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      03-05-2019, 07:18 PM   #1
Whovian827
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Auto wiper not working correctly

Hi all,
I have had my G31 for a few months now and noticed that my rain sensor is not sensitive at all, it doesn't wipe during mist or light rain and wipe very slowly during heavy rain.

I went to the dealer a few times and they can't do anything because the sensor itself is not broken. Before you ask, It's a brand new car so the windscreen is not replaced.
Is there any way to turn up the sensitivity? Or do something about it??
I tired of having to manually turn on the wipers, it defeats the purpose of having AUTO WIPERS!
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      03-05-2019, 07:21 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Whovian827 View Post
Hi all,
I have had my G31 for a few months now and noticed that my rain sensor is not sensitive at all, it doesn't wipe during mist or light rain and wipe very slowly during heavy rain.

I went to the dealer a few times and they can't do anything because the sensor itself is not broken. Before you ask, It's a brand new car so the windscreen is not replaced.
Is there any way to turn up the sensitivity? Or do something about it??
I tired of having to manually turn on the wipers, it defeats the purpose of having AUTO WIPERS!
Nothing you can do I am afraid. I have also noticed that the auto wipers are hit or miss when it comes to rain sensibility. Best auto wipers I have had were on a R53 MINI Cooper S.
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      03-05-2019, 07:22 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 530iDriver View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Whovian827 View Post
Hi all,
I have had my G31 for a few months now and noticed that my rain sensor is not sensitive at all, it doesn't wipe during mist or light rain and wipe very slowly during heavy rain.

I went to the dealer a few times and they can't do anything because the sensor itself is not broken. Before you ask, It's a brand new car so the windscreen is not replaced.
Is there any way to turn up the sensitivity? Or do something about it??
I tired of having to manually turn on the wipers, it defeats the purpose of having AUTO WIPERS!
Nothing you can do I am afraid. And replacing a windshield over something like this is a very bad idea to begin with.
You can adjust the sensitivity through coding using BimmerCode. It does not appear in basic mode, but can be adjusted in the front electronic module using expert mode. This is a screen shot from the demo mode.

Make sure to open up both images full-screen so you can see the options.
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Last edited by VirtualGuitars; 03-05-2019 at 07:34 PM..
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      03-05-2019, 07:35 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by VirtualGuitars View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by 530iDriver View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Whovian827 View Post
Hi all,
I have had my G31 for a few months now and noticed that my rain sensor is not sensitive at all, it doesn't wipe during mist or light rain and wipe very slowly during heavy rain.

I went to the dealer a few times and they can't do anything because the sensor itself is not broken. Before you ask, It's a brand new car so the windscreen is not replaced.
Is there any way to turn up the sensitivity? Or do something about it??
I tired of having to manually turn on the wipers, it defeats the purpose of having AUTO WIPERS!
Nothing you can do I am afraid. And replacing a windshield over something like this is a very bad idea to begin with.
I believe you can adjust the sensitivity through coding. Trying to dig up where I may have seen that.
This is the setting in Bimmercode.
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      03-05-2019, 07:45 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by kitster View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by VirtualGuitars View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by 530iDriver View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Whovian827 View Post
Hi all,
I have had my G31 for a few months now and noticed that my rain sensor is not sensitive at all, it doesn't wipe during mist or light rain and wipe very slowly during heavy rain.

I went to the dealer a few times and they can't do anything because the sensor itself is not broken. Before you ask, It's a brand new car so the windscreen is not replaced.
Is there any way to turn up the sensitivity? Or do something about it??
I tired of having to manually turn on the wipers, it defeats the purpose of having AUTO WIPERS!
Nothing you can do I am afraid. And replacing a windshield over something like this is a very bad idea to begin with.
I believe you can adjust the sensitivity through coding. Trying to dig up where I may have seen that.
This is the setting in Bimmercode.
That's the one! I knew I saw it when I was coding my own vehicle!
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      03-05-2019, 09:59 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Whovian827 View Post
Hi all,
I have had my G31 for a few months now and noticed that my rain sensor is not sensitive at all, it doesn't wipe during mist or light rain and wipe very slowly during heavy rain.

I went to the dealer a few times and they can't do anything because the sensor itself is not broken. Before you ask, It's a brand new car so the windscreen is not replaced.
Is there any way to turn up the sensitivity? Or do something about it??
I tired of having to manually turn on the wipers, it defeats the purpose of having AUTO WIPERS!
I presume you've played around with the sensitivity level button that's on wiper stalk?
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      03-05-2019, 11:55 PM   #7
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I am not happy with this either, one of the three things I don’t like about my car.

I have played with the sensitivity level and it’s never spot on , either too slow or too fast.

Issue is only at low speed by the way, auto wipers work fine at high speed.
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      03-06-2019, 02:57 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Whovian827 View Post
Hi all,
I have had my G31 for a few months now and noticed that my rain sensor is not sensitive at all, it doesn't wipe during mist or light rain and wipe very slowly during heavy rain.

I went to the dealer a few times and they can't do anything because the sensor itself is not broken. Before you ask, It's a brand new car so the windscreen is not replaced.
Is there any way to turn up the sensitivity? Or do something about it??
I tired of having to manually turn on the wipers, it defeats the purpose of having AUTO WIPERS!
There are after-market codes to change sensitivity; dealership should have been able to change. You can also FDL code.
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      03-06-2019, 09:00 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by emre View Post
Issue is only at low speed by the way, auto wipers work fine at high speed.
In my experience, the wipers are both rain AND speed sensitive. They faster you go, the faster they go.

I also think they are too slow at low speed, and some times ridiculously fast when I'm driving ridiculously fast

Not sure if speed sensitivity of the wipers can be coded...?
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      03-08-2019, 10:02 PM   #10
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I am not happy with this either, one of the three things I don’t like about my car.

I have played with the sensitivity level and it’s never spot on , either too slow or too fast.

Issue is only at low speed by the way, auto wipers work fine at high speed.
Sounds like you have the exact same issue.
My wiper works when I hit the highway, and doesn’t work at all when doing below 80km or 50 miles/h
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      03-08-2019, 10:05 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by VirtualGuitars View Post
You can adjust the sensitivity through coding using BimmerCode. It does not appear in basic mode, but can be adjusted in the front electronic module using expert mode. This is a screen shot from the demo mode.

Make sure to open up both images full-screen so you can see the options.
Thank you so much, I’ll pass this on to my dealers and have them deal with it.
I’m seeing them next Tuesday. It’s so frustrating to have annoying little problems like this in your new car.

While we at it, can this app do something about my gesture control as well, the customer gesture is nearly unusable in my car(two finger pointing one), others works better but not 100%.
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      03-08-2019, 10:20 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Whovian827 View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by VirtualGuitars View Post
You can adjust the sensitivity through coding using BimmerCode. It does not appear in basic mode, but can be adjusted in the front electronic module using expert mode. This is a screen shot from the demo mode.

Make sure to open up both images full-screen so you can see the options.
Thank you so much, I’ll pass this on to my dealers and have them deal with it.
I’m seeing them next Tuesday. It’s so frustrating to have annoying little problems like this in your new car.

While we at it, can this app do something about my gesture control as well, the customer gesture is nearly unusable in my car(two finger pointing one), others works better but not 100%.
I can tell you right now the dealer is not going to help you with any coding. While they have the software to do it, I don't think you're going to get very far with the service department.

I have never seen anything dealing with gesture control. I have it in my vehicle and never really use it. I believe the sensor is in the rearview mirror unit.
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      03-09-2019, 01:53 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by VirtualGuitars View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Whovian827 View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by VirtualGuitars View Post
You can adjust the sensitivity through coding using BimmerCode. It does not appear in basic mode, but can be adjusted in the front electronic module using expert mode. This is a screen shot from the demo mode.

Make sure to open up both images full-screen so you can see the options.
Thank you so much, I'll pass this on to my dealers and have them deal with it.
I'm seeing them next Tuesday. It's so frustrating to have annoying little problems like this in your new car.

While we at it, can this app do something about my gesture control as well, the customer gesture is nearly unusable in my car(two finger pointing one), others works better but not 100%.
I can tell you right now the dealer is not going to help you with any coding. While they have the software to do it, I don't think you're going to get very far with the service department.

I have never seen anything dealing with gesture control. I have it in my vehicle and never really use it. I believe the sensor is in the rearview mirror unit.
The gesture sensor is further back then the mirror around the map light switch. It's been working better since I stopped trying so close to screen but it's a hit or miss thing I don't find very useful other then to show off.
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      03-09-2019, 03:24 AM   #14
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Try using some alcohol wipes on the sensor, made mine 100% better.
Also don't use rain X or similar over the sensor.
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      09-04-2019, 05:18 PM   #15
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I have the same issue as discribed here, but I simply refuse to believe that I have to turn to coding to solve such a common issue. I can only imagine the 80 million Germans have an issue with their 5 series' rainsensor.... And it rains alot in Germany also..... :-)

There has to be some sort of reset somewhere?
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      09-04-2019, 06:43 PM   #16
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Gesture control gets a bit used to now I'm nearly 100% hit
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      09-05-2019, 03:30 AM   #17
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The e39 530d I had back in the early 2000's had almost telepathic wiper activation - it was always perfect.

Every single 5- series since (and I've had e60, f10 and now g30) have been inconsistent. Either does not come on at all or is too aggressive. Not to mention they changed the stalk so you can't just push down for a single swipe without going past the 'auto' click...

Once the oil service is out of the way, I'll have a play with BimmerCode, which I have only used for Alpina display so far.
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      09-05-2019, 08:41 AM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by phrede View Post
I have the same issue as discribed here, but I simply refuse to believe that I have to turn to coding to solve such a common issue. I can only imagine the 80 million Germans have an issue with their 5 series' rainsensor.... And it rains alot in Germany also..... :-)

There has to be some sort of reset somewhere?
There has to be something wrong, if the auto-wipe doesn't work effectively. I've been driving cars with auto-wipe for about 20-years, other than one faulty sensor, (VAG model), when the wiping wasn't at all consistent, all other deterioration in performance is when the screen isn't clean enough.

I'm in the Scottish Highlands so have all types of rain, optimum performance is definitely dependant on a clean screen above the sensor, so that the rain 'beads' correctly. No coatings, polishes, road grease, etc., if we want auto-wiping to work perfectly.
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      09-06-2019, 01:33 PM   #19
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The G30 seems to be more inconsistent than any previous BMW. Plus you can't always get it to do one wipe and properly continue on.

I definitely preferred the older style stalk controls.
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