C Class - automatic wipers?
Discussion
The sensor will be there anyway for the auto lights.
Auto wipers were an option - I guess few people think to tick it. My car is a very loaded ex-MB Management vehicle but it doesn't have them. It works when you select what would otherwise be the intermittant setting.
It can be retrofitted but it's a bit of a can of worms as sometimes there are separate sensors and sometimes it's combined. If you need an additional sensor then may need a new windscreen as the window in the patterned part of the screen won't be there.
The jury is out on how well they work anyway - the sensitivity can be adjusted by a dealer using StarDiagnose but people say they're a bit random in practice. Having said that, I've had them on other cars where they worked well and do miss them.
Auto wipers were an option - I guess few people think to tick it. My car is a very loaded ex-MB Management vehicle but it doesn't have them. It works when you select what would otherwise be the intermittant setting.
It can be retrofitted but it's a bit of a can of worms as sometimes there are separate sensors and sometimes it's combined. If you need an additional sensor then may need a new windscreen as the window in the patterned part of the screen won't be there.
The jury is out on how well they work anyway - the sensitivity can be adjusted by a dealer using StarDiagnose but people say they're a bit random in practice. Having said that, I've had them on other cars where they worked well and do miss them.
I have them on an E-Class and have a love/hate relationship with them.
I love the way that when the rain is variable they slow down and speed up dependent on how heavy the rain is.
I hate the all too often random single wipe when it's dry, which then smears a load of grime/dust across a dry windscreen.
I'd actually prefer a manually controllable variable intermittent wiper, available on most cars before the days when we had to rely on the car to think for us!
I love the way that when the rain is variable they slow down and speed up dependent on how heavy the rain is.
I hate the all too often random single wipe when it's dry, which then smears a load of grime/dust across a dry windscreen.
I'd actually prefer a manually controllable variable intermittent wiper, available on most cars before the days when we had to rely on the car to think for us!
yellowbentines said:
I hate the all too often random single wipe when it's dry, which then smears a load of grime/dust across a dry windscreen.
The way they work on Peugeot's is best in my experience - the auto function cancels when the ignition is switched off and you have to reactivate it when needed. To my mind, that's how it should be - so they're really auto-intermittant wipers, but you still have to turn them on and off.Honda's have sensitivity adjustment on the stalk but it still never seems right.
alfaspiderman2 said:
Strange question. Should my '06 C320 Avantgarde have automatic wipers? Seems strange that a car of this class should only have one-speed intermittent wipers, but I can't see how to activate the auto function. Sadly, I don't have a manual.
Every replacement windscreen listed for a 2006 Avantgarde C Class has a rain sensor capability; all Avantgarde models have blue tinted glass as I am sure you are aware. I have never come across a UK specification W203 C Class (00-07) without a rain sensor fitted.Edited by 530dTPhil on Wednesday 11th November 13:36
530dTPhil said:
alfaspiderman2 said:
Strange question. Should my '06 C320 Avantgarde have automatic wipers? Seems strange that a car of this class should only have one-speed intermittent wipers, but I can't see how to activate the auto function. Sadly, I don't have a manual.
Every replacement windscreen listed for a 2006 Avantgarde C Class has a rain sensor capability; all Avantgarde models have blue tinted glass as I am sure you are aware. I have never come across a UK specification W203 C Class (00-07) without a rain sensor fitted.See these threads re retrofitting:
http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/electronics/73518-r...
http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/electronics/39616-r...
Deva Link said:
Glassman said:
530dTPhil said:
I have never come across a UK specification W203 C Class (00-07) without a rain sensor fitted.
Seconded. AFAIK, they are standard on UK models
As mentioned earlier, they do all have light sensors.
Glassman said:
Deva Link said:
Glassman said:
530dTPhil said:
I have never come across a UK specification W203 C Class (00-07) without a rain sensor fitted.
Seconded. AFAIK, they are standard on UK models
As mentioned earlier, they do all have light sensors.
Glassman said:
Deva Link said:
Glassman said:
530dTPhil said:
I have never come across a UK specification W203 C Class (00-07) without a rain sensor fitted.
Seconded. AFAIK, they are standard on UK models
As mentioned earlier, they do all have light sensors.
yellowbentines said:
I have them on an E-Class and have a love/hate relationship with them.
I love the way that when the rain is variable they slow down and speed up dependent on how heavy the rain is.
I hate the all too often random single wipe when it's dry, which then smears a load of grime/dust across a dry windscreen.
I'd actually prefer a manually controllable variable intermittent wiper, available on most cars before the days when we had to rely on the car to think for us!
Got them on the Volvo S80 as well, with speed adjustment. Very handy when you pass a truck and the spray hits the screen. What did we do before all this technology?I love the way that when the rain is variable they slow down and speed up dependent on how heavy the rain is.
I hate the all too often random single wipe when it's dry, which then smears a load of grime/dust across a dry windscreen.
I'd actually prefer a manually controllable variable intermittent wiper, available on most cars before the days when we had to rely on the car to think for us!
I have them on my 1999 SL. I am a bit sceptical about the need for automatic wipers but, unlike every other car I have ever driven with them, they work very well. This is doubly amazing given there is no way for the driver to adjust the sensitivity.
They are active with the wiper switch at position 1.
It is best not to leave them on all the time because otherwise the wiper wipes every time you start the car, whether it is raining or not. This has a deleterious effect on both wiper and screen: accumulated dust and dirt damage both. I assume this initial sweep gives the system a reference point by which it decides when to wipe.
This causes me few problems in practise because when it starts to rain I just switch the wiper on. They always judge the interval perfectly. Amazing, given there is no adjustment, and better than any other system I have used.
They are active with the wiper switch at position 1.
It is best not to leave them on all the time because otherwise the wiper wipes every time you start the car, whether it is raining or not. This has a deleterious effect on both wiper and screen: accumulated dust and dirt damage both. I assume this initial sweep gives the system a reference point by which it decides when to wipe.
This causes me few problems in practise because when it starts to rain I just switch the wiper on. They always judge the interval perfectly. Amazing, given there is no adjustment, and better than any other system I have used.
In my brief experience so far with my C55 they are my only real gripe with the car.
I think the system we have one both mine and my wife's BMW E39s is far superior. It allows both the option of plain old fashioned 'intermittent' or 'auto' plus the option to adjust the sensitivity of the 'auto' function through 4 grades of sensitivity.
But I do have another 'auto function' question: The auto headlamps.
Given my lack of confidence in the auto wipers I've been reluctant to use the auto headlamp function. I have never had a car with this function before and so don't really understand it. My fear is that if I use this function and I'm driving along in the dark what prevents my lights suddenly being extinguished by the bright headlights of an on-coming car?
I think the system we have one both mine and my wife's BMW E39s is far superior. It allows both the option of plain old fashioned 'intermittent' or 'auto' plus the option to adjust the sensitivity of the 'auto' function through 4 grades of sensitivity.
But I do have another 'auto function' question: The auto headlamps.
Given my lack of confidence in the auto wipers I've been reluctant to use the auto headlamp function. I have never had a car with this function before and so don't really understand it. My fear is that if I use this function and I'm driving along in the dark what prevents my lights suddenly being extinguished by the bright headlights of an on-coming car?
The problem with auto headlamps is getting them to turn off, not to turn on and stay on! I had them on a BMW 1er and a passing cloud was enough to activate them, then they would stay on all day.
The same car had the auto wipers with adjustable sensitivity: my problem with that was I was always adjusting the sensitivity to suit the changine conditions, whereas on my Mercedes it is all done "automatically".
The same car had the auto wipers with adjustable sensitivity: my problem with that was I was always adjusting the sensitivity to suit the changine conditions, whereas on my Mercedes it is all done "automatically".
derin100 said:
My fear is that if I use this function and I'm driving along in the dark what prevents my lights suddenly being extinguished by the bright headlights of an on-coming car?
I don't know why that doesn't happen, but it doesn't, and I've had several makes of car with auto headlamps.I tend not to use them anyway - I was un-nerved once by going under a bridge, the lights came on and then some body at the other end where there was a railway car-park exit, took that as a signal to pull out. I prefer to decide myself when lights are required.
One thing you have to watch in some cars (wife's Honda seems prone to this as it only has lights on indicator, not headlights on) is that if you don't use auto lights then it's easy in daytime poor weather to just click the light switch a couple of times and think the headlights are on, whereas all you've done is clicked through auto and to sidelights.
Edited by Deva Link on Saturday 14th November 11:06
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