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      03-02-2019, 01:32 PM   #1
silver.f30
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Automatic Windshield Wipers

My F30 has automatic windshield wipers, but it seems that I have to manually turn on the feature each time I turn on the car. Does anyone know if there is a way to code this setting to be persisted, similar to the Auto-stop engine and seat heaters?

Seems a bit counter-intuitive to have a feature for automatic wipers that needs to be manually turned on each time
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      03-02-2019, 02:03 PM   #2
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If there's a way to keep it permanently active I haven't found it. I don't bother to turn mine on every time I turn on the car, I just do so when it rains.
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      03-02-2019, 05:13 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by silver.f30 View Post
My F30 has automatic windshield wipers, but it seems that I have to manually turn on the feature each time I turn on the car. Does anyone know if there is a way to code this setting to be persisted, similar to the Auto-stop engine and seat heaters?

Seems a bit counter-intuitive to have a feature for automatic wipers that needs to be manually turned on each time
Unfortunately, this is how they work. If you want them to always be in the "on" position, you need to trade up to a '17 MY or newer.
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      03-02-2019, 05:50 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by silver.f30 View Post
My F30 has automatic windshield wipers, but it seems that I have to manually turn on the feature each time I turn on the car. Does anyone know if there is a way to code this setting to be persisted, similar to the Auto-stop engine and seat heaters?

Seems a bit counter-intuitive to have a feature for automatic wipers that needs to be manually turned on each time
You want the Automatic Automatic Windshield Wipers, which will be released as a $3,842 option in the 2024 BMW 355i.
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      03-02-2019, 09:14 PM   #5
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BMW tends to add tech, but keeps it default off (auto high beams, auto wipers, etc). it could be that not all are happy with it, so that "solves" the problem. As it gets improved/adopted/people complain, then that changes.

It would be nice if the state of those features got remembered when the car was turned off.
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      03-03-2019, 02:40 PM   #6
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I wish we had simple intermittent wipers. The automatic wipers never get the speed right especially on the freeway -- way too fast. Sometimes it starts spazing out despite having the sensitivity way down and I have to turn them off and back on again, to get them behaving half-right. It's lame.
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      03-03-2019, 04:31 PM   #7
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Never had that issue, mine work well (at least in the conditions I've exposed them to). But from what you are saying, that is why they default off.

One of those "we are almost there...." type moments.
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      03-03-2019, 04:42 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by Wires View Post
Never had that issue, mine work well (at least in the conditions I've exposed them to). But from what you are saying, that is why they default off.

One of those "we are almost there...." type moments.
Nope--not anymore. Updated in '17.
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      03-03-2019, 09:29 PM   #9
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I wonder if that can be coded on in the older vehicles (like the auto start stop memory)?
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      03-04-2019, 08:26 AM   #10
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If you live in a climate where it freezes in winter it’s better that they are off by default. If they were on they would try to clear the frozen screen whilst being frozen solid to the glass when you start the car. Could be expensive.
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      03-04-2019, 08:34 AM   #11
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Bingo.
Next up: 'Why doesn't BMW allow the automatic wipers to stay on all the time except when the temperature is cold enough to cause the wipers to be frozen to the windshield?'
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      03-05-2019, 03:26 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Billfitz View Post
Bingo.
Next up: 'Why doesn't BMW allow the automatic wipers to stay on all the time except when the temperature is cold enough to cause the wipers to be frozen to the windshield?'
You should've bought the model with Automatic Automatic windshield wiper heaters
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      03-05-2019, 03:29 PM   #13
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Wouldn't coding force the wipers to swipe once if they were coded to be ON all the time? Every time I hit the "A" to enable it, my wipers swipe once and stay stationary until it senses rain.
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      03-05-2019, 03:39 PM   #14
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It rains here like everyday. Hitting the button on the end of the stalk is no big deal. I don't have to take my hand off the wheel.

My wipers have an intermittent function, it's the first vertical push of the stalk. No?
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      03-05-2019, 03:48 PM   #15
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I don't know, never used it. If I see rain on the windshield I just push the button on the stalk and let it do its thing. Always worked for me. It even knows to turn on the headlights if the combination of how dark it is outside and how fast the rain is falling justifies it, and turns them off again if the rain slows.
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      03-05-2019, 03:59 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wires View Post
I wonder if that can be coded on in the older vehicles (like the auto start stop memory)?
Newer cars have a redesigned wiper stalk (and turn signal one too, they’re actually both on the same switch cluster).

Older F30s have the (in my opinion, ridiculous) return-to-center stalks. Automatic wipe is selected by a button at the end of the stalk. There’s no provision to “remember” what mode the wipers were in after the car is turned off.

Updated models have traditional stalks that stay where you put them (or, in the case of the turn signal, physically return to center on their own only when the turn signal self-cancels). Automatic wipe is no longer on a separate button, it’s a distinct physical position of the stalk, which now has three “up” positions: automatic, low speed, and high speed. Because the stalk stays in position even with the car off, this essentially lets you leave the stalk in, say, the automatic position all the time, if that’s your thing. (Personally, I don’t know why anyone would want that, but it’s certainly possible.)

Since this is a hardware change, it’s not possible to “upgrade” older cars strictly through coding. You’d need the updated steering stalk switch cluster.

On the other hand, automatic high beam, where equipped, is still a button at the end of the turn signal stalk, and it’s still got to be turned on each time.
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      03-05-2019, 04:36 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by XxThe_RemedyXx View Post
Wouldn't coding force the wipers to swipe once if they were coded to be ON all the time? Every time I hit the "A" to enable it, my wipers swipe once and stay stationary until it senses rain.
If they are always in the ON position, they don't swipe every time you start the car up. This is how the MY '17s+ work (and many other brands).
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      03-05-2019, 04:39 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AlpineX View Post
My wipers have an intermittent function, it's the first vertical push of the stalk. No?
No. If you have rain sensing, you don't have intermittent wipers on the F30. But if it's not raining much, the auto wipers will function as intermittent, based on the sensitivity you choose. But you can't really force them to run on intermittent if it's raining hard.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Billfitz View Post
I don't know, never used it. If I see rain on the windshield I just push the button on the stalk and let it do its thing. Always worked for me. It even knows to turn on the headlights if the combination of how dark it is outside and how fast the rain is falling justifies it, and turns them off again if the rain slows.
Headlights will also come on if the lights are in AUTO, and you turn the wipers on to slow or fast--not just wipers in AUTO. This is regardless of how dark it is outside--wipers on, headlights on.
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      03-05-2019, 04:59 PM   #19
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Could be, I can't say. My headlights are always in auto, I only use the wipers in auto. I seldom drive in heavy rain, since most of my summertime driving is to the golf course and back, so I was pleasantly surprised last summer when I noticed the lights came on not because it had gotten darker out, but because the rain had become heavier. When the lights went off when the rain slowed I thought it doubly cool.
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      03-05-2019, 08:04 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by supermarket View Post
Newer cars have a redesigned wiper stalk (and turn signal one too, they’re actually both on the same switch cluster).

Older F30s have the (in my opinion, ridiculous) return-to-center stalks. Automatic wipe is selected by a button at the end of the stalk. There’s no provision to “remember” what mode the wipers were in after the car is turned off.

Updated models have traditional stalks that stay where you put them (or, in the case of the turn signal, physically return to center on their own only when the turn signal self-cancels). Automatic wipe is no longer on a separate button, it’s a distinct physical position of the stalk, which now has three “up” positions: automatic, low speed, and high speed. Because the stalk stays in position even with the car off, this essentially lets you leave the stalk in, say, the automatic position all the time, if that’s your thing. (Personally, I don’t know why anyone would want that, but it’s certainly possible.)

Since this is a hardware change, it’s not possible to “upgrade” older cars strictly through coding. You’d need the updated steering stalk switch cluster.

On the other hand, automatic high beam, where equipped, is still a button at the end of the turn signal stalk, and it’s still got to be turned on each time.
Ahhh.. I get you. That's what our 2018 Audi has as well. With that change, can you still bump the lever down to clear the windshield? Or does it need to click off auto to the "off position", and then you can do the bump down for clean? (That's what the stalk in our Audi does which is a PITA).
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      03-05-2019, 11:11 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by XxThe_RemedyXx View Post
Wouldn't coding force the wipers to swipe once if they were coded to be ON all the time? Every time I hit the "A" to enable it, my wipers swipe once and stay stationary until it senses rain.
On vehicle's with the auto-on memory, it only activates the wiper blades when the vehicle is traveling over 3MPH. So no, it won't swipe once on start up.

Also, there is no parameters to change the coding to auto-on like on the newer vehicles, it's hardware dependent.
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      03-05-2019, 11:26 PM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by supermarket View Post
Newer cars have a redesigned wiper stalk (and turn signal one too, they’re actually both on the same switch cluster).

Older F30s have the (in my opinion, ridiculous) return-to-center stalks. Automatic wipe is selected by a button at the end of the stalk. There’s no provision to “remember” what mode the wipers were in after the car is turned off.

Updated models have traditional stalks that stay where you put them (or, in the case of the turn signal, physically return to center on their own only when the turn signal self-cancels). Automatic wipe is no longer on a separate button, it’s a distinct physical position of the stalk, which now has three “up” positions: automatic, low speed, and high speed. Because the stalk stays in position even with the car off, this essentially lets you leave the stalk in, say, the automatic position all the time, if that’s your thing. (Personally, I don’t know why anyone would want that, but it’s certainly possible.)

Since this is a hardware change, it’s not possible to “upgrade” older cars strictly through coding. You’d need the updated steering stalk switch cluster.

On the other hand, automatic high beam, where equipped, is still a button at the end of the turn signal stalk, and it’s still got to be turned on each time.
I can't wait to finally get a new BMW with physical turn signal and wiper stalks. I use my turn signals a lot and every once in a while I'll get the dreaded flip flop signals while I try to cancel an errant signal.
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