[DanteHicks]

A couple of days ago, I had my first real rainstorm driving the F10. I was using the intermittent wipers and my first thought is that they don't really work very well --- it didn't seem to be doing a good job "sensing" the rain and activating the wipers. It was definitely doing something - it's just that even with the slider at maximum setting, there was still a ton of rain building up before it would do a wipe.

Does anyone else have this problem or is it just me?

For the record I tried adjusting the slider on the arm up and down to modify the frequency - it didn't seem to really do much.

Any tips?

[pmw103]

Hi Dante,
Was the green light on at the end of the windscreen wiper stalk?
I.e the auto rain sensor was on?
Every time you need to turn it on by pushing the button at the tip of the stalk.
If it was is the area around the rain sensor clean? It's part of the rear view mirror asembely.
Thanks
Paul

[DanteHicks]

Originally Posted by pmw103

Hi Dante,
Was the green light on at the end of the windscreen wiper stalk?
I.e the auto rain sensor was on?
Every time you need to turn it on by pushing the button at the tip of the stalk.
If it was is the area around the rain sensor clean? It's part of the rear view mirror asembely.
Thanks
Paul

Yes, I double-checked to make sure it was in automatic mode (and I actually went back and forth between normal mode and automatic mode several times.)

The area around the sensor was pretty clean (I've only had the car for a week) but I'll check it again.

thanks

[Khurram]

I have the same problem.
Even at full sensitivity the wipers still let a considerable amount of rain build up before wiping. I think that's just how they are. If you switch it on yourself without the auto it seems to work much better but that kind of defeats the purpose.

[Touring]

Me too. I got the feeling "is it not going to wipe soon?". For some resason I have got used to it now.

[LuvMyE92]

The auto wipers on my 335 were great until the windshield was replaced (along with the sensor) at which point it became rather schizophrenic. I've only drive the 535 in the rain once, and I agree that the programming leaves something to be desired.

As Paul mentioned, it's very important that the sensor area be clean. And that means using a good glass cleaner and towel, not a few swipes of the wiper blade.

[Robin_NL]

Same here, the auto rain sensor goes too slow or too fast.

That's why I'm already(after 3 E90s with the same 'issue') switching it manually.

My 2 E46s before the E90s had excellent auto rain sensors though....

[VodkaOne]

+1 here with a 2012 brand new 530d F11. That makes the automatic mode useless and dangerous. I'm going to ask my dealer if the sensors can be made more sensitive.

Also I don't get why BMW call this rain sensors / detectors when I have to activate them when it rains (and each time I enter the car) ??? That's is crazy... And it's the same with front PDC, auto beam assist, etc...

And also why can't theses features be adjusted via Idrive ? My previous '06 Lexus IS220d would allow me to.

Dealing with onboard technology and ergonomics it's a shame BMW is still away from Lexus.

Does anyone know if our F10/F11 have some sort of Lexus Personal Settings (LPS) that can be adjusted at the dealer side ?

V1.

[Jon D]

Thoroughly clean the windscreen over the sensor area and whenever you find the sweep rate isn't coping well, just activate the screen wash for a few seconds.
The sensor is very prone to dirt on the screen - keep it clean and you shouldn't have any problems.
We have our fair share of rain here in Scotland and I find that the auto wipe works very well.

[VodkaOne]

Hi John,

Thank you for your positive answer. That helps. I'll try and check again after a hand cleanup.

The fact is I never cleaned it by hand form when I took delivery of the car 3 weeks ago, and I guess, kinda hope, that there is some kind of oil or any other vegetal film that might still be on it out from factory.

Also I wonder if the blades wipe over the sensor area or not. Didn't check. But I guess so.

BTW, does it works also well at high speed ?

V1.

[Jon D]

Originally Posted by VodkaOne

Hi John,

Thank you for your positive answer. That helps. I'll try and check again after a hand cleanup.

The fact is I never cleaned it by hand form when I took delivery of the car 3 weeks ago, and I guess, kinda hope, that there is some kind of oil or any other vegetal film that might still be on it out from factory.

Also I wonder if the blades wipe over the sensor area or not. Didn't check. But I guess so.

BTW, does it works also well at high speed ?

V1.

From new my screen was badly stained with what looked like some kind of mottled transit residue, but you could only see it really well if viewed from the side. I took ages and a lot of elbow grease to shift it and in the end I had to resort to a fairly aggressive cleaning and polishing compound containing micro-abrasive particles. I was initially reluctant to use it, but that was a year ago and there's no damage.
In hindsight I probably should have returned the car to the dealer, but then it might have ended up being cleaned without due care.
I now do this about 5 times a year and I have absolutely no problems with the auto wipe.
The swept area does include the sensor, which is located just below the rear-view mirror and, yes, they work fine at high speed too.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by Jon D

Thoroughly clean the windscreen over the sensor area and whenever you find the sweep rate isn't coping well, just activate the screen wash for a few seconds.
The sensor is very prone to dirt on the screen - keep it clean and you shouldn't have any problems.
We have our fair share of rain here in Scotland and I find that the auto wipe works very well.

+1 Clean screen is essential.

Same experience from the Scottish Highlands, a well watered land.

HighlandPete

[BMWrules7]

It is noteworthy that the speed of the rain sensing wipers are driven by two factors and not just one.

First, the rain sensor detects the amount of rain. Yes, the more rain the faster the wipe so long as the second factor below is applicable.

Second, the speed of the vehicle is taken into consideration. This is important to consider when evaluating the effectiveness of the wiper.

For example, you may be evaluating the rain sensing wiper performance while you are stopped at a red light in the pouring rain, for example. This is no good since the vehicle is stopped the wipers will slow down even if it is pouring rain.

Next time, try evaluating the rain sensing wipers on their performance only while the vehicle is moving (not standing still). Of course, this is when it matters anyway for the most part.

Why does it take vehicle speed into consideration? First, it is useless and annoying to have wipers full speed in the pouring rain while at a stop light. Second, you could argue it saves energy.

Originally Posted by DanteHicks

A couple of days ago, I had my first real rainstorm driving the F10. I was using the intermittent wipers and my first thought is that they don't really work very well --- it didn't seem to be doing a good job "sensing" the rain and activating the wipers. It was definitely doing something - it's just that even with the slider at maximum setting, there was still a ton of rain building up before it would do a wipe.

Does anyone else have this problem or is it just me?

For the record I tried adjusting the slider on the arm up and down to modify the frequency - it didn't seem to really do much.

Any tips?

[Teo71]

The only way to get wipers worked propperly for me is to set sensitivity in the middle. If I choose the high volume of sensitivity I get rather strange reaction(with a delay).

In the middle it feels even small snowflakes, however on the top I have to force it to work manually(needless to compare even with the cheapest cars).

I called at service and they said - there is no possibility to adjust it.

Seems the software problem 100%

[Matt01]

I found mine (as well as the auto lights) improved with time, it was if they were learning (and before anyone points the foolishness of that concept it just a expression) they did get better, same problem on my wife's mini countryman, time and putting them on max sensitivity resolved the issue, no trips to the dealer required....

[BigKutta]

I used the auto wipers on hard rain only once in my 2 week old F10, and must say I am very disappointed. The drops sits for too long (stopped or while in motion), and quite frankly, make for a dangerous situation. On my MB, the auto wipers work flawlessly and I have never given them a thought, but on the F10 they are very slow as others have pointed out. And why can i not just turn them on and forget about them?

I am not sure if this is a dirt issue. My car was extremely clean and the sensor area was very clean as well, plus it gets wiped everytime the wipers move. Also, if the wiper function was truly auto, then why would we have an option of adjusting the sensitivity? That made no sense to me. The system should automatically sense and adjust accordingly, not relp on me to pick a setting. As a matter of fact, adjusting the sensitivity made no difference. BMW needs to provide a fix

[martin mustang]

I posted the same question some time ago, and I simply believe the BMW sensors are a complete joke, I am in Ireland and out of all the places the west of Ireland so we get rain in all shapes and forms, the wipers on auto are actually often dangerous as my screen is well covered before they act, I often have to switch auto off and on like a wakeup call, if you use the manual option they just too fast for when drizzling so no win situation.
I had the same opinion about my ex E60 and my wife had the same problem with previous E91 3 series and now the new X3.

more reading from my last tread on this: http://f10.5post.com/forums/showthre...ht=auto+wipers

[Jon D]

Originally Posted by BigKutta

...Also, if the wiper function was truly auto, then why would we have an option of adjusting the sensitivity?...

Probably because, as in other situations where there's a choice, not everyone wants the same sweep rate.

[Jon D]

Originally Posted by martin mustang

...I am in Ireland and out of all the places the west of Ireland so we get rain in all shapes and forms...

Quite a bit of rain here in Scotland too and no problems with auto-wipe.

[BigKutta]

hmmm, so today we got some heavy rains here in the DC area and the intermittent wipers seemed to work well (especially in the 2 highest settings), and I wasn't too bothered. The last time it was in at night and i felt that the visibility was poor due to the wipers. Maybe, they should speed up at night?

Hope this thing improves over time...

[Shake n Bake]

Originally Posted by DanteHicks

A couple of days ago, I had my first real rainstorm driving the F10. I was using the intermittent wipers and my first thought is that they don't really work very well --- it didn't seem to be doing a good job "sensing" the rain and activating the wipers. It was definitely doing something - it's just that even with the slider at maximum setting, there was still a ton of rain building up before it would do a wipe.

Does anyone else have this problem or is it just me?

For the record I tried adjusting the slider on the arm up and down to modify the frequency - it didn't seem to really do much.

Any tips?

Mine have been very good in pretty much all conditions over the past 11 months.

[Rbembas_M3]

the only time i notice it is when it's a light sprinkle then i have to hit the bullon a few times, but when it's a good moderate no problem.