tried it today while washing the car... its pretty cool actually... it responds to how much i hose down the windshield!!

 

That's what it's all about!

I recently spent 2 days each way on the highway in varying levels of rain--works great.

 

I have the rain sensing wiper and could not figure out how to work them, the manual says push the lever once. I keep pushing up the lever once and the regular wipers went on. By dumb luck I pushed in the lever once and the auto wiper activated.

I blame the manual...

 

You're right--I was surprised after my early MINI was reprogrammed (when the SZL was fixed), and my "lift up" no longer worked.

 

ok, it actually rained today and the front wipers worked out great but the rear... im confused. I thought i read somewhere th at it automatically would wipe when you shifted into reverse but i got no such reaction. If i turned on the wiper then it would constantly wipe, im not sure if it was synced to the auto wipers with the front but i guess i could try that later. Also, i didnt realize that if you turn the end of the stalk all the way up or all the way down, it activates the rear wiper sprayer/wiper... why would you need 2 ways to activate something like this?

 

Ah ha! Here's the thread I was looking for...

I took delivery of my week 46 car two days ago and my MA still didn't really know how the newer wipers worked (though in his defense he's got an R56 with the older style). We eventually had to turn the car off to get the intermittent wipers to stop wiping in the showroom while he was demonstrating all the various features.

And they still haven't updated the manual either.

Hrmph!

 

That must have made the MA look a little silly! I'm surprised they haven't updated at least the supplemental manual by now.

 

This is the most disappointing feature of my new 07. I am still astounded that I have to turn on the "automatic" rain sensor wipers each time I start the car -- just in case it rains so the wipers will come on by themselves. Gee, what is the difference between doing that and just turning them on myself when it starts to rain!

 

An interesting revelation that seems kind silly from a design point of view.

 

The only logic to this that I can see is to allow you a method to have them off completely (in case you were going through one of those horrible spinning brush car washes and didn't want to have your wipers come on then get ripped off), but wouldn't it have made more sense to have them automatically activated when you start the car, and then turn off if you pushed the button?

Who knows what lurks in the minds of engineers? Not even the Shadow.

 

That is not a place I would dare venture!

 

Yeah add this the list of "things I would ask an engineer if I met them at a cocktail party". I have a long list for an Apple/OSX engineer already. But that's for another message board.

 

http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=758

I hope wit starts with making a secure OS.

 

The difference is that the automatic wipers vary speed, depending on how much rain is hitting the windshield. It is a little annoying having to turn them on every time, but I could see where the car wash scenario would be a problem. At some car washes you park your car and an attendant takes it through the wash. It is doubtful that he/she would know to turn the wipers off, or how.

My MCS (delivered in May) just had a software update to fix Voice Activation. The update did not change the wiper activation method. Auto wipers still requires an upward push of the handle, even though the stalk has the button on the end.

I was out running errands in the rain yesterday. The wipers did a good job of matching the rainfall. It didn't happen yesterday, but previously after parking in the rain for a few minutes, the sensor seemed to think it was in a monsoon and went at high speed for several munutes.

 

This is true whether they come on automatically or if I turn them on myself.

We have had rainy days here in the last couple of weeks and the wipers work great! Once I've started the car and turned on the automatic wipers I backed out of the covered parking. They came on when the rain hit the windshield and adjusted beautifully throughout the drive to match the amount of rain and the speed of the car. I have no problem with how they function.

 

When you said "difference" I took it to mean the difference between having auto wipers or not. Otherwise, the difference between you turning them on or not is you turning them on or not.

 

I'm very happy that I have to push the button to trigger the auto wipers. I wouldn't want it any other way. Lots of times I go through clouds of bugs, especially at night or in the evening. Your way, carjoy, a sprinkling of water would trigger the wipers, smearing the windshield to opaqueness! My way (and MINI's way), it gives me a chance to wash the darn thing first, then continue on with an auto wiper feature.

The same could be said for sand or grit, too.

 

how bout the rear wipers? anyone know about those things?

 

Mine seemed to work in intermittent mode. I only tried the first setting as that suited the occasion.

 

You make a very good point. I, frankly, at this point after reading this, am more concerned about a "cloud of bugs" than my wipers! A cloud of bugs? Does that happen often?

 

Why down in Texas not only can you encounter clouds of bugs, if you aren't careful they will pick up your MINI and fly off with it.

 

You betcha! Try us during love bug season. Or in the evenings when the June bugs are out. Or in the afternoons when we hit the dragonflies. Or...

 

OMG!

 

Forgot to mention spring when EVERYTHING is out!

 

Thanks for the info. I traded in my MC for a '07 MCS last friday, and driving home last night I was struggling to find the Inter. setting for the wiper. Never found it. I was used to the up-on down-off switch for the MC. This morning I search the forum and found this, so I go out and checked it out and there it was. Thankks again!