Is there any aftermarket way to make the intermittant wipers on the MINI variable? esp the rear wipers? Most cars these days have the intermittant function be variable...kind of annoying to not be able to slow down/speed up the frequencyof the intermittancy....esp the rears.

Years ago, in my '78 Fiesta i bought two intermittant devices, one for the front one for the rear wipers and could vary from once every 2-45 seconds, but I wonder if these things still exist how it would interact with MINI's electronics.

 

+1 That would be a nice convenience mod.

 

Oh yes that would be nice. That's one gripe I have with our cars.

 

There was one made for BMWs, though possibly only for older models. I'm sure it's possible.
It drives me crazy, especially since somewhere in the software updating process, they changed how the wipers work.
For the first several months that I had my mini, when I was stopped and the wipers were on low, they did not swipe, at ALL, and were slow up to a much higher speed. Something was changed and they wipe more often now, and never turn off when stopped...I can't stand it. I usually just fire them manually now if it's raining lightly and I'm driving at anything less than 40.

 

me too, esp the rear wipers....I usually only now give them one pass across manually ...almost never use the intermittant feature for the rear except if going very slowly in a bad snow or rain storm......kinda annoying....


jwardell: I bought the aftermarket variable intermittant devices for my '78 Fiesta , probably in 1980 or so at YouDoIt electronics in Needham......maybe you could see if they still have them, install them, and let us know if your car's electronics get messed up:impatient .....I'd be afraid to do it tho.

When I installed them in the Ford Fiesta, they gave specific wiring color coded instructions for each manufacturer (with lots of disclaimers)..I realized that my car's wiring was closer to a VW's wiring than a Ford so I followed those instructions...made sense since the car was made in germany...the devices did work perfectly, front and rear

 

Unfortunately, I would guess that the wiping behavior is purely under BC1 software control (like so many other things in the MINI), and cannot be easily changed by modding or adding a separate control unit.

 

I just googled 'wiper delay control' and 'intermittant windshield wiper device' and there are some devices out there:

http://www.reddford.com/New%20Reddfo...s/page0006.htm

and

http://store.qkits.com/moreinfo.cfm/MX041

but these units are for cars that do not have intermittant wipers.....ours do have intermittants but just not variable, so I would think our electronics would get confused...right?

 

rkw is correct; all the wiper control logic is inside the BC1 programming.

These modules (presumably) work by interrupting power from (BC1) to motor.
If wipers are on always from BC1, the interrupt will work to give intermittent. But if wipers are intermittent from BC1, you'll have "chaos" - it'll be luck whether the wipers wipe or not, depending if the BC1 output and the module output are on together.


A much better option for the MINI, would be to make a circuit that triggered the "one wipe" signal (the one in the switch).
This is a low current signal (easier circuitry), and leaves the BC1 / motor wiring untouched (low risk).

 

Well.....what are you waiting for?

 

Agreed. Is that just an i-bus signal?

 

I wish somebody would come out with a mod for this too. I was shocked when I drove in the rain for the 1st time & found that the intermittant speed was not variable. I didn't even know there was still such a thing as non-varible in 2004 even on cheapo cars but ya live & learn

 

Josh,
No it's not an iBus signal; it's direct wiring from wiper control to BC1.

A circuit like the MINI circuit would be needed, to splice inline of the wiper control and do it's stuff.
Of course if there's no +/- in that harness, install gets more tricky - plus figuring somewhere to install an adjustment **** ...

 

GB....a james Vincent at qkits.com is their contact guy...maybe the 2 of you electronic gurus can figure somethin' out for our MINI's?

 

But that also means it's very simple...and therefore something I can do myself.
Another reason why I need to get the picstart working...

 

so, has anyone successfully installed a variable intermittant wiper circuit on their MINI?

 

bump?