Rear wiper tip

[Laurence]

So, how many of us have actually read the operators manual for the X5?

I was driving last night in heavy rain on the motorway (it rains a lot in the UK!) and I had the rear wiper on.
I noticed how long the delay was between wipes (10 seconds or so) and the that it didn’t clean the glass for long enough to be able to see anything useful at the rear.

Quite by accident, I was playing with the switch and found that I could reduce the delay between wipes to 1 second. This made a vast difference to the rear visibility.

To activate this, turn the rear wiper on and then turn it off and on again in quick succession. This activates the one second rear wipe delay.

I then read the manual and it does cover this!!! But I’ve got to say, the description is not very good.

This got me thinking, has anyone else “found” any hidden functions that would be useful to others on the board?
Or in other words, what else is in the manual that I should know about

(The other tip I got from this board was the “get you to the front door drive way lights”, with ignition off, pull the indicator stalk and the headlights stay on for 30 seconds and then turn off)

[bozo]

Wow! It rained a lot down here, and I wish I had know that? Funny, when Im in the back seat, I CANT STAND the rear wipers being on....The sound makes me cringe...

I just found out last month about the remote "windows down" thing...That will come in handy during the summer months or when I find out my daughter has her half eaten Mc Kids Meal under the seat and I need to ventilate the car....

[SuperGreg]

Originally Posted by Laurence

So, how many of us have actually read the operators manual for the X5?

I was driving last night in heavy rain on the motorway (it rains a lot in the UK!) and I had the rear wiper on.
I noticed how long the delay was between wipes (10 seconds or so) and the that it didn’t clean the glass for long enough to be able to see anything useful at the rear.

Yup, we do actually have an intermittent wiper in the back I have used it often.

[motordavid]

I knew that, ;>)...
have only used the rear wiper once.

No prob. seeing out and be careful that the blade is semi-clean when you turn it on or you get the mini-van "scraped rear glass" effect pretty quickly from all the road debris that collects on the rear blade.
GL,md

[Bavarian]

Originally Posted by motordavid

I knew that, ;>)...
have only used the rear wiper once.

No prob. seeing out and be careful that the blade is semi-clean when you turn it on or you get the mini-van "scraped rear glass" effect pretty quickly from all the road debris that collects on the rear blade.
GL,md

Yep true! That's why anytime you start using the rear wiper, start her off with a spray.

I noticed another peculiar thing about the lights. This also worked on the old 330i. If you turn off your car with a turn signal still activated, then even after you lock the car, the parking lights on that side will remain on.

[vinuneuro]

The windows are pressure sensitive when in auto mode (one flick of the switch, and you don't have to hold it). Try placing your hand at the top of the window. When the window hits your hand, it will immediately go back down.

[jaaX3]

In my X3 you can set the delay upto 30 seconds. Turn on the rear wiper then quickly turn it off. Then turn it back on after how long you want the delay to be (upto 30 seconds).

[DinanX5]

Originally Posted by Laurence

...This got me thinking, has anyone else “found” any hidden functions that would be useful to others on the board?
Or in other words, what else is in the manual that I should know about?

Do you have nav? If so, try holding down the function button (on the end of the turn signal stalk) for a few seconds... this will put the nav screen into setup mode, where you can choose the info you want to be displayed in the instrument cluster while cycling through with the function button.

[Laurence]

Originally Posted by DinanX5

Do you have nav? If so, try holding down the function button (on the end of the turn signal stalk) for a few seconds... this will put the nav screen into setup mode, where you can choose the info you want to be displayed in the instrument cluster while cycling through with the function button.

Ahh, I knew that....but did you know that the order you select each item is the order in which it scrolls through (i.e. if you select range first, it will be the first item displayed on the cluster)

[DinanX5]

Interesting! I never paid any attention to the order; I just assumed that it was fixed... So I guess you'd need to de-select all of them, and then re-select the funtions you want in the order you want to see them (?)
I will have to check that out tonight!

This site could use a section devoted to all the little known-X5 tricks and functionality tips such as these.