No Intermittent Wipers in Snow?

[jnclem]

Just had our first snow since getting the X5. I have been using the rain sensing wipers throughout the summer and it works quite well. Just as a reminder, on the E53, you push the wiper stalk up 1 notch to get the intermittent/rain sensor going, and you can adjust speed or sensitivity with a little dial on the stalk.

The problem is that the sensor doesn't seem to sense snow. It was fairly warm today, around 31 degrees, so this is very wet snow, and it melts quickly as it hits the windshield, but the sensors were not recognizing it. I had to run on low or high constant - no way to get any intermittent action. If the sensor doesn't know that this slop is wet, then it certainly won't recognize dry powder once it gets cold.

I pulled out the manual, and it looks like the only way to have intermittent is with the rain sensors. Is there any way to turn that off and just use a manual intermittent mode adjusted with the dial on the stalk?

Otherwise, it looks to me like I won't have any ability to have intermittent from now until next Spring. What in the world were they thinking? I know it snows in Germany.

[Overboost]

I would guess you have a replacement windshield that is not as good with the OEM reflective IR sensor. You can just unplug the rain sensor or pull fuse 41 and it will default to 7 second sweep intervals. But this may disable your auto lights if you use them. You might also try to recalibrate the sensor to the glass but in a pinch, just disable it.

[Fifty150hs]

Originally Posted by Overboost

I would guess you have a replacement windshield that is not as good with the OEM reflective IR sensor. You can just unplug the rain sensor or pull fuse 41 and it will default to 7 second sweep intervals. But this may disable your auto lights if you use them. You might also try to recalibrate the sensor to the glass but in a pinch, just disable it.

I have an issue with mine after replacing the windshield with non-OEM glass. How would you go about re-calibrating the sensor?

[Overboost]

Originally Posted by Fifty150hs

I have an issue with mine after replacing the windshield with non-OEM glass. How would you go about re-calibrating the sensor?

Use INPA. "Initialize" under "Karosserie (Body)\Rain and Light Sensor". From there just follow the prompts, pretty straight forward. This may or may not solve your problem. Make sure you have no bubbles in your windshield sensing area. If it has bubbles you will probably never get it to initialize. You might also double check that the sensor is plugged in. I have read a lot of installers not getting the connector plugged in properly.

[jnclem]

Originally Posted by Overboost

I would guess you have a replacement windshield that is not as good with the OEM reflective IR sensor. You can just unplug the rain sensor or pull fuse 41 and it will default to 7 second sweep intervals. But this may disable your auto lights if you use them. You might also try to recalibrate the sensor to the glass but in a pinch, just disable it.

My windshield says BMW on it, and its pitted enough that I had assumed it was original. In fact, we were just talking about replacing it just to get fresh glass. I hadn't even thought that I might need to buy one from BMW.

[jnclem]

Originally Posted by Overboost

Use INPA. "Initialize" under "Karosserie (Body)\Rain and Light Sensor". From there just follow the prompts, pretty straight forward. This may or may not solve your problem. Make sure you have no bubbles in your windshield sensing area. If it has bubbles you will probably never get it to initialize. You might also double check that the sensor is plugged in. I have read a lot of installers not getting the connector plugged in properly.

Interesting. Is the sensor the sort of mesh looking area in front of the rear view mirror?

It works very well in the rain. I have been impressed with the fact that in changing conditions, it seems to wipe just when I would have done it myself.

[Overboost]

Originally Posted by jnclem

My windshield says BMW on it, and its pitted enough that I had assumed it was original. In fact, we were just talking about replacing it just to get fresh glass. I hadn't even thought that I might need to buy one from BMW.

Your problem is different from the other poster. Yours is clealy working but the sensitivity may be set too low for snowflakes. A reinitialize may help but if you go with a replacement windshield, the stealership will charge you upwards of $1000.00. I went to a local auto glass company and insisted on Pilkington or Saint-Gobain Sekurit. Both of these were suppliers for BMW.

[andrewwynn]

In snow, you just might not be getting enough drops of water forming to convince the sensor there is rain. I believe it works by sending some light into the glass at an angle and the receiver will get less light when there are water drops because the index of refraction of the water-glass interface is less than the IR of the glass-air interface so the mirror surface when dry becomes transparent. If lots of the snow just goes with the slipstream over the car it will take longer to trip the sensor but should eventually trip.

If you are just being a little impatient and want to kick it in the butt to go, the easiest way is to turn the intermittent dial up and down it will make one cycle like using the spray but wo using spray


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[jnclem]

Originally Posted by Overboost

Your problem is different from the other poster. Yours is clealy working but the sensitivity may be set too low for snowflakes. A reinitialize may help but if you go with a replacement windshield, the stealership will charge you upwards of $1000.00. I went to a local auto glass company and insisted on Pilkington or Saint-Gobain Sekurit. Both of these were suppliers for BMW.

thanks. That's good information.

[jnclem]

Originally Posted by andrewwynn

In snow, you just might not be getting enough drops of water forming to convince the sensor there is rain. I believe it works by sending some light into the glass at an angle and the receiver will get less light when there are water drops because the index of refraction of the water-glass interface is less than the IR of the glass-air interface so the mirror surface when dry becomes transparent. If lots of the snow just goes with the slipstream over the car it will take longer to trip the sensor but should eventually trip.

If you are just being a little impatient and want to kick it in the butt to go, the easiest way is to turn the intermittent dial up and down it will make one cycle like using the spray but wo using spray


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Well, I can be impatient. But in this case, there was so much snow building up that it was very difficult to see through. Still no wiper. I let it go a long time a couple of times to see if it would ever trip the sensor, but it didn't. Also, as I mentioned, this was very wet snow that was quickly becoming water drops. It would have reacted with less rain than what was on the windshield.

I think it is easier to simply leave the stalk in position 0, and push it down occasionally than to try to manipulate that intermittent dial, but I shouldn't have to do either.

So, bottom line, what I'm getting is that I will have no intermittent function all winter long. That's a huge disappointment. It's unbelievable that a car in this category can't do a simple task that the cheapest American or Japanese car handles every day. Shaking my head at BMW again.