[Paultattoo]

Living in Chicago this time of year assures your car will always have a coating of salt and grime on every square inch. So after buying my first tank of gas today, I ran it through the car wash.

I wanted to check out the camera car wash view. Should be easy right? I turn on the view and pull up into the car wash. So far so good.

The attendant says put it in neutral and roll up the window. Duh. No kidding. Now here's where it got interesting. I'm in neutral and the wheel pusher thing crawls up and under my stopped car. The attendant is yelling for me to put it in neutral and I'm yelling back that I am.

He tries again and we repeat the same car jumping over the roller and yelling action again.

I'm thinking oh shut! The auto hold! So I shut that off and we repeat the dance for a third time

Ok, auto hold is off but we're still holding. So I back up and pull forward. All is well. The attendant sends another roller and we're going in!

Boom, first few feet in and the wiper kicks on and the brush rips it off if the arm and sends it flying off to the side. WTH? Rain sensing wipers are still on. So much for car wash mode.

Uneventfully, we finish the wash. I pull around and get my wiper blade and reinstall it. No damage.

Just felt like giving the rest of you a heads up.

[Wanderer73]

I'm hand washing!

[unfoundnemo]

Pretty sure it's just a car wash "view" on the camera system meant to line yourself up. I hand wash my M car all year, and am particular about keeping things balanced and such, but this one is too big to keep to that. Luckily I have a good touchless wash around the corner, then just tidy up some of the spots it cant keep clean after.

[MB21]

Originally Posted by Paultattoo

Living in Chicago this time of year assures your car will always have a coating of salt and grime on every square inch. So after buying my first tank of gas today, I ran it through the car wash.

I wanted to check out the camera car wash view. Should be easy right? I turn on the view and pull up into the car wash. So far so good.

The attendant says put it in neutral and roll up the window. Duh. No kidding. Now here's where it got interesting. I'm in neutral and the wheel pusher thing crawls up and under my stopped car. The attendant is yelling for me to put it in neutral and I'm yelling back that I am.

He tries again and we repeat the same car jumping over the roller and yelling action again.

I'm thinking oh shut! The auto hold! So I shut that off and we repeat the dance for a third time

Ok, auto hold is off but we're still holding. So I back up and pull forward. All is well. The attendant sends another roller and we're going in!

Boom, first few feet in and the wiper kicks on and the brush rips it off if the arm and sends it flying off to the side. WTH? Rain sensing wipers are still on. So much for car wash mode.

Uneventfully, we finish the wash. I pull around and get my wiper blade and reinstall it. No damage.

Just felt like giving the rest of you a heads up.

I use the park view easy and no issue but I only use touchless so move park and all happens around. I am in MN so probably worst than Chicago but so far so good,

[cmf5]

Thanks for the heads-up. I have mine on a family ski trip and literally counting the hours until I can get it washed (maybe even detailed). I understand the auto-hold and how to disable it, but the auto-wipers seem to just come on magically. If you keep the drive stick in "off", will that keep the wipers from firing up during a wash?

[univ0298]

If that happened to me on my brand new $90K car I think my seat might need cleaning too

[Paultattoo]

Originally Posted by cmf5

Thanks for the heads-up. I have mine on a family ski trip and literally counting the hours until I can get it washed (maybe even detailed). I understand the auto-hold and how to disable it, but the auto-wipers seem to just come on magically. If you keep the drive stick in "off", will that keep the wipers from firing up during a wash?

Yes, shutting off the wipers is a must. Also, the wipers are on there pretty flimsy. Just kind of a squeeze in and hope fit. This has happened with all of my other cars with rain sensing wipers. The wipers go up, hit the spinning brushes (cringe) and then go back down. On the X7, one shot and the wiper flew off. Next time you are out by your car, take a look at how they are mounted. Don't even look at the rear wiper, it looks like it's going to fall off just by raising the blade.

But to your point. Raising the wiper stalk one notch turns on the rain sensing. Two notches is low speed and three notches or all the way up is high speed. I always leave it on the first notch so when it starts to rain, the wipers just turn on. I'll definitely need to remember to turn them off at the next wash.

[BzsBimmer]

Lol. Your story brings back painful memories!!

Yes, my first attempt at an automated wash was pretty much the same. Because of the auto hold, the vehicle would jump up when the tire cradle moved under the wheel. They even had to shut off the machine until I figured it out.

When I got home, noticed my rear wiper had been ripped clear off. Pricey little bugger too. Luckily it was easy to replace the wiper arm, wiper, and wiper arm cover.

Thx for the giggles. Thought it would just be me!

[Paultattoo]

Originally Posted by BzsBimmer

Lol. Your story brings back painful memories!!

Yes, my first attempt at an automated wash was pretty much the same. Because of the auto hold, the vehicle would jump up when the tire cradle moved under the wheel. They even had to shut off the machine until I figured it out.

When I got home, noticed my rear wiper had been ripped clear off. Pricey little bugger too. Luckily it was easy to replace the wiper arm, wiper, and wiper arm cover.

Thx for the giggles. Thought it would just be me!

Thank you. I'm so relieved I'm not alone. I thought I was losing my mind.

[cmf5]

Is there a "car wash mode" on these cars? I had my first wash today (nervous) and the guys knew exactly what they were doing. Car when through fine, even the side view mirrors were folded in. I tried to ask if they knew how to put it in neutral and got some pretty nasty looks back.

[iconoclast]

Originally Posted by cmf5

I have mine on a family ski trip and literally counting the hours until I can get it washed (maybe even detailed).

Just came back from one as well and whenever we go up I use the self-clean power washers just to rinse off all the brine and sand. Then when back at our primary residence send the vehicle out for a proper detail. After the last snow fall and consistent temps above 40 degrees detail with paint correction to resolve any imperfections or issues the winter jaunts through the mountains may have provided us.

[Resjudicata]

Mercedes is the only one with car wash "mode" BMW just has cameras settings.

while I only hand wash, I'd suggest you put the car in neutral and then Shut off the engines. then when done, restart the car manually completely. power off, then power on.

[Paultattoo]

Originally Posted by Resjudicata

Mercedes is the only one with car wash "mode" BMW just has cameras settings.

while I only hand wash, I'd suggest you put the car in neutral and then Shut off the engines. then when done, restart the car manually completely. power off, then power on.

Na. Just shut off auto hold and rain sensing wipers BEFORE you pull into the track.