Rain-sensing wipers question

[theproskater]

So I just had my first rain experience after getting my Z4, and I got to test how the rain-sensing wipers work. However, I'm not sure if they're working quite right and I wanted some input from others who have this feature.

When I push the stalk to position "1", nothing happens for a few seconds, then the wipers do 1 sweep. If there's no rain, it seems that the wipers still wipe every 10 seconds or so. When I'm driving and there is rain, I notice that this interval changes to anywhere from 5 seconds to a little over 10 seconds. But, it never goes any faster that 5 second intervals, and never slower than 10. This is with the "sensitivity" adjustment on the highest setting. It almost feels like they are just doing speed-sensitive wiping instead of rain-sensitive, but I wasn't sure if these cars had that feature.

I feel like there were situations when they should have been wiping much faster, but still stuck to that 5 second interval. Is this how your wipers work too?

[StickMon]

Mine seem to be the other way round.
Where I'm at, we get a lot of mist, rather than rain.
They'll wipe every couple seconds, even in a light mist, and the sensitivity control seems to do next to nothing.
I'm not even sure I've been able to figure out which direction to turn the knob.
I know the sensor works, though. When it stops misting, they stop wiping.

[theproskater]

Hmm ok, I might have to make a trip to the dealer then. I definitely have the sensor unit in front of my rear-view mirror, but the system behaves more like the regular intermittent mode instead of rain-sensing. Maybe the feature was disabled for some reason...

[psygnosis]

It also helps to make sure that the glass is clean over the sensor and that the wipers are good enough to actually move the water off of it.

[elerner61]

Also, do not use any Rain-X or other windshield treatment. This will affect the rain sensor performance.

[Vanne]

where is the sensor and how do you know youve got this feature?

[Nate4641]

I have always wondered which position of the switch is more sensitive or however it works. The manual doesn't really clue me in and the lines on the stalk are a bit cryptic.

[theproskater]

Originally Posted by Vanne

where is the sensor and how do you know youve got this feature?

The sensor is stuck on the glass, on the inside, where the rear view mirror sits on the windshield. It looks like this (not my car, just a pic I found of the sensor that looks exactly like mine):



I'd assume that if I have the sensor, I'd have that feature right?

[jdoublehcubed]

the sensitivity adjustment on mine blows as well.

[antennahead]

Originally Posted by jdoublehcubed

the sensitivity adjustment on mine blows as well.

I hated it, and recoded my car to disable it. Now the intermittent wipers work like an old school version, speed manually controlled

John

[Rick F.]

FWIW, I love the rain-sensing wipers on my 2006 Z4. They do a great job of wiping as often or as rapidly as necessary to suit the conditions. I leave the little sensitivity lever on the bottom-most position (which I believe is the least sensitive setting).

When I first move the windshield wiper stalk to the first (rain-sensing) position, the wipers immediately do one swipe. From there, they'll either wipe intermittently as necessary or continuously, fast or slow, as needed.

I smile every time I use them.

Rick F.

[theproskater]

Originally Posted by Rick F.

FWIW, I love the rain-sensing wipers on my 2006 Z4. They do a great job of wiping as often or as rapidly as necessary to suit the conditions. I leave the little sensitivity lever on the bottom-most position (which I believe is the least sensitive setting).

When I first move the windshield wiper stalk to the first (rain-sensing) position, the wipers immediately do one swipe. From there, they'll either wipe intermittently as necessary or continuously, fast or slow, as needed.

I smile every time I use them.

Rick F.

Thanks Rick! My wipers definitely don't work like this, so it seems something must be wrong. I've read that it's possible to disable the rain-sensing feature, so hopefully I can try to just re-enable it and everything will be fine!

[StickMon]

Originally Posted by antennahead

I hated it, and recoded my car to disable it. Now the intermittent wipers work like an old school version, speed manually controlled

John

Did you do that through Progman, or NCS?
Mine are starting to cheese me off.

[jdoublehcubed]

Originally Posted by antennahead

I hated it, and recoded my car to disable it. Now the intermittent wipers work like an old school version, speed manually controlled

John

awesome idea

[Huz-Z]

Originally Posted by Rick F.

FWIW, I love the rain-sensing wipers on my 2006 Z4. They do a great job of wiping as often or as rapidly as necessary to suit the conditions. I leave the little sensitivity lever on the bottom-most position (which I believe is the least sensitive setting).

When I first move the windshield wiper stalk to the first (rain-sensing) position, the wipers immediately do one swipe. From there, they'll either wipe intermittently as necessary or continuously, fast or slow, as needed.

I smile every time I use them.

Rick F.

Me too.

[psygnosis]

Originally Posted by Rick F.

FWIW, I love the rain-sensing wipers on my 2006 Z4. They do a great job of wiping as often or as rapidly as necessary to suit the conditions. I leave the little sensitivity lever on the bottom-most position (which I believe is the least sensitive setting).

When I first move the windshield wiper stalk to the first (rain-sensing) position, the wipers immediately do one swipe. From there, they'll either wipe intermittently as necessary or continuously, fast or slow, as needed.

I smile every time I use them.

Rick F.

I think the rain-sensing wipers are fantastic. They are great for dealing with Seattle rain. (Go Hawks!) A trick I found is that if they are going faster than you might like, turn the speed adjustment thing up and let it go a few times, then turn it back down and they will adjust and slow down.

Occasionally they act up, but a go at the windshield with some Invisible Glass™ helps (both the sensor and general visibility)

[NHZED4]

I kind of like them especially when passing a semi on the hiway in the rain and the wipers pick up tempo to take care of the increased water spray.

[JeffchaPz]

I had my windshield replaced few months ago and the auto sensor didn't work correctly after that. I brought it back and the owner of the place blamed the sensor - told me that I needed a new one. Yes you can buy a new and I believe it will reset to normal setting again. basically it will work like it should, but they are like $100 or you can get INPA and reset it from there. I haven't had much luck getting INPA to work for me. For now, I disabled it with PA soft and it works fine but manually...

[antennahead]

Originally Posted by StickMon

Did you do that through Progman, or NCS?
Mine are starting to cheese me off.

Originally Posted by jdoublehcubed

awesome idea

I think it was Progman. A friend of mine here in town had the software on his laptop and spent a lot of time learning all the features available. He drove a 2007 M Coupe. I also enabled the 3 blink turn signal when we ditched the rain sensing feature.

[StickMon]

Thanks!

[bosstones]

I hate them. I always found them to be too sensitive. Then again, I tend to use the manual 'single wipe' most of the time. I usually only use the interval settings in heavier rains. I do, however, like that it slows the interval when you're stopped and resumes when you go again.

[brock5ga]

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...-faulty-wipers

Mine always acted crazy since I bought the car 2 years ago. They stopped on me last fall on the way to work. I had to pull over and shut the car off and restart to get them to work again, and only for a short period of time. I found this thread for a fix. Took care of my stalling problem and all of the sensitivity issues I was having. The grease must be pretty conductive, as these photos in this thread appear to have a lot more grease between the contacts than my motor seemed to have. Worth trying rather than spending a lot of money or just hating to drive because there may be a chance of rain.