Auto Wipers are awful

[DanAndTheBeard]

Sorry to start another thread, but hadn't seen a recent one on here or any that had a similar issue.

Picked up my M3P at the beginning of Sept so haven't had much use from the wipers until recently. I constantly have wipers set to 'auto' and even in slight rain not only will they seem to go a lot faster than a setting I would choose, they also tend to continue on until they start to smear the windscreen when it's bone dry.

On top of that, when I clean the windscreen, it seems to set them off again on another round of frantic wiping - again to a bone dry state.

The auto wiping on my Audi, though less autonomous, was much better than this.

Is this 'normal' or something I need to raise a service appointment for? Anyone else have the same issues.

 

[mpandrew]

You get used to it. Sometimes they work beautifully, other times they are awful. A case of a Tesla fixing a problem that didn't exist and balsing it up in the process. Service appointment won't fix it imho.

 

[phil4]

On the drive back from collection yesterday, the weather was all over the place, with rain showers etc. I just got use to pressing the button on the end if I wanted it wiped and it wasn't, the rest of the time it seemed to cope ok.

 

[MrBadger]

On top of that, when I clean the windscreen, it seems to set them off again on another round of frantic wiping - again to a bone dry state.

Wiper service mode is best for this. It also allows you to move the position of the arms whilst cleaning.

 

[DanAndTheBeard]

Wiper service mode is best for this. It also allows you to move the position of the arms whilst cleaning.

Sorry, I meant when I use the screen wash. It must detect the water again and goes at it.

 

[Zigway]

I also found my Audi of 15 years ago was superior for auto-wipers (and auto-headlights for that matter) than both our Nissan Leaf and our Tesla M3. I think VAG just cracked it, and engineered a dedicated sensor solution and software logic that works pretty much all the time. It seems Tesla went down the route of hacking their existing sensors in M3 to do the job via software to save dedicated hardware; admirable concept and it has got much better over their usual iterations.

I find now that it is mostly OK; a single press of the wiper stalk button if it is a bit slow to notice light rain building up is normally the only intervention I need.

Using wash-wipe is fine for me; gives a few wipes, waits a few seconds then a final single wipe (like my Audi did).

 

[Jeeves]

Regrettably, it is another example of Tesla getting it nearly right but not quite. It is way better than it was a year ago, but that is little consolation.

I’ve found that any kind of protective treatment on the glass makes it far worse. The main problem for me is that it goes up to the highest continuous speed too quickly and unnecessarily.

 

[boater291]

Agree - they're so bad I had to turn them off auto. They would wipe away when it was bone dry (and I hate seeing the rubber get dragged across dry glass!) and go at full speed in the lightest of rain. Very frustrating

 

[Neilio]

They really are far inferior to any other car i've driven. Especially, as the OP says, when washing the windows. They basically don't know when to stop and end up starting to smudge whatever it was you were trying to clear off. Also at least twice on my long road trip they came on for no reason whatsoever.

Yes, Yes Tesla, it's all very clever using a "neural net" to detect rain instead of an IR sensor like everyone else. However, IR sensors work, your system simply doesn't. To be kind, the one place it does work when an IR sensor doesn't is when you first get in a car that has water already on the windscreen. I always had to do a single press of the wipers on my other cars to seemingly wake up the sensor. Other than that though, they were flawless and this isn't

 

[NigelT]

I would just appreciate the ability to adjust the sensitivity/intensity level. Which is how it works on most other cars, if my old Golf had not had that adjustment I probably would have been just as frustrated. The constant wiping when the screen is dry though, yeah that is annoying!

 

[Yev000]

Yes... I got RainEx on and i dont even use wiper modes. Just press the button ever ~10-20 seconds. Somehow thats less insane.

Of course if its really coming down then its setting numero uno (I)....

And thats it. I never do anything else

To be honest wiper frequency should be on the stalk, this is one "software gone too far" for Teslas. Another little scroll wheel would be welcome.

 

[fancealot]

Yes the auto wipers seem too sensitive at times and others dangerously not sensitive enough, I've taken to using the single wipe if its occasional wipes needed, other than that i use the levels (if i'm on AP) my old Mazda had an auto sensitivity control I wish the Tesla had, but even then the Mazda struggled with the auto setting at times.

One thing I do miss is a rear wiper, it's odd having to realise as a saloon you don't get one

 

[Neilio]

Yes the auto wipers seem too sensitive at times and others dangerously not sensitive enough, I've taken to using the single wipe if its occasional wipes needed, other than that i use the levels (if i'm on AP) my old Mazda had an auto sensitivity control I wish the Tesla had, but even then the Mazda struggled with the auto setting at times.

One thing I do miss is a rear wiper, it's odd having to realise as a saloon you don't get one

I must admit I miss a rear wiper. I usually have hatchback and estates which have them. However I've also had a couple of Mid engined 2 seater sports cars which have small back windows and no wipers so you'd think I'd be used to it. I guess it's because it's got the rake of a hatchback that it seem obvious it's not there.

 

[BushtrimmmerJr]

The auto wipers can be abysmal at times and I’ve always thought pre-set speeds are always in between the speed you need. A drag/drop option for the speed would be good similar to the volume/temp controls (if they could do it with a software update).

 

[Durzel]

They really are far inferior to any other car i've driven. Especially, as the OP says, when washing the windows. They basically don't know when to stop and end up starting to smudge whatever it was you were trying to clear off. Also at least twice on my long road trip they came on for no reason whatsoever.

Yes, Yes Tesla, it's all very clever using a "neural net" to detect rain instead of an IR sensor like everyone else. However, IR sensors work, your system simply doesn't. To be kind, the one place it does work when an IR sensor doesn't is when you first get in a car that has water already on the windscreen. I always had to do a single press of the wipers on my other cars to seemingly wake up the sensor. Other than that though, they were flawless and this isn't

Tesla are king of coming up with overengineered or simply "different for different sake" solutions. What are they saving by omitting the same kind of rain sensor as everyone else uses vs development time on "AI wipers" ?

See also cruise control surging up to whatever the current limit is, rather than activating at your current speed like every other car in existence.

 

[Andy_T_73]

When I got my car (Nov last year) the wipers were awful but much improved with SW updates. I'd say they are now as good (or bad) as the auto wipers on any other car I've had. Try a thorough clean of the windscreen, especially around the camera.

 

[dan223]

They are miles better than the once were, it is just unlit roads that seem to be a bigger issue, as its pretty dark the cameras don't see a lot.

 

[Adopado]

When I got my car (Nov last year) the wipers were awful but much improved with SW updates. I'd say they are now as good (or bad) as the auto wipers on any other car I've had. Try a thorough clean of the windscreen, especially around the camera.

Agreed, the software changes since last year have greatly improved the auto wipers. During the day they are as good/bad as any other cars I've driven. In total darkness things can sometimes get flaky still.

 

[LongRanger]

if I'm being picky I would like the wipers to not be quite as sensitive as they are, they don't quite let the screen get wet enough before kicking in to my preference.

 

[Type2]

The wipers have definitely improved over the last 12 months but they are still crap. It’s an example of Tesla trying to reinvent the wheel and failing abysmally.