How to use Rain-sensor wipers?

[sobi6111]

how to use rotary dial #7 on pics ABove? i had it raining hard today and buttom #7 was in position I ,and it still wipers were wiping with 7 seconds interval and not faster :-( any ideas? i even put lots of water on window fast and no reaction,until 7 seconds passed and then he wiped :-(

[TwinsPoppa]

Originally Posted by sobi6111

how to use rotary dial #7 on pics ABove? i had it raining hard today and buttom #7 was in position I ,and it still wipers were wiping with 7 seconds interval and not faster :-( any ideas? i even put lots of water on window fast and no reaction,until 7 seconds passed and then he wiped :-(

1) Make sure the sensor area is clean. Its installed near the rear view mirror.

2) Place the wiper lever in position one. This will activate the sensor.

3) Adjust the rotary dial to the speed you like. The further you turn the dial up/forward the faster the wipes will go DEPENDENT on how much the sensor is obstructed AND vehicle speed! So, even if you have it turned all the way up/forward and splash water on the sensor it won't wipe very quickly - IF you stopped the X to splash the water.

Hopefully, I didn't confuse you more.

[sobi6111]

I always put it in position 1,so as you said i activated rain sesnor. But it always wipe with same speed no matter what,about 7 seconds or so interval. rotary speed usually in II. So how to test out a rain sensor????

[TwinsPoppa]

Originally Posted by sobi6111

I always put it in position 1,so as you said i activated rain sesnor. But it always wipe with same speed no matter what,about 7 seconds or so interval. rotary speed usually in II. So how to test out a rain sensor????

Just to confirm but are you saying even when you're at highway speed and it's raining cats and dogs it doesn't wipe fast enough? I just want to make sure you understand its vehicle SPEED dependent too. The faster you drive your X the faster the wipe.

[sobi6111]

can't say it,didn't try. the only thing i tried is to put a lot of water unexpectedly and he ignored it :-( but car was in park

[TwinsPoppa]

Originally Posted by sobi6111

can't say it,didn't try. the only thing i tried is to put a lot of water unexpectedly and he ignored it :-( but car was in park

That's what I was trying to tell you before. You can't really test its maximum wipe speed when the vehicle is stopped. Next time its raining get on the highway and turn the dial all the way.

I don't know the max speed for the sensor wipe but I'm pretty sure its faster than 7 seconds.

[sobi6111]

when was raining hard i had wipers on fast in position 3 all the time

[sobi6111]

Thanks,will try

[sobi6111]

Thats right. English is my 2nd language,and manual is in weird explanation sometimes. Plus its my first Bimmer

[jsears]

From my experience when it is raining and the rain-sensing is turned on and the car is parked it won't go but every 10 seconds or so. Can't really say I haven't timed it.

It typical Oregon weather I leave it on rotary dial on 1 or 2 for city driving. Once I hit the freeway its typically 3-4.

However, my point is, I like to ease drop when I am at the dealership of what things people are complaining to their SA about. One of them was complaining about their rain-sensing wipers weren't working properly. The SA told them they had a device that can test the wipers, and the wiper blade position to see their effectiveness and then they can make any tweaks necessary.

So, can somebody confirm or deny such a testing device exists? Or was the SA just blowing smoke? I figured it was smoke. But if there is an issue with your wipers you may want to stop by the dealership and see if they can fix it.

EDIT: After reading this Sobi6111 there is really no useful information in there for you, so you can probably forget it!