[mag12000x]

FINALLY GUYS, A WORK AROUND AND THE POST IS UP!!

A service tech taking my car out for a suspension tech noted that my wipers were not parked correctly, "a bit high". Funny how he couldn't point this out while under warranty, so with a bit of research i found this is happening quite a bit. Here's how i dealt with it.

My disclaimer:
I used the 2006 BMW TIS DVD manuals for my source before attempting anything and suggest the same for others. For those more familiar with working on these cars, I include the torque values and most cautions required. I assume no liability for anyone misinterpreting what I show as my experience that may result in damage to their car. This is for the amusement of professionals and cautionary for the novice.

You may have to Zoom out in your browser when viewing, for Firefox "VIEW-Zoom-Zoom Out" because of the high picture resolution used.

MAG12000x

The Wipers on my 2006 E90 330i decided that they would start to park higher up on my windshield than normal. So I did this DIY on how I fixed it. Two methods were necessary in my case; both made a difference, the easier I suggest you try first.

Fix A
The two things needed to completely repair my system was the wiper motor overhaul and the replacement of the wiper relay found in the glove box fuse panel.


The part number for the upgraded relay is (61 36 6 980 177) (Dark Green), which replaced the Blue relay found in the Fuse block behind the panel located at the back of the glove compartment.



Fix B
From what I have seen and read, BMW continues to over sparingly grease the park mechanism and contacts which later cause wipers to go up away from a parked location. Eventually this gets worse before better and usually ends up in their shop for a wiper motor replacement or more. This pictures and steps are my account of the successful repair on my 2006 E90 330i. Some components may differ on other models such as the E92’s lower cowl but instructions remain similar. Don’t not over-tighten 8mm Hex screws, use only 5in.lbs max. for reinstallation.


Here’s how I did it…
1. Take off caps by pulling up and exposing



2. Loosen off nut but keep last two or three threads engaged to center pitman style puller. Re-torque on installation is 30 Nm(22 Ft.lbs)



3. Engage puller and remove both arms, you’ll need a bit of effort before it pops!
Note: If you attempt to bend wiper arm instead during removal, you WILL break the wiper arm!



Here’s the tool I used from the local auto-parts store…



4. Remove upper section of Micro-filter (6x8mm hex screws ) (Finger tighten 5 in.lbs on installation)



5. Remove Right lower section cover (disconnect hose clip holder underside). Left side similar



6. Pull Cable Holder forward to release then pull Cable Strip forward to release.



7. Release washer hose. Release sensor by rotating & pulling it out and release cable strip and lugs.



8. Remove 8mm screw and Catch clip on both LH & RH sides.



9. Remove Micro-filter lower housing section by pulling front end forward and up. (later Reinstall in reverse)



10. Remove Cowl panel by disconnecting 2 electrical connector s in RH side air intake port and another in the LH side air intake port. Then lift off of wiper drive pivots, carefully not to damage them and pull forward at the same time. (On installation this cowl picks up on the lower windshield edge, match both side to glass and under side trim both sides and both wiper pivots before pushing down, back and up. Otherwise water can leak in causing problems)



11. With the cowl removed, BMW tells you to remove both tension struts and bulkhead section (3 hex screws), but I found I didn’t need to. If you do, label each strut for the side you removed. You will need a 16mm and 18mm TORX sockets to remove these bolts. Remove struts by sliding each out separately. The bulkhead seals and grommets should not be disturbed as they must seal well afterwards. (torque for tensions struts are center M12mm at 75ft.lbs or 100N.m and the two M10mm’s at 30 Ft.lbs or 40 N.m)



12. With the Wiper drive assembly exposed. Two hex bolts and the wiper connector remain.



13. It takes a bit of maneuvering, but the wiper assembly according to BMW is supposed to lift out. I got it out.



14. Flipping it over exposes 5 small torx screws which I removed to expose the excess grease on the contacts and plate. I cleaned up all the grease on the plastic plate and polished up the metal contact plate using metal polish to restore the good electrical contacts previous. Very sparingly, I wiped the surface with White Lithium grease, and I mean just minimally. Reassembled the park section with screws and reinstalled the wiper assembly and connector to the car. At this point prior to later putting on the wipers, you must run the motor, so I just pressed the auto wiper tab with the ignition on/engine off. This cycled and properly parked my wipers to its NEW position.




15. Reinstall following steps 3 to 13 in reverse order. Keep care to ensure windshield glass seal is properly in place and in good condition, before attempting to reinstall Cowl panel. I used a thin film of KRYTOX or you can use a thin film of BMW’s gummi-fledge grease on all the seals to be safe from weather. Do not use VASELINE or any petrol based product as it with destroy your seals.

16. Assuming you made it back to the wiper install, remember, the wiper motor needs to cycle at least once to find it back to its NEW parked location before you align your wipers (see step 14). Replace each wiper to the dimensions depending on the model of car E90/E91 or E92. The dimensions in the figures are from the lip of the Cowl trim seal to the wiper blade edge. This is at the normal to the center of the wiper arm attachment point of the blade. That’s it, re-torque as per step 2 value.



And yes, I did change the Oil filler cap from a cheap after market one back to original cause its gasket fell apart, part was from Ebay!

Really hope this helps, I believe in giving back! Cheers!

[VanessaCalvert]

why is it when I post a PDF on a DIY tutorial, it posts it as an attachment and not in the body of the post? sorry to get off-subject...

[MUrhino]

mag1200x, I'm having a similar issue. I had my windshield weather seal at the top replaced, and after the glass guys finished the driver side wiper is preset in the parked position lower than it was. I saw your comment about the Pitman style remover, and after taking off the lugnuts and tugging on the wiper with some force, realize you're probably right about not trying it without the removal tool. Looking forward to your DIY on wiper removal as soon as e90post will let you upload. Thanks for looking into this!

[aah78]

Thanks for the write-up. Helped me when I was trying to check for water leaks.


Just a note - you don't really need the wiper puller.
All you need to do is press the wiper arm downwards gently on the windshield glass (before removing the wiper blade) and it pops up. There's no tension on the arm so it doesn't break.

On the other hand, if you do try and pull the arm out with brute force, it will get damaged.

[Efthreeoh]

Maybe I missed it, but what is the upgrade to the green relay? What did BMW chnage by going to a new upgraded part.

Excellent DIY by the way.

Thanks

[azn_ignite]

i just did the relay repair on my 2006 330xi, it fixed mine!!! so stoked
mine was parking about 2" higher then normal, bought the upgraded green relay from my local bmw dealer for $36, installed it and fixed it right away,

big thanks to the original poster

[Oldshadytree]

Just did that repair on a 2009 328i. Some minor differences, but followed your photos and it was a great help. Thanks!