Found nil while unwrapping an optional value - Swift 2 - swift2

Question

I am getting this error which I cannot explain:
#IBOutlet weak var licencePlateLabel: UILabel!
var editItem: CarValues? {
didSet {
// Update the view.
self.configureView()
}
}
func configureView() {
// Update the user interface for the detail item.
if let editedCar = self.editItem {
if let licencePlate = self.licencePlateLabel {
licencePlate.text? = editedCar.licencePlate!//this gives me nil
}
else {
print("value was nil")
}
print(editedCar.licencePlate!)//this is giving me the correct value
}
if I replace the
if let licencePlate = self.licencePlateLabel {
licencePlate.text! = editedCar.licencePlate!
}//this throws an error "found nil......"
even if I do this I m still getting the "found nil..."
func configureView() {
licencePlateLabel.text = "test"
[...]
}
BUT if I put the above on viewDidLoad then it works fine
override func viewDidLoad() {
licencePlateLabel.text = "test"
[...]
}
What is going on in this code?
EDIT
I am passing the value of the editItem from the detailView to the EditView like this:
#IBAction func editButtonTapped(sender: AnyObject) {
let storyBoard = UIStoryboard(name: "Main", bundle:nil)
let editScreen = storyBoard.instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier("ID_EditViewController")
self.navigationController?.pushViewController(editScreen, animated: true)
let controller = EditViewController()
controller.editItem = detailItem
controller.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem = self.splitViewController?.displayModeButtonItem()
controller.navigationItem.leftItemsSupplementBackButton = true
}

Answer 1

You don't unwrap properties to set them, only to read from them. So your code can simply be:
if let licencePlate = self.licencePlateLabel {
licencePlate.text = editedCar.licencePlate
}
Note that because licencePlate.text is an optional value anyway, there is also no need to unwrap editedCar.licencePlate. It's ok to use its value whether it is nil or contains a String.