kamelkungen

Hello,

Now it's done. The micro switch is replaced and everything works again.
It was tricky but possible to do. I don't recommend this repair of you are not used to use a Dremel tool.
It took approx. 2 hours. My car is from 2006.

Good luck.

Lotus99

Well done, and great resource for others now that you've documented it. Thanks.

yeewiz

kamelkungen, thanks for the DIY. very nice job. did you put silicone sealant when reinstalling the micro switch?

kamelkungen

Hi,

No, I didn't add any extra sealing between glass and switch housing. Only clean the glass and then tighten the 24mm nut.
The rubber is improved on the bottom side of the new microswich so I don't think you will need to apply extra silicone there.

The new stich works just fine.

djcentrino

Big thank you for the information. Just done mine took me 20 minutes, and that was only because I couldn't find an 10mm Socket small enough to fit in the interior trim. None of mine was corroded so it came off pretty easily. I must be honest I couldn't really see any real evidence of water ingress in my switch. The car is 7 years old but has only done 43k miles.

Having scoured the net there is also talk that this could also be the reason for the increased batter discharge and the clock losing time. Both of which I have symptoms of for about a year.

Fingers crossed this has sorted all of that!

Thanks again,

Daniel

Lotus99

And here's another guide

robban_b

Many thanks to Kamelkungen (tack Björn) for this helpful guide without which I would not have had the courage to attempt this job.
Lots of forum posts helped me identify the cause of the glass hatch popping open every time I set off as down to a faulty microswitch. Unsurprisingly with a 2006 E61 my switch had seized solid to the wiper spindle.
The temporary workaround is to lock the central locking manually before you set off or disable the autolock pending fixing it properly.

Just as a tip further to the OP's guide it appears that the cut into the metal collar was made at the 3 o'clock position but if you drill or dremel at 6 o'clock you only have to go half way through before being able to split the collar as there is an indentation. See pics.
Try to avoid drilling a bit into the base of the wiper spindle sleeve as I did.

Rob

ThunderSpook

Thanks for this also. I was following the instructions from the PDF posted on another site and above here, but they don't tell you how to get the metal collar off. Another search on the web found these instructions and 10 minutes later the collar is off! Perfect

Also very helpful to point out that it is not quite full profile at 6 O'Clock so means less to cut through,

I now have a perfectly working glass panel again, very very happy!!

6speed

Just replaced mine today. I thought that I contribute to this as well. When I placed an order with BMW given them #6131928995 from the above PDF file. They gave me #61 31 9 200 673 instead and never told me this was the new improved version. Before I could cut off the seized metal washer, I WASTED quite some time calling BMW and thinking that they gave me the wrong part. The new micro switch had a smaller opening without the metal washer and they looked different from the back as well. While on hold for the parts department for a long time, I sat down with both the new and old switches in front of me and compared them again. I decided to hang up and give it a try again. Once the metal washer was cut off, the new one fitted right in. I actually used an oscillation cutter called, Sonicrafter. I found it to be more steady and less danger to the glass. With some small cut, I was able to get it off with a plyer. Now without the metal washer in this new design, the switch will never seize again. It worked!!!

Here are some photos. Thanks.

RCB

I attempted to clean and reseal mine back in May because my glass would open every time I backed out of my driveway. I had no luck and ended up buying and new replacement switch and replacing it.