Hi everyone,
Need some assistance with Rain sensor.

On my previous car the rain sensor was automatically turned on (permanently on) but in my R56 I have to switch on every time I start the car with the button on the indicator stalk. Is there a way to leave it on automatic permanently? It sorts of defeat the purpose having to switch it on every time

 

That is by design for BMW vehicles.

 

I believe the reasoning is so it will not accidentally activate the wipers is a car wash situation.

 

I would say it wasnt thought thru very well

If you were in a car wash situation then you would simply turn it off, why make it turn off all the time you switch the car off

Lastly most cars gets washed when its not raining so the rain sensor wouldnt be switched on to begin with so what was BMW thinking

 

BMW engineers are good, but I don't believe they are good enough to program the computer to designate the difference between rain water and car wash water.

 

Here up north, I like that I have ti switch it on when I need it

In the winter, starting the car so it heats up while I remove the snow on it, the wipers don't try to remove the snow from the windshield and burn the wiper motor while trying :-)

 

Not saying that.

Im saying they should have made it the same way the automatic headlight sensor switch works.

On the indicator stalk it has : OFF, ON , Parks & AUTO

On auto mode it actually stays on AUTO you dont have to activate it everytime you start it up and if you want the system off completely just turn the thing on off.

Whereas the rain sensor they went completely backwards

On My GTI it had AUTO, OFF and ON . And if its on AUTO it activates all the time it rains, the same way the light sensor works. If you going to a car wash just turn it off, simple. Thats easier than having to switch it on auto ever single time you start the car Thats how it should be

 

You really need it so much that it's such a major pain ? Where do you live, Seattle ?

And hey, it could be worse, when I started driving, there was no such thing as intermittent wipers. Now THAT was hardship.

 

Owners will either not bother to turn it off, or forget (this is guaranteed to happen). It's a tradeoff. There are pros and cons both ways. BMW took the conservative approach. If somebody's wipers gets damaged in a car wash, they would blame BMW/MINI.

 

Agree with the OP, it's not really automatic is it if it has to be turned on first?! I too had a GTI that had properly automatic windscreen wipers but they could be turned off as needed.

 

Maybe they should be called semi-automatic since once you turn them on, you don't have to constantly adjust the intermittent speed on them.

 

People are really upset about having to push a simple button once and then forget it?
#firstworldproblems

 

^^^ Exactly.

 

If you're going to be like that this whole forum is full of #firstworldproblems

People pay a lot of money for these cars and they have every right to be annoyed if things are not as they expect. It's advertised as automatic wipers and it's not since it has to be manually triggered!

 

And all kids should get trophies, nobody ever loses, WAIT, There's NO SANTA CLAUS!? The check's in the mail, NO NEW TAXES!...

Why doesn't the car start itself when I get in? I mean that would really be Comfort Access?


Get over it...lol (I'm kidding, but seriously...)

They still amaze me. When it starts to rain, I just push a button, and for the rest of the drive I don't have to do anything. They just work. Fast, slow, in between... I'd say they are automatic all right.

 

I believe it's a good compromise for Mini because they would be faced with many warranty claims from people entering car washes and forgetting to turn of their wipers.

 

I believe it's a good compromise. How many warranty claims would there be from people who forgot to turn off their wipers before entering a car wash? I believe Mini would be justified in denying these claims.

 

This is kind of like saying, "WTF were Saab engineers thinking when they put the ignition switch in the center console?" (Well, OK, some people DO say that). It's a quirk that's part of what makes the car what it is. Someone buying the car knows about the quirks going in, and they either want the car or they don't. If a windscreen wiper control (or any other quirky feature, such as the center speedo) is the difference between buying and not buying, the person didn't want the car to begin with.

My mother had a Lexus that had auto wipers. They were the kind that were permanently on auto unless shut off. She took it to one of those car washes where someone else takes it through for you and forgot to disable the auto feature. The guy who drove it through didn't know they were auto wipers, and when they came on, one of the arms was damaged. I'll take the very simple act of pushing a button any day.

 

If Mini were so concerned about their cars going to car washes, think the best way to solve this issue would have been to have 2 "Automatic" settings. One where its actually Automatic and one where its manual (like it is currently).

Lastly, if you look at Merc, lexus, audi, vw, porsche, lambo etc - all their auto wipers doesnt work like the mini's. Why? because it totally defeats the purpose and you cant call it automatic to switch it on continuously. If you going to go to a car wash its your responsibility to make sure its off.

 

Because MINI does things differently. Look at the paddle shifters in the automatics - in 99% of cars with paddles left goes down, right goes up...but in MINIs you pull to go up, push to go down.

Remember MINI's own slogan is NOT NORMAL.

 

You left out BMW. This is how BMW does auto wipers across their entire product line. They aren't going to do the MINI differently.

 

Well, I just Googled and found this in a Porsche forum: http://www.planet-9.com/987-cayman-b...ng-wipers.html
Edit: 2013 Porsche Turbo 911 Owner's Manual (page 87): http://www.porsche.com/all/media/pdf...Turbo_PCNA.pdf
So are you completely sure about those other brands? You've checked this on a Lambo?