Auto Wipers are awful

[Peter 224]

Was a passenger today on a road that I regularly used as a test route. So I was able to concentrate on the wipers in light misting rain. They were great when in open roads, but the moment we entered heavily tree lined sections, it all went to pot - unprompted the driver asked if the wipers were actually switched on.

So usual wiper nemesis - dark and/or tree lined roads cause wipers to be far from sensitive enough.

Interesting: my wipers generally behave, but the headlights come on under every heavy shadow. I suspect that on country roads with tree shadows my headlights are on 80% of the time.
A question: is there any link between wipers auto on and headlights auto on, or are they totally separate systems?

 

[Mr H]

I've discovered that cleaning the windscreen no longer puts the lights on

 

[Adopado]

Interesting: my wipers generally behave, but the headlights come on under every heavy shadow. I suspect that on country roads with tree shadows my headlights are on 80% of the time.
A question: is there any link between wipers auto on and headlights auto on, or are they totally separate systems?

First thing I do when getting into the car is switch the lights off auto ... I find it irritating when the lights come on unnecessarily during the day ... the daylights remain on anyway so there are few occasions when dipped heads are needed.

 

[Yachtsman]

First thing I do when getting into the car is switch the lights off auto ... I find it irritating when the lights come on unnecessarily during the day ... the daylights remain on anyway so there are few occasions when dipped heads are needed.

I find mine go off after a few seconds except when its raining & the wipers are in use then they tend to stay on even in bright sunlight. I seem to recall that dipped headlights are either recommended or law when driving in rain with wipers active, but not sure!

 

[Adopado]

I find mine go off after a few seconds except when its raining & the wipers are in use then they tend to stay on even in bright sunlight. I seem to recall that dipped headlights are either recommended or law when driving in rain with wipers active, but not sure!

The day lights feature on modern cars covers most daytime use. Some countries require dipped lights when it's raining no matter what. The Highway code just says lights should be used "in dull daytime weather, to ensure that you can be seen" ... so it looks like a driver judgement.

 

[Mrklaw]

My last BMWs were atrocious - couldn't keep up with the light drizzle we often get.

mine too but at least they let you adjust the sensitivity- I usually needed them on max to work to my taste

 

[Louis0w]

Had to turn Auto Wiper setting off at the weekend. Motorway journey using NoA; wiped the screen to remove bug splatter. It followed the usual wipe process, then had a fit, went crazy wiping .... at which point the car disengaged NoA due to 'adverse weather'

 

[goRt]

Had to turn Auto Wiper setting off at the weekend. Motorway journey using NoA; wiped the screen to remove bug splatter. It followed the usual wipe process, then had a fit, went crazy wiping .... at which point the car disengaged NoA due to 'adverse weather'

Follow the rules ABC - Always Be Cleaning ;-)

 

[Somex]

Follow the rules ABC - Always Be Cleaning ;-)

More like ABC - Always Be Cursing (the cr@p auto wipers)

 

[init6]

The last time I used Angelwax H2Go (RainX type thing) on my car I applied it to all the glass - including the windscreen - and saw a marked improvement in wiper performance. The beading seemed to produce more contrast around the drops and I thought perhaps that was assisting with identification of rain. I meant to take a photo of the drops when I applied it, but might still be able to do that in the areas out with the wipe zone.

Sorry it's taken so long to rain in Glasgow!

Here's a photo showing the difference in contrast and shape of drops in a treated part of the windscreen versus an area that has had the treatment rubbed off by the wipers.
As I said earlier, the wipers were more responsive after the treatment than before. They did go a bit mental when I drove this afternoon. Might reapply the H2Go on the windscreen to see if it improves wiper performance again.

 

[Anfieldgaz]

Updated to 18.2 yesterday. Not had a lot of problems before but drive on motorway today which was very wet.... the auto wipers where not working correctly in any way, It became a hazard to be honest.

 

[MrBadger]

but drive on motorway today which was very wet.... the auto wipers where not working correctly in any way, It became a hazard to be honest.

I find them very poor in heavy spray. Not sure if that was your experience?

 

[Drew57]

Steady rain this morning and all was good. On auto, both intermittent & continuous worked as per the conditions (2021.4.18.2)

However when the rain stopped & I was following a lorry, a build up of fine spray stayed on the windscreen without activating the wipers. I persisted with this for several minutes until it became difficult to see safely & eventually pressed the wipe button on the LH stalk. Presumably this means that camera activation only responds to actual droplets but nothing smaller... so in this case not so good.

 

[MrBadger]

However when the rain stopped & I was following a lorry, a build up of fine spray stayed on the windscreen without activating the wipers. I persisted with this for several minutes until it became difficult to see safely & eventually pressed the wipe button on the LH stalk. Presumably this means that camera activation only responds to actual droplets but nothing smaller... so in this case not so good.

My experience completely. They are hopeless/dangerous in spray. [UK] 2021.4.x

 

[browellm]

Definitely the "right kind of rain" today for the car. Did a 30 mile run in intermittent light rain and the autos behaved themselves. 2021.4.18.2

 

[UrbanSplash]

Waste of time in heavy rain. Worst auto wipers ever experienced

 

[Nick77]

Used them today for the first time and whilst a bit trigger happy in very light drizzle even on the lowest setting, they worked OK for heavier rain. Sample size of one so far though.

I've since Rain-X'ed the whole front and rear windows. It's a bit crap that they don't come with a rear wiper. The rear visibility is very poor on these cars (the parcel shelf inclines upwards to the rear window. Why?) but when the rear is covered with tiny droplets of water you can barely see a thing.

 

[Tony Hoyle]

Using the rear heaters can help but yeah it's a bit crap.. I've resorted to having the rear camera up before now.

 

[Drew57]

I've since Rain-X'ed the whole front and rear windows.

Watch out if you have applied this to the area where the two front cameras are, I originally did that but it interfered with the wiper sensitivity so had to wash & buff it away, Since then I only apply Rain-X to the roof, rear & side windows but no longer the windscreen.

 

[goRt]

Used them today for the first time and whilst a bit trigger happy in very light drizzle even on the lowest setting, they worked OK for heavier rain. Sample size of one so far though.

There's no adjustment - they're either auto or one of the manual settings.