1. I have rain sensor and it's working better than I thought so far. I first thought it would be annoying and I probably won't use it much. Now I only set it to rain sensor and nothing else. My question is if I leave it at level 1, rain sensor, and then turn off my car. Next time I start my car, rain sensor doesn't activate. I would need to pull the level back to position 0, and then back to 1 again for it to work. Is the a normal behavior?

2. Is there a way to turn off automatic dimming in the mirror? In my Acura TL, there was a button to turn it off. Even though I never turned it off, its good to know if it's possible.

 

Yes. No.

 

1. Yes, it's normal (and annoying.) Supposedly the idea is that if you just left it in auto and drove through a car wash, you could rip your wipers off. Like my car will EVER see a car wash!

FWIW, I thought the RSW were a ridiculous idea until I used them on a rental BMW. Especially useful in fog or light/sporadic rain.

2. No off switch that I know of. But a strip of electrical tape would work...

 

That's just what I was thinking ... if you cover up the sensor facing to the rear of the car, the mirror won't dim.
BTW: if you cover up the one facing forward, it will dim fully and always!


My (just a theory) guess about the rain sensing is that maybe the system does some sort of fine calibration when you switch on the wipers - the current measured level of rain helps to determine when to wipe.
This would allow the system to compensate to some extent for dirty glass, etc ...

 

Guys, the RSW is the finest thiing since sliced bread....I've tinted the rear window, so, the dimming mirror doesn't dim too much.

Haven't had any probelms,,,,,,,except,,,,,,I don't get to motor as much as I want to!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Let me get this straight. . .

You have to TURN ON the rain sensing wipers when it starts raining????

I'll stick with my rain sensing eyeballs! They are so sensitive that they can detect the slightest mist or even a single raindrop anywhere on the windshield.

Those same eyeballs can also sense changes in the brightness of light, so no auto dimming mirror needed!

 

Yucca,

You're missing the point of them. They aren't to decide simply whether the wipers should be "off" or "on".

They are automatically adjusting intermittent wipers. You know how when you have a little bit of rain, but not much... and you are in stop and go traffic... and when you're moving you need the wipers to wipe faster, because you get more rain on the windshield, but when you stop at a light, you have to either slow the wipers down or put up with this SCRAAAAAPE sound from the rubber on dry glass? Then you move again and have to adjust the intermittent wipers back to a faster speed or you can't see... wash, rinse, repeat, ad nauseam.

Basically, when it starts to rain, you turn on the auto-wiper, and forget it about it. It wipes more often or less often depending on how much rain is hitting the windshield... and it works VERY well. Just "set it and forget it".

Don't knock it until you've tried it. It's really neat. :smile:

 

The rain sensing wipers are like the automatic climate control. 'Set it and forget it' is the best description. I wouldn't have got it if it wasn't part of the convience package. I only wanted the garage opener and willing to pay another $150 for the other gadgets.


I had the automatic climate on my old Acura TL but I didn't get it for the Mini because of price. I can always adjust my own temperature just like the RSW.

 

I have the ASW on my R32 but I didn't order them on my MCs. I love them but didn't order them when I found out that if the windshield cracks (possible to probable) you would have to use a stock windshield instead of one from ppg. With the rep of the stock w/s, I figure it wasn't worth the chance....Shame though, they really are nice if you live where it rains a lot.

 

Perhaps this feature has changed for the '06 model year, because I leave my RSW switch in the "on" position at all times and if I get in the car and it's raining out, the wipers start without further intervention.

 

The black patch behind the rear view mirror is where the rain sensor is located. Basically what it is doing is measuring the drops and amount of water it samples on that space and adjusting the wiper speed appropriately.

 

Oooohhh, isn't that cool? I doubt there's a BC1 uprev available, but it would be nice. (damn I'm lazy!)

 

A lot of talk about the rain sensor...how about the auto dim? I am really considering this for mine, as i find it annoying to flip back & forth on my wife's 05. I like to have it in "normal" mode as much as i can.

Thoughts?

thanks!

-jac

 

I have both as part of the $400 "Convenience Package" in my '05 MCS. Best money spent IMHO!

The auto wipers work flawlessly. About a month or so ago, coming back from Naples, FL to Miami in the "Alligator Alley" (I-75), we were greeted by BLINDING rain downpours which are typical of the Everglades region. The wipers automatically came on and adjusted their speed accordingly without a glitch! In dangerous driving situations like that, you can really come to appreciate the convenience and safety of the auto wiper feature. Not having to fiddle with the wiper stalk to "manually" adjust the wiper speed really takes away stress and distractions. Also, the headlights came on automatically and stayed on as needed!

The self dimming rearview mirror is great because it automatically darkens the mirror surface when vehicles with high beams or tall trucks (SUVs etc) appraoch you from behind. I also hate to manually adjust the mirror when that happens, so I ordered it as part of the package. It works a treat! The mirror feature can not be adjusted for sensitivity (At least not by means of a switch) or turned off. Its always there.

Included with this package is the Homelink remote control buttons that are integrated in the rearview mirror housing. I love this feature because I no longer have to carry around a brick sized remote to open the gate in our condo.

 

I have the stalk set for automatic headlights which I thought were supposed to toggle between my DRLs (set at the dealer) and normal headlights. If it works like I expect, there should always been either headlights or DRLs, depending on how bright it is outside.

This morning on my drive in to work, the headlights were on as it was before dawn (yawn). This afternoon I drove to/from lunch and the DRLs were not on. No lighting was on. It was a bright, sunny day and the light sensor obviously thought that it was too bright for the headlights, but at least the DRLs should have been on and they weren't. I turned off the car, took out the key and restarted the engine. Still no DRLs.

Any ideas? I hope the car isn't getting flaky already after only 4 days of use...

 

How do you know your DRLs weren't on?
Generally DRLs go off automatically when the parking brake is on, so unless you go look at them while the e-brake is off, they won't be on.
Did you check them in a reflective surface?

Oddly, while I like the RSW, auto headlights have no appeal to me.

 

Yes, I was behind a very large truck (this being Texas and all) and didn't see the headlight reflection in his back end. I turned on the headlights manually and did see that. BTW, the auto headlights turn on in my garage with the brake engaged.

Personally, I love having all of the auto functions; auto headlights, auto wipers and auto rear-view mirror!

I just wish I could justify $700 for the rear-view video camera that integrates into the NAV for when I'm reversing. Would a tad more interesting than the "beeps" of my PDC.

 

I did use them when driving MINIclo's MCS across the country but I didn't really care for them. They did not seem to go the speed I wanted them to go much of the time.

The idea is certainly neat though. . .

 

The auto-dimming mirror might be retrofittable, especially in an '05 where the wiring harness for it is (hopefully) available. No idea of price though.

I did not think DRLs and auto-headlights were compatible - try switching your lights stalk to "off", do the DRLs then work properly?

 

I have DRLs enabled in conjuction with my auto headlights. Both work flawlessly and the lights switch from DRL to low beams and viceversa with no problems.

 

Simple, your DRLs are not activated and probably never have been.....

 

Here is the way DRLs in the MINI are supposed to work (I have them enabled in both my MCS and MC CVT):


MCS (manual Transmission):

DRL's come on automatically regardless of gear/neutral position.

MC CVT (And pressumably MCSa):

DRLs come on automatically as soon as the car is taken out of Park "P". Lights turn off when the gear selector is returned to "P".

 

Oh, now I remember why I want to look for the switch to turn off Autodimming. Sometimes it's too dark and you want to see the driver's face behind you. There may be other rare instances which I remember turning off auto dimming in my old car.


I haven't tint my car yet but will be doing that next spring. After tinting, the Auto dimming will even be darker and would be harder to see any thing that isn't bright. so was wondering if there was a switch. oh well.

 

FWIW, I've got a tinted rear window (VA spec - 50%?) and I believe the tint is too dark to allow the mirror to auto-dim. I've never noticed any change in the view, anyway. All in all it works as it should - I don't get blinded by SUVs in my mirror either way.

 

good point...I plan on getting at least a light tint in our 05, I should get that taken care of before i make any auto-dim decisions!

thanks!

-jac