Greasy windscreen
Turbo Mini Forums

So lets see if anyone has got any good ideas.

The windscreen on my BMW is horrible, even after cleaning with various things, the wiper blades smear water on the "return" sweep making visibility in wet conditions, especially in the dark, awful.

I've tried windolene, I've degreased the screen with brake cleaner, I've fitted new Bosch decent wiper blades, I have also cleaned the blade rubber itself a few times. Its got good quality screenwash thats Gen VW/Audi stuff.

Any ideas, as its doing my head in.

tension on the wiper arms?

I bought some of pound lands version of rain-x and put about 6 coats on screen of my Audi. Barely needed the wipers even in torrential rain and it lasted about 2 months, need to put some more on.

Think I might try it on toilet bowl too to minimise cleaning!

If something is worth doing, it's worth doing half of.

Autoglym glass cleaner polish.....great stuff!

www.shag.no

I use Rain-X on mine. Makes a lot of difference

www.shag.no

Yeah you can use car polishes on glass, but by far the best glass cleaner I've ever used is something I used whilst doing car valeting, I'll try and find out what it's called.

Rain x here too mine is bad for it, in side and out

Yes i moved to the darkside

Instagram @jdm_brett

Squeaky glass cleaner from http://www.wilcoxwashsupplies.co.uk/
Was the stuff, far far better than autoglyms window cleaner.

I'm not sure there is a fix that'll ever make the screen be as good as it was on day 1 out of the factory.

My legacy had done 120k when the screen cracked, the new screen was a revalation. I can only think that the old screen was scratched and pitted on a fine scale, resulting in poor visibility in the rain.

Maybe a machine polish would help clean it up?

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Tom, get a spray by astonish, tile and mirror. Cleaner, mine was the same its cheap and works!

give the wiper blades a good wipe too, or change them,

for cutting through a thin film of greasy stuff white vinegar is pretty good, try that after giving it a good clean.

that's a good point; I remember getting the screen changed in the A4 and it made a huge difference at the time

I have started posting on Instagram also my name on there is turbomk1golf

Nothing is impossible it just costs more and takes longer.

I've been getting this exact same problem recently and it's driving me mad!

However, I have noticed since putting some winter screenwash in the washer bottle (not diluted at all, -20C stuff), it helps a lot to cut through the grease and reduce the smears.

Methylated spirits is good too

Yes i moved to the darkside

Instagram @jdm_brett

i used rubber cleaner on blades and concentrated screen wash, got rid of all my smears. clean car helps too

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Try pissing on it!

On 5th Oct, 2014 Shauna said:
What that's crazy, you go commando hahaha! How heavy is your helmet ?

Rain x is a god send , even on icy mornings etc the frost doesn't stick the same .
Tom make sure the inside is clean aswell ! Do you use the aircon ! , and make sure the pollen filter is clean .

I've got rain x if you want some , we could buff the screen first etc then apply.

Rick

Thanks for all the info.
I have tried a couple of times cleaning it with various things, brake cleaner was a last resort as I thought it would shift any grease etc off the surface. I have got some rain-x somewhere so I'll have a go with that, the thing that worries me is that it should wipe clear after the glass and blades have been cleaned, and it won't for some reason.

That stuff I said about is the only stuff I found at work that could easily cut through cigarette smoke staining/grease on inside glass. I find wiper blades pretty poor recently though, and some screenwashes don't help and just make things worse. Nothing beats a brand new screen though, but that's a bit extreme for most, not really an issue with minis though as they're so cheap.

My windscreen is new, as are my wipers and it's horrible! My blades just smear the water everywhere :(. I think rainex might have saved it from freezing last night though because my works van and Mams car was frozen solid this morning and the mini only had ice on the roof. I've used turtlewax and autoglym cleaners which usually seem quite good (Carl cleans my glass because I am absolutely terrible at it haha)
Just realised, I've had my works van for about a year now and it's never had the screen cleaned by myself and the screen is always clear.

Edited by Shauna on 19th Dec, 2013.

They don't die, they just get faster!

i second auto glym glass polish
i can drive in the rain without the wipers at all and it just beads right off!

Reading up on RTS Clutches

Personally I think all the products, that we all use, probably make things worse. They're great when they're freshly applied but I think they start to attract and get dirt and grease to stick as they wear off. Wouldn't surprise me if they don't impregnate the screen at a molecular level.

It's a bit like house window cleaning, the latest idea is just to use pure water as soaps etc eventually streak and smear.

What about trying some 'pannel wipe'

Use a good cotton cloth and and some (excuse the pun) elbow grease