Defrost button.

[artem123]

Sorry if this topic was covered. I am not sure if it is normal but my defrost button ones pressed never turns off. At least until car is off. I do not recall it doing it last cold season, and my wife's BMW does not do it either. On every other car I had ones defrost pressed it usually goes off after like 10-15 minutes. Not the case here. This morning i was driving from NY to Philly and for 2.5 hrs indicator was on...

[stewy604]

That's definitely odd. Might be time for a trip to the dealer. You should always be able to turn it off and on with each click. Just out of curiosity, what was the outside temp at the time? Maybe BMW keeps it on in extreme cold to prevent the side mirrors from icing?

[artem123]

Originally Posted by stewy604

That's definitely odd. Might be time for a trip to the dealer. You should always be able to turn it off and on with each click. Just out of curiosity, what was the outside temp at the time? Maybe BMW keeps it on in extreme cold to prevent the side mirrors from icing?

Sorry, i guess i worded it wrong. I do not have problem turning it off by pressing it, however, if i remember correctly it used to do it by itself after some time....

[yk1988]

It's doing the same on my F16. i thought it was something wrong until i see this post.
So i think that's how it was designed.

[pcadamo]

I believe that if you keep moving, it will remain on.

[artem123]

Originally Posted by pcadamo

I believe that if you keep moving, it will remain on.

That is how it appears. Thank you.
I though about contacting the guy who coded stuff for me, however it looks like it is totally unrelated issue.

[QYN]

it is designed like that, keeping blowing warm air onto the windshield. So the snow outside will melt when it touches the windshield. Don't worry. The defrost function using electricity to generate heat will automatic turned off, like my rear window of Mustang.

[stewy604]

Originally Posted by QYN

it is designed like that, keeping blowing warm air onto the windshield. So the snow outside will melt when it touches the windshield. Don't worry. The defrost function using electricity to generate heat will automatic turned off, like my rear window of Mustang.

That's not the front 'defrost' button, its the rear defrost / mirror heat. You're thinking of the one above it...pressing that button blasts are (full fan) at the front windshield for a quicker defrost.

[artem123]

Originally Posted by stewy604

That's not the front 'defrost' button, its the rear defrost / mirror heat. You're thinking of the one above it...pressing that button blasts are (full fan) at the front windshield for a quicker defrost.

Correct. Rear/Mirror defrost. NOT full blown fan to a front windshield.

[Broadsword]

On my '13 F30 the rear defrost turns off automatically after about 15 mins. On the wife's '15 F15 it says on till it's manually turned off. I kinda wish the F30 did that as well cause I end up turning it on again to defrost my rear windshield.

[Kzang]

^^ Yep, all my previous BMW's turned off after 15 - 20 mins.. looks like they changed it on the newer cars.

[artem123]

Thank you everyone. I guess mystery is solved!

[alphaod]

It always annoyed me in the past where if my rear defoster was on, it would shut off itself like the glass got too hot or something. I don't think that's ever the case due to how far the rear glass is from the climate controlled parts of the car. Every time it shut off, ice would start accumulating. I am quite happy BMW changed this and this is one of the first things I noticed when I did my winter driving: that I didn't have to constantly turn the rear defoster back on.

[vangoose]

Originally Posted by alphaod

It always annoyed me in the past where if my rear defoster was on, it would shut off itself like the glass got too hot or something. I don't think that's ever the case due to how far the rear glass is from the climate controlled parts of the car. Every time it shut off, ice would start accumulating. I am quite happy BMW changed this and this is one of the first things I noticed when I did my winter driving: that I didn't have to constantly turn the rear defoster back on.

Yes on the old gen, had to turn it back on every 10 minutes in winter or rain. Glad BMW changed it ti what it is now.

[TortugaX5]

This is sort of off topic but what do you folks do about keeping salt spray from clouding up the rear window? I feel like I have to spray windshield solution on the rear every few minutes. it's especially difficult to see at night.

would a treatment of rain x do anything for salt grime?

[alphaod]

I have not been able to do anything except clean it with the fluid.

[stewy604]

I've got Rain-X on my rear window. Keeps it 'beaded' for a while, but it doesn't take long to get a build up on there...then it's wiper/fluid time.

[artem123]

Back area on SUV is a one dirt/ dust magnet... I do not think anything will effectively repel it.

[alphaod]

I guess you can do mud flaps. Might prevent a lot of the spray picked up by the rear tires. That's all I can think of right now.

[artem123]

Originally Posted by alphaod

I guess you can do mud flaps. Might prevent a lot of the spray picked up by the rear tires. That's all I can think of right now.

I tried flaps on my previous ride (VW Treg), and it virtually did nothing. Probably even made things worse ( probably), it looked ugly in my opinion, so i removed them.