Two horrendous driving experiences have sent me scurrying to change the wipers. The rubber must be too hard for the cold temps we get in QUebec. Stopping every 10 minutes to scrape of ice, rebend the blades etc was a toally pain in the buttocks.

Hoping the new ones I picked up today can do the job in the real winter driving conditions we get here. Winter tires rock though, and the car handles neautifuly on ice, snow and in slush.

 

I concur. The passenger side one misses a lot. Once I get the time to take it in for service, I'll have them changed since they are included in the maintenance.

 

I just can't wait for the service. Could've died on the highway through lack of visibility. At -2c and above they are awesome!

 

I don't know what -3c is, but if there's a minus sign in front of the temperature I don't have to worry about it (or ice, snow and slush). I live in So California and I washed my MINI today in shorts and a T-shirt!

 

Sounds like you have the wipe-flat performance blades. Not supposed to use them when you get the little warning snowflake. Just one more of MINI's quirks.

Sealy - Who wonders how a $40K SUVette can be so ill equipped for what it's supposed to be.

 

You tease. Any pics?

 

Not sure what blades they are, but they lse contact really easily and also ice fills in the ridges with shocking ease. I would stop and scrape of all the ice, with my lovely fingernails, every ten minutes or so. I really hoped for better than this, but as they say, pooh happens.

Still snowing and dropping down to -20c, that mean colder than you'll ever see in Cali, hope the new wipers are good to go.

 

LOL +40f is colder than we ever see in So CA. It's a nippy +52f right now and it's 11:10PM. Forecast is for 75f tomorrow! I decided to look it up - that's +24c.

 

Oh lovely, we will see that in June, so I have a good long wait for the.

 

Does your car has the front windscreen de-froster (heated elements within the glass layer)?
I suspect the poor wiper performance you're getting is due to the blade holder design. Canadain Tire has proper winter-rated blades & holders. Some like the fully "enclosed" type that keeps ice build on the holder system from happening.

 

I do not have the embedded defroster, that seems like overkill and considering my Ford does great without one I hshall lay the blame on the useless Mini wipers. I found if I kep the heat on HI and on the defrost mode it wasn't as badd, but seriously who can drive for three hours with the heat on HI, I thought my eyeballs would melt.

I bought the uber awesome wipers from Canadian Tire, they are installed and awaiting tomorrow s snowstorm to be tested out. The MIni ones seem to be very light and flimsy compared to them and talso lose contact with the wndshield way too easily. Hopeing for a much improved drive with the new ones, seeing seems to be a very important part of the whole experience!

 

Good luck with the new wipers & the snow tomorrow. Here in Vancouver we've just had our first real snow and more coming rest of the week. I'm planning the first snow drive in the CMS All4 to Seattle on Wednesday...should be a hoot.

 

Have fun in the snow, the ALL4 is a great little snow car and the drive to Seatle is a great little test.

 

Because I believe it was never intended to be an SUVette, what we have is a compromised vehicle, I'm sure it was supposed to be a proper Golf competitor until someone at BMW had a brainfart and turned it into an SUVette.

 

Besides selecting a "less than ideal for winter" wiper blade, what else do you consider a compromise on the CM?

(keep in mind that ALL cars are designed with compromises).

 

Can we start with the low profile, performance, run flat tires? (tyres, reifens, etc)

 

The list is pretty long.

• For a premium car it's interior plastics are no better than a 15k econobox from Korea
• for an SUX it's ride height is too low, for a car the ride height is too high
• it comes with road tyres, not even road biased SUV tyres
• because of it's raised ride height MINI have to fit really stiff springs to give it the MINI handling characteristics buyer want, therefore killing it's ride
• The Cooper S is supposed to be the performance variant but it comes with a 1.6, it should have a 2.0 215 hp engine as standard, the JCW should have 250-280hp

I believe MINI set out to build a car to compete with the Golf 5/6, near the end of it's development they realised the car wasn't as good, so decided to change it's spec and turn it into a MINI SUV. Basically this MINI isn't nearly as good a car as it should be, it appeals to existing MINI who want more space and will win over a few converts, but it won't sell in the numbers it could because it really doesn't know what it wants to be.

What we have today is the MINI version of the Golf Cross, which is the raised height pretend offroad version of the Golf, what at don't have is the Golf (CM with normal ride height) or the Tiguan (the SUV version of the Golf).

That said I love my CM, it's a little bit different, a little bit quirky, it appeals to existing MINI owners, but it really really should be much better than it is, I can accept that, but most people who want a nicer slightly premium feel hatch will be better off with a Golf.

 

I sort of like the compromises MINI gave the Countryman series. The ride height (5.9 in) of the standard suspension is identical to my 09 VW Jetta Sportwagen and the Subaru Impreza, for example. With the Sport Suspenson option (- .4 in) it isn't that much different than a MC hardtop with base suspension. It is not meant to be an off-road vehicle, and that is not what I want.

I also approve of keeping the 1.6 turbo engine for the S and S ALL4; it has the fuel economy/performance mix that I want right now.

In the US the regulations are such that making the CM with slightly higher ground clearance and with an AWD option allows BMW to get the CM classified as a multipurpose vehicle, and with its good fuel economy that means BMW's CAFE rating is improved.

 

Well my trip to Seattle was cancelled, but I got to drive in some light snow today in Vancouver. -7.5 Celcius. I made some aggressive turns/stops/starts to see how much traction I had...pretty impressive as I could not get anything more than a little wheel spin.

Wipers performed very well...after I put the windshield heater on. Guess that's why there is a winter package option.

 

Tossed the OEM wipers that came on CM S All4 and installed RainX wipers. Live in NH and they seem to work well in cold, snow and freezing rain here.

 

Hi. You live in an area with extreme temps, which would suggest the need for true winter tires along with winter blades. To ask one set of wipers to work well in Florida AND Montreal is asking a bit too much. I thing the tire/blades go hand in hand.

Thanks for the heads up, though. It's always great to get real-world feedback.

Motor safely!

 

I find the right side wiper doesn't curve enough to stay in contact with the windshield as well. It builds up ice and when it wipes over the rain sensor the car thinks it is pouring and the wipers go mad and it is just light snow.

 

My issue hasn't been the blades so much as the washers. Their design seems to be prone to freezing right at the exit point, and I'm a little surprised the heated washer (part of the cold weather package) doesn't take care of it. We've been hovering at 3ºF (not counting wind chill) for weeks...haven't been able to wash the screen in ages. Oddly, the headlight washers never fail to work. Ugh.

 

I gotta change mine too ... -13F one day last week here just outside the Capital of Maine (Augusta) and the wipers that came on my MCS from buying it this summer suck so far. Passengers side misses everything in the middle.

 

We routinely get temps below zero and I have no problems whatsoever with the wipers.

I do have the cold weather package with defroster. But I don't think there are any heating elements in the windshield. It just blows hot air up from the dash.

Maybe you just have a bad set of wipers or they are poorly adjusted.