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Car Forum / BMW Cars / February 2005How useful are headlight wipers?
How good are headlight washers/wipers at keeping the headlights clean? My winter car, a '86 BMW E30, had wipers until one of the previous owners removed them. The wiper motors and nozzles are still there but not connected (see picture). I've thought about getting wipers and wiper arms and connecting everything as it used to be. However, I'm curious to how useful they actually are. I realize that they're more than a gimmick, but how much more? Thanks, Ulf http://members.roadfly.org/ulf/IMG_1192.jpg > How good are headlight washers/wipers at keeping the headlights clean? > My winter car, a '86 BMW E30, had wipers until one of the previous [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > http://members.roadfly.org/ulf/IMG_1192.jpg I can certainly tell the difference, especially in this weather (nasty, with lots of residual salt on the roads) between headlights that are dirty and headlights that have just been cleaned. I do most of my driving after dark, so the headlights are always up and they do get grimy. I generally go maybe 3-400 miles between gas stops, when they get cleaned, and they do get gradually dimmer and the beam pattern less distinct as they get dirtier. So I'd say that they probably do work well. unfortunately my car does not have the headlamp washers otherwise I'd be using the heck out of 'em. nate  Signaturereplace "fly" with "com" to reply. http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel >> How good are headlight washers/wipers at keeping the headlights clean? >> My winter car, a '86 BMW E30, had wipers until one of the previous [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > well. unfortunately my car does not have the headlamp washers otherwise > I'd be using the heck out of 'em. I know what you mean. Even with 100w bulbs I've had times when I thought I only had the parking lights on... Of course, the question is whether wipers are able to clean the headlights as good as if you've done it yourself. Then again, I rarely do it myself so in that case it's better that it's done badly than not at all. > nate Ulf I can't tell much difference... all mine are are the the washer sprays... apart from draining the washer fuild tank at an alarming rate, there's not much good I see from them... now if they had wipers... that would be different. Deep > How good are headlight washers/wipers at keeping the headlights clean? > My winter car, a '86 BMW E30, had wipers until one of the previous [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > http://members.roadfly.org/ulf/IMG_1192.jpg Interesting comment. I bought my car with a spray system. I don't drive much and I don't think I have used the cleaner 'in anger'. Maybe a waste of money. If there really were a lot dirt around, e.g. on a motorway, for how long could I use the spray before emptying the water tank...?... :-( DAS SignatureFor direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling --- >I can't tell much difference... all mine are are the the washer sprays... > apart from draining the washer fuild tank at an alarming rate, there's not > much good I see from them... now if they had wipers... that would be > different. > > Deep [...] Well it's more so that when driving with the headlights on, it's decides that every 5th spray needs to turn on the headlight washer. However, if I just use it once during my evening trip home, it will still use the fluid. I've found that when I am using it , it's usually at night and I ran 10 days - 2 weeks before having to refill the tank. My wife's car uses a full tank every 2 months approx. and she LOVES to spray her windows all the time... Deep > Interesting comment. I bought my car with a spray system. I don't drive > much and I don't think I have used the cleaner 'in anger'. Maybe a waste of [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Deep > [...] > Interesting comment. I bought my car with a spray system. I don't drive > much and I don't think I have used the cleaner 'in anger'. Maybe a waste > of money. long could I use the spray before emptying the water tank...?... > :-( In most BMW's, over the last 8 years or so, the headlight spray is activated every 3rd time the windshield washer is activated, when your lights are on. It has minimal effect on your washer fluid levels. There is no way to manually spray the headlights (it only come on when you do the windshield, and then only when the lights are turned on) and the automatic spray last a couple seconds of intense burst. There is no great effect to washer fluid levels, and certainly if it is working correctly it doesn't drain the fluid "at an alarming rate". Works great too, but I suspect only for those of us who live in climates that result in lots of dirt and grime being thrown on the front end of our cars. > DAS >>I can't tell much difference... all mine are are the the washer sprays... [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >> Deep > [...] FYI I don't have wipers, spray only (it isn't a BMW, BTW, though that's immaterial in this discussion, I think). I was replying to Deep, whose car does not seem to have wipers either. DAS SignatureFor direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling --- [...] > In most BMW's, over the last 8 years or so, the headlight spray is > activated every 3rd time the windshield washer is activated, when your [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > washer fluid levels, and certainly if it is working correctly it doesn't > drain the fluid "at an alarming rate". [...] > How good are headlight washers/wipers at keeping the headlights clean? > My winter car, a '86 BMW E30, had wipers until one of the previous [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > how useful they actually are. I realize that they're more than a > gimmick, but how much more? I would *love* to have these on my E30. Want to sell the rest of your guts? :-) I can't afford to do the conversion but I've heard of guys doing it from scratch. If your driving was all in town or all freeway, you may never care, but my mix of country and city driving would make them a big deal for my car. I do a lot of 300 to 400km runs where the middle 250km is on freeways at relatively high speed.. In winter I get a lot of accumulated crud on the lights and once I get off the highways onto the back roads for home, with no other lights in the countryside, I can *really* tell the difference between clean and dirty headlights. I clean them at every single gas stop and sometimes even pull over to do it with a squeegee I keep in the car, although since upgrading my bulbs I don't have to go to those lengths as often. Washers are helpful, but the automatic wash system on the E32 I drove for a while drained a lot of fluid as mentioned, and wasn't all that effective really. Washer/wipers with fully manual controls would be ideal imho. -Russ. >>How good are headlight washers/wipers at keeping the headlights clean? >>My winter car, a '86 BMW E30, had wipers until one of the previous [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > I would *love* to have these on my E30. Want to sell the rest of your guts? > :-) LOL. > I can't afford to do the conversion but I've heard of guys doing it from > scratch. [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > effective really. Washer/wipers with fully manual controls would be ideal > imho. Yeah, if I do it I'm definitely going to install an on/off switch in the car. I'd hate to waste precious washer fluid... > -Russ. Ulf I think the answer to your questin depends on where you are and the weather conditions you have there. I am in California, and I have been driving for 35 years, and none of my cars has ever had headlamp wipers. They might be great, but if they don't work, I wouldn't know. I seldom give my headlamps a second thought. > How good are headlight washers/wipers at keeping the headlights clean? My > winter car, a '86 BMW E30, had wipers until one of the previous owners [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > http://members.roadfly.org/ulf/IMG_1192.jpg |
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