Faulty rear wipe parking
 

My 2010 E61 has a fault in the rear wipe system. The mechanism runs fine but the self parking is faulty. Presently the intermittent function doesn't work - if I switch it to intermittent or push it further to wash/wipe, it does the same thing. This is, it wipes about 4 times back and return, only to stop wherever it feels like it in the arc. Pushing the wash again causes it to repeat the trick.


Previously when this happened I took the trim off and jiggled the connector, and it started working correctly again. That lasted for about 6 months then it started doing it again. This time taking the connector out and in again a few times made no difference. So I removed the motor and opened it up. Inside there is a copper track and a couple of brushes which I presume are the self park mechanism. I cleaned these with fine emery, but afterwards it behaved the same. There are also a couple of electronic components in there but I don't know what they do.


I also tried wiggling the tailgate wires as I know many people find them troublesome (as they were on my previous E39 touring) but that didn't help.


Has anyone experienced this problem or got any ideas how to repair it? I could just replace the motor but that seems like an expensive sledgehammer approach and it might not work not knowing the root cause.


Thanks!

This is the strangest thing... A month ago, when I decided to wrap my steering wheel trim, I disconnected the battery (as a precaution against the airbag going off when I removed it from the wheel) for an hour, and when I connected it, same thing happened to me. While it worked, it would park itself correctly. But after I would shut the car off, it would move to some random position! I was going to disconnect the battery again to see if it resets, but after a week, luckily, it seemed to have figured its position out again, and all is good... You though seem to have a long term issue with yours... Tough.

I suggest it is likely to be the wiring - see here:

https://5series.net/forums/e61-touri...acement-72751/