[micvite]

Do any of you guys miss having headlight washers for when the salt gets caked on? Or do the lights still work pretty well even through all the crap?

[ResIpsaLoquitur]

Originally Posted by micvite

Do any of you guys miss having headlight washers for when the salt gets caked on? Or do the lights still work pretty well even through all the crap?

Headlight washers are great from a functional perspective and I do appreciate having them. But, I also like the sleekness of the car without them. I probably only have one or two occurrences each winter where I manually have to remove snow. Especially on the LCI, the angle seems more generous in preventing snow accumulation than my pre-LCI headlights did. Not sure if the angle is any different. I’d say they shine through pretty well (our previous headlight conversation notwithstanding).

[micvite]

Originally Posted by ResIpsaLoquitur

Headlight washers are great from a functional perspective and I do appreciate having them. But, I also like the sleekness of the car without them. I probably only have one or two occurrences each winter where I manually have to remove snow. Especially on the LCI, the angle seems more generous in preventing snow accumulation than my pre-LCI headlights did. Not sure if the angle is any different. I’d say they shine through pretty well (our previous headlight conversation notwithstanding).

I'm more concerned with the opaqness caused by the salt (ever try to use your wipers after a brief spray and your whole windshield is white?)

[pbonsalb]

I have not really missed them, though my last couple of BMW had them. If it bothered me, I could carry a spray bottle and paper towels….

[micvite]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

I have not really missed them, though my last couple of BMW had them. If it bothered me, I could carry a spray bottle and paper towels….

Good to know. Usually on my older bmws the headlights get so hazy from the salt they don't project past the front lip anymore😂

[ResIpsaLoquitur]

Originally Posted by micvite

I'm more concerned with the opaqness caused by the salt (ever try to use your wipers after a brief spray and your whole windshield is white?)

I’ve had this happen once or twice here and there when it’s really bad, but certainly not common for me.

[Aronis]

my car has them, standard with the sunroof.

Mike

JK,yes miss them....stupid oversight by BMW.....a dying company.

[micvite]

Originally Posted by Aronis

my car has them, standard with the sunroof.

Mike

JK,yes miss them....stupid oversight by BMW.....a dying company.

Not really an oversight, for the HIDs they were FORCED to do it by the law since HIDs are over xxx lumens and thus require washers to not glare the crap out of people when the light beam scatters due to dirt. The leds are not as bright (but more effective due to being matrix style lights) and since it's easier to control and aim the beams precisely there's no worry about glare since the leds are directional vs the HIDs being the sun in a light housing and potentially spreading light in every direction once the light finds something to bounce off of that's not supposed to be there.

Even US cars like the mustang that go to Europe would technically need washers but to get around it they just fit an undersized HID in that's under the lighting requirement to avoid having to have self leveling as well as washers.

More like we don't have to so we won't kind of thing than an actual oversight of oops we forgot.

[Aronis]

Originally Posted by micvite

More like we don't have to so we won't kind of thing than an actual oversight of oops we forgot.

I'm confused then, so the high-end car manufacturers that added headlight washer systems to their high-end cars only did it because they were required to?

I simply think it was a design oversight and they have not bothered to fix it. And it saved money. It's sort of like why is the auto dimming passenger side mirror only on the seven series BMWs? It used to be on all BMW's. My 1994 325is had it. Were they required to put auto dimming mirrors only on the seven series? How much money per unit did BMW save by cutting out this feature? Enough to pay some new department head their salary I'm sure. And I'm sure that department head was not advanced headlight washing engineering.

I'd rather have functional features such as the head light washers and auto dimming mirrors than fancy LED lighting and light up speakers. That's for sure.

The Marketing Department Runs BMW, not the Engineering Department, and the 'casual BMW driver' likes those flashy lights and does not pay enough attention to driving to have any use for the headlight washers I guess.

Mike

[micvite]

Originally Posted by Aronis

I'm confused then, so the high-end car manufacturers that added headlight washer systems to their high-end cars only did it because they were required to?

I simply think it was a design oversight and they have not bothered to fix it. And it saved money. It's sort of like why is the auto dimming passenger side mirror only on the seven series BMWs? It used to be on all BMW's. My 1994 325is had it. Were they required to put auto dimming mirrors only on the seven series? How much money per unit did BMW save by cutting out this feature? Enough to pay some new department head their salary I'm sure. And I'm sure that department head was not advanced headlight washing engineering.

I'd rather have functional features such as the head light washers and auto dimming mirrors than fancy LED lighting and light up speakers. That's for sure.

The Marketing Department Runs BMW, not the Engineering Department, and the 'casual BMW driver' likes those flashy lights and does not pay enough attention to driving to have any use for the headlight washers I guess.

Mike

You are correct, headlight washers AND self leveling are required for any lights over 2000 lumens for low beams in cars after 2000 which most HID bulbs are (and when i say most, i mean any hid bulbs that actually light up the road properly). Now that they are using LEDS via matrix style each LED is significantly lower than 2k lumens but lights up the road better since they are aimed at the road instead of just blazing into existance and praying the light hits the right spot. Our low beams consist of 6 leds (I don't remember if each side or if it's 3 and 3) but since the beams are aimed at the right spots on the road instead of a free for all with a shutter you don't need as much power to light up the same portion of road. All us spec cars just end up downgrading the light output to under 2k for export models to solve this issue.

As for the dimming mirror that pisses me off too😂😂😂😂 what also annoys me is the fact that the ones that do dim have that stupid undimable border that blinds me sometimes... like last generation whole mirror dimmed, how'd they fuck it up on this one???

[NoMods]

My butler usually follows me in my Bentley to clean it off.

[micvite]

Originally Posted by armoredsaint

My butler usually follows me in my Bentley to clean it off.

You mean you don't just strap him to the hood of the car so he can wipe them constantly?

[NoMods]

Originally Posted by micvite

You mean you don't just strap him to the hood of the car so he can wipe them constantly?

That depends if he’s an undocumented worker and can’t sue me 😁