The present invention relates to a method for operating a wireless communication system. The wireless communication system comprises a base station and a terminal. The terminal comprises a plurality of antenna elements and provides at least two antenna array configurations comprising a first antenna array configuration comprising at least two antenna elements having same radio transmission characteristics and a second antenna array configuration comprising at least two antenna elements having different radio transmission characteristics. According to the method, a selection process for selecting and an antenna array configuration of the at least two antenna array configurations is triggered and for each of the at least two antenna array configurations a corresponding figure of merit is determined. The corresponding figure of merit is determined based on corresponding pilot signals received from the base station via the corresponding antenna array configuration. Depending on the figures of merit, an antenna array configuration is activated.