield wipers? Reason that I ask is that the cover that normally covers the rain sensor area above your rearview mirror is like way too long and does not look like the normal black plastic covering of the rain sensor that normally comes with E9x's (my mom has an E92 335i and it looks right, mine is way too long and has this empty space where there is nothing in there).

I don't know if there is a site that can do a thorough check because I got a Carfax report with the VIN and it showed that there were zero accidents and it has a clean title. However, maybe Carfax sucks and there is a better way to tell. Anyways, thanks in advance for any help with this situation!

[reprod]

Pics of the rain sensor please.

[bsamoul]

Here's a picture of my rain sensor:


And here's a picture of my window emblem (if that helps):

[mattsten]

Sometimes the dots on the lights represent different things done to the car on the lot. For example, at the dealer I worked at in college a white dot on a tail light meant the dent guy had already gone over the car....maybe it is something as simple as that. Carfax does not show all accidents, but a clean carfax is never a bad thing...

[WilkesE90]

Originally Posted by mattsten

Sometimes the dots on the lights represent different things done to the car on the lot. For example, at the dealer I worked at in college a white dot on a tail light meant the dent guy had already gone over the car....maybe it is something as simple as that. Carfax does not show all accidents, but a clean carfax is never a bad thing...

Yeah, I asked at the dealership and they said that the marking on the headlight was something they did for every car on the lot to identify them, so maybe you are right about that one!

Thank you for the post up of your rain sensor housing. That is about how long my plastic covering is, however it's funny, I am missing the rain sensor itself. I have this cord hanging down as if it is ready to plug into the rain sensor, if it was there. My wiper stalk has a button that you can push in that appears to be an automatic wiper button (it turns green when you push it in). Is it possible that all BMW's were made like that and I would have to get it installed / reflashed for the automatic feature to work?

Also, yeah, my glass must be a replacement. It has an E9, not E1 marking, no BMW symbol, no Pilkington, etc. It must have been made in Spain or something. Hmm, funny that a replacement windshield was never brought up in the paper work. I will have to see about that rain sensor though...

[bsamoul]

Originally Posted by WilkesE90

Yeah, I asked at the dealership and they said that the marking on the headlight was something they did for every car on the lot to identify them, so maybe you are right about that one!

Thank you for the post up of your rain sensor housing. That is about how long my plastic covering is, however it's funny, I am missing the rain sensor itself. I have this cord hanging down as if it is ready to plug into the rain sensor, if it was there. My wiper stalk has a button that you can push in that appears to be an automatic wiper button (it turns green when you push it in). Is it possible that all BMW's were made like that and I would have to get it installed / reflashed for the automatic feature to work?

Also, yeah, my glass must be a replacement. It has an E9, not E1 marking, no BMW symbol, no Pilkington, etc. It must have been made in Spain or something. Hmm, funny that a replacement windshield was never brought up in the paper work. I will have to see about that rain sensor though...

Yeah your glass has to have been replaced. As for the rain sensor though, it sounds as if when the glass was replaced they didn't put it back in, or the glass broke where the sensor was too so both broke and they just didn't put a new one in. Either way it sounds like you don't have it. You can always push the button, and use your hose and spray your window and see if they come on, but I don't think they will. And I want to say every E90 ever made from the factory came with the rain sensor, so no reflash would be necessary if you just plugged the module in.

[alex2364]

A clean Carfax report doesn't guarantee anything. You can check for previous paint work yourself.

http://video.about.com/usedcars/Look...Paint-Work.htm

[Xaero]

I am in the same boat, but really nothing can be done.. I had a clean car fax on mine and after driving it home and doing a full detail job on it, it became obvious that the entire car had been at least re-clear coated. I really have no idea if it was wrecked or vandalized. I suspect it was vandalized since every panel on the car has been repainted. I made the mistake of not asking if the car had been painted at the time and was too excited about the car to really do a thorough inspection of the car (i didn't have reason to suspect it at the time). I would have walked away from the deal if I had know it at the time, but now I have to live with it.

I am handy in the garage and have been wet-sanding and polishing it and it's mostly unnoticeable now except on the driver's side door.. They laid the clear-coat down too thick and its really wavy if you know what you are looking for.

Mechanically everything seems great, but there is noticeable body work on it and I am so anal that I will eventually need to have at least the drivers side repainted to smooth it out. If I sell it or trade it in, I will take a huge hit since it has been painted.

I am going to try and make the best of it, so with my planned mods I will be swapping out the bumpers, side skirts, and trunk at minimum. I may do M3 fenders as well. So at that point it will not be much more to go ahead and get the entire thing sanded and re-cleared to smooth it out.

Live and learn I guess..

[WilkesE90]

Aint that the truth!

Well guys, I was wondering if you could help me once again. Considering I am missing the rain sensor, do you happen to know what part number that is? I keep looking on RealOEM.com, but I can't seem to find it worth my life! Much appreciated!

[Nr!qUe]

Maybe they just replaced the windsheild, had a crack in it

[Xaero]

I read that the rain sensor was integrated into the windshield?

[Nr!qUe]

not true. my sister had a pole fall on her windshield, she had it replaced and her auto wipers work just as they used to

[bsamoul]

Originally Posted by Xaero

I read that the rain sensor was integrated into the windshield?

No, it is situated right up against the windshield, so the glass is the weakest in that point

[WilkesE90]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure now that the rain sensor must be purchased already attached to the glass. As a result, I'm just going to have to shell out close to 1K to get the OEM glass and sensor attached. Whatever, at the price that I got my first N54 E90, 1K is a small price to pay for this type of performance!