[ZenDriver]

All of my chiding of poor Lux aside...

The E90 still has manual control of the wipers, yes?

The S40 I was stuck with had a rain sensing wiper option and I despised it almost as much as I despised the S40 in general. I tried to use them a couple of times (Portland provides plenty of opportunity) but then never worked very well. Could also be that it was a Volvo...

[phantom701]

Originally Posted by lux.sh

I am not even going to start with how it works during light rain situation(drizzling). It works like crap during pretty bad shower condition also. I had my sensitivity to max this time because it was raining so badly. It was at night, and it was very hard to see. I noticed my wipers sometimes go slower when it really shouldn't(cause its pouring, cars around me are just practically spraying water directly at my car. visibility = 50%?).

Ok, so for the sake of safety, why can't you just turn on the conventional wiper function?

We have to realize that we must *NOT* over rely on technology. There comes a time where it is common sense to just use the non-automated feature when the automated ones malfunction. If I were you, I would turn the wiper on HIGH and not rely on the sensor to do the work. It's not hard to switch it HIGH.

[e30klassic]

Remember.......The sensor also control by your BMW speed also , it slows down when u stop in a red light.

[silverado]

If you think it's going to kill you, why are you still using automatic mode? Do you know that there are two OTHER options for the wipers? There are constant slow and fast speeds as all cars do.

[Broken1]

My rain sensor works well :-)

Sometimes in a light drizzle, it wipes more than I'd like - but rather more often than not often enough (the problem I had with my E46).

In heavier rain, it wipes full speed... no problems there either.

I have never heard of "limitations" that you can't use it when it's pouring. The second I see some water, tap that auto button and leave it :P maybe your dealer can set the sensitivity higher/lower / something?

[mreloc]

I believe they give you the feature so that the things dont go on when you don't want them to, i.e. in a carwash.

I have had issues with the rain sensing wiper as well. Its doenst have a medium, its sometime too sensitive, and sometimes over sensitive. Just cant get it right. I am also mad at the fact, that since the car doesnt come with a feature to not use the rain sensing wiper, why isnt it on at startup? It should be on so i wouldnt NEED to turn on my wipers.

[silverado]

Originally Posted by Guess

I am also mad at the fact, that since the car doesnt come with a feature to not use the rain sensing wiper, why isnt it on at startup? It should be on so i wouldnt NEED to turn on my wipers.

The wipers can CERTAINLY be used without the rain sensors. Just move the stalk up once to choose CONSTANT slow mode, or twice to choose CONSTANT fast mode. Also, you can push the stalk up beyond the point of resistence to immediately go to fast mode.

I think reading your car's manual is warranted.

[timlang]

I just use one of the two "fixed speed" settings for heavy rain. My big beef with the automatic sensor mode is in very light rain/drizzle.
They are too sensitive, wiping the window when it has 3 specs of water on it, and is basically dry, which causes the wipers to drag along the dry glass (bad for wiper blades, and probably not good for wiper motor or the glass).

My sensitivity adjustment doesn't appear to have any effect at all... I think in Canada/US it might just be a decoration or for psychialogical effect only... Actually it was probably disabled for some silly American liability issue but they were too cheap to actually remove the control from the stalk...

Yes, I know I can simply turn off the auto-mode and hit the manual wipe every 20s or so as needed, which is what I am doing - however I shouldn't have to do that. On every other car I have driven, the slowest intermittent setting is perfect. There should be an option for non-sensing intermittent still on the e90 (or make the damn sensativity adjustment actually do something!) :mad: :mad:

[obLu]

Weird, rain sensing wipers worked awesome in both my e46's (notice my location). Hope it's just a bad sensor. Did they change something on the e90 ... mine's not here yet ... on the e46 you could set it for rain sensor and then you could also set the wipers manually. Did they take out the manual adjustments and just leave us with rain sensing only?

[mds82]

RAINX - you dont even need wipers if your going over 40 MPH

[Tierfreund]

Originally Posted by ZenDriver

Not to be a dick, but if you are getting this worked up over the windshield wipers on your car, I think you have some issues that no BMW dealership is ever going to solve.

Have a Paxil for christ sakes...

I´m sorry for the OP, but I´ll have to agree.

The E90 still has manual overdrive for the wipers. So if it rains heavily and your sensor is not working properly you can just manually you can allways force it to a high speed operation.

A non functional rainsensor is certainly not the kind of thing that should get you aggrevated while driving. If it does you are not exactly a driver with lots of safety reserve in your driving capacity.

I´m "only" 36 yet I sometimes feel stone old and bloody experienced when I read about people going overbord and girlfriends screaming because of truely minor mishaps.

Am I the only one who still knows how to drive a unsynchronized stick, manually operate a wiper, the light switch, a manual AC control, brake without ABS, not kill myself without DSC, change a tire, avoid an obstacle, read a map, read the road, drive on ice and snow, handle a tire blowout at high speeds, check the oil and the tire pressure, change a fuse and turn a key?

Please don´t get me wrong, I love all those techno gizmos. They´re convenient, make driving sometimes safer, often more comfortable.

But if you can´t handle driving without them you shouldn´t be driving in the first place.

I really can´t stand people who break into tears because their seatbelt makes a ticking sound and lemon their cars because the rain sensors don´t behave exactly to their wishes.

BMW can´t tell them to go to hell because it would hurt their image but I can.

Now THAT´s what I call a RANT

[itznin]

Originally Posted by phantom701

Ok, so for the sake of safety, why can't you just turn on the conventional wiper function?

We have to realize that we must *NOT* over rely on technology. There comes a time where it is common sense to just use the non-automated feature when the automated ones malfunction. If I were you, I would turn the wiper on HIGH and not rely on the sensor to do the work. It's not hard to switch it HIGH.

AMEN!

On a side note, wouldn't it be hilarious if these 2 guys ran into each other like..........

"Hey dude nice E90"
Then the other one notices an E90post.com sticker.......... and says "Hey I am on that forum too!"
"What's your name on there............ YADA YADA"
"OH YOUR THE SOB................."

::PUNCH THROWN::

[itznin]

In case no one sees the obvious, I bring this up because they are both in Portland OR

[puck724]

haha, i caught that too, thats why i made the crack about them living a block from each other..lol


anyway, we had a litlte rain the past week and the rain sensing wipers seemed to work just fine for me....hopefully its just a bad sensor and the dealer can change it out for you..

[BrunoT]

Wipers set on auto slowing down too much. The horror! The horror!

I have noticed a lot of "princess and the pea" type sensitivity to problems levels here in the posts. Guys getting suicidal over orange peel in the paint, creaks and rattles making them declare jihad on BMW, etc.

Our Saab 9-3 wipers are mediocre even with new blades and working properly. The BMW's are superior in action, even though I find the auto setting a little frustrating at times too. It's frustrating, but part of being mature is handling problems w/o getting all worked up about them. It's not like you have cancer or something. Change what you kind, accept what you can't.

Americans are said to be very soft. Maybe screaming or crying as a passenger when the wipers slow down a bit is a sign of that. I've had a wiper come OFF partially when driving in a bad storm before in a Toyota. I managed to remain tear-free and just pulled over and reattached it.

I've owned a lot of vehicles. Some have been near perfect. Most haven't. I think the expectations are a little high from some new luxury car owners. What costs more on a BMW isn't the wipers. It's the driving components. Actually, the higher you go up the food chain in cars, the more likely you are to have problems, since they have lower production volumes in which to smooth out problems.

Want something to freak out over? Try having a tow vehicle break down at night on a weekend 500 miles from home with about $15,000 of your work equipment sitting on it, just sitting there for anyone to stop and steal. Then having to try to get a ride to a hotel and a tow for a trailer on a Sunday evening. And oh yeah, you need the equipment ready to go on Monday morning or you lose $500/day in income. The wipers worked fine, though.

[Wolf359]

I too find it strange that someone freaking out because of wiper speed which can be overriden manually and almost causing a crash (Not counting the neural breakdown of a girlfriend) could have been granted a driver's license in the first place. Is there a 2 for 1 special on Prozac anywhere?

[voltron1011]

The auto wipers on my E90 work better than any other wipers I've used (VW, Merc, Audi, Lexus, etc). Very intuitive IMO.

[Armen52]

Originally Posted by timlang

I just use one of the two "fixed speed" settings for heavy rain. My big beef with the automatic sensor mode is in very light rain/drizzle.
They are too sensitive, wiping the window when it has 3 specs of water on it, and is basically dry, which causes the wipers to drag along the dry glass (bad for wiper blades, and probably not good for wiper motor or the glass).

My sensitivity adjustment doesn't appear to have any effect at all... I think in Canada/US it might just be a decoration or for psychialogical effect only... Actually it was probably disabled for some silly American liability issue but they were too cheap to actually remove the control from the stalk...

Yes, I know I can simply turn off the auto-mode and hit the manual wipe every 20s or so as needed, which is what I am doing - however I shouldn't have to do that. On every other car I have driven, the slowest intermittent setting is perfect. There should be an option for non-sensing intermittent still on the e90 (or make the damn sensativity adjustment actually do something!) :mad: :mad:

YES! timlang spoke my thoughts exactly. I simply can't believe that...

1) There is no fixed intermittent setting. I agree with the OP that in certain conditions the auto-sensing can be a bit erratic, slowing a bit at times. Thankfully not in seriously heavy conditions to cause danger for me yet but I believe him as well.

2) I think that the fastest constant setting is not fast enough for torrential downpours, of which I've experienced one since moving here in July.

3) The adjustment wheel thingie does absolutely zero, zilch, nada, nothing as far as I can tell.

Can anybody with a US car actually report seeing any difference with changing the setting on this wheel?

[HughH]

I think the manual adjustment is only for those cars without the rain sensing wipers. In my E46, they come only as part of the deluxe package.

For the record, the rain sensing wipers operate very well in my car, irregradless of how much or how little rain. I really appreciate how they go into fast mode as soon as you get a heavy splash from an eighteen wheeler. Their reaction is certainly faster than mine.

[wac77]

Originally Posted by Armen52

3) The adjustment wheel thingie does absolutely zero, zilch, nada, nothing as far as I can tell.

Can anybody with a US car actually report seeing any difference with changing the setting on this wheel?

YES!
I posted this in the other thread - I guess it needs repeating.

I tested it again Tuesday Nov 15 in a very light drizzle with the following results:
least sensitive position (bottom): wiped every 10-15 secs,
second position (one notch up): wiped every 5-7 secs,
third position (two notches up): wiped every 2-3 secs,
most sensitive position (top): wiped almost continuously,
the lower frequencies went up quickly if the rain intensified, or whenever the car speed increased.
I think my rain-sensing wipers work as intended.

People that have observed otherwise may have a defective system.