stuart444

I've read a number of threads on failed rear wipers, but mine is different. It works fine in that it travels at normal speed, does a wash/wipe OK, but it parks wherever it feels like it. No two times are the same, it parks itself anywhere.


Has anyone else had this problem? Is there a solution other than handing over my credit card to the local dealer?


If it needs a new motor, I've heard various stories about whether or not this can be done DIY in terms of the car's microprocessors accepting the change. If I got a replacement from a written-off vehicle, can I simply remove the current one and screw / plug in the replacement and expect it to work without attachment of a "computer" to re-programme it?


10 reg, Feb 2010


Many thanks


Stuart

Lotus99

Bump in case anyone figured this out? The same thing's happened to me now, but it's after I had disconnected the battery for an hour. Restarted the car a few times, and used the wiper, and it returns to a horizontal position after it's done wiping, but then when I turn the car off, it moves to an 11 o'clock position...

stuart444

Hi Lotus99,


I was disappointed to get no comments here, but what I did was I took off the trim to expose the motor and just pulled out all the connectors and replaced them. It has worked fine ever since. So clearly it was a poor contact causing my trouble. I hope yours is as easy! I'm afraid that whilst I love my BMs, their electrics are disappointingly unreliable in my experience.


Stuart

stuart444

I've re-read that and it's ambiguous. When I said "replaced them" I just meant I plugged them back in and jiggled them a bit to make sure they were fully seated and the contacts cleaned - I didn't remove the old plugs and use new ones.

Lotus99

Hi Stuart, thanks for coming back to reply. Sorry you didn't get your issue resolved. Seems like a pretty rare occurrence here I guess. I've not been able to find another post on this in this forum. Mine parks itself just fine when I'm using it, but it's like there's a gremlin in there and a minute after parking the car and turning it off, is when it decides by itself to move and park itself at 10 / 11 o'clock!

I might try your trick to see if that fixes it. I'm hoping it's not the dreaded tailgate wires causing it. But it's so odd, as it happened immediately after I disconnected the battery for an hour, so I was thinking it's related to that.

If I had one of those BMW softwares, I'd check into seeing if there's an initialization procedure for it or something. I know there's such a thing to initialize / reset the rain sensor, and when my wipers weren't wiping often enough, that trick fixed it.

Edit - I just found this on the web, though it refers to another BMW wagon - hope that's not the issue here...

Rear Window Wiper/Washer System (E39 Sport Wagon and E53)

The system is included in the scope of ZKE however is not controlled directly by the GM. The control electronics are integrated into the rear wiper motor assembly. The control electronics contains two hall sensors, one for monitoring park position and other for the end stop, or to signal reverse direction of the wiper motor.

stuart444

I suspect the control electronics are in this motor assembly judging by the high price (£200) and the number of wires going to/from it! It's disappointing when "progress" means "more complicated and expensive to fix" - the best engineering is simple, not complex. KISS!

Richard Cliff

Just picked up on this old thread about rear wiper problems. My 2010 E61 rear wiper has started acting up. I have repaired the tailgate wiring and sheared washer tubing, so I don't think it's a wiring problem. The symptoms are that after powering up the car, the rear wiper and washer will work, the wiper works at normal speed for 5 sweeps and then stops where it likes, if the wash function on the stalk is pressed, or the wiper turned on and off it will repeat the 5 sweeps for 3 or 4 cycles, but then stops working at all until the car is powered off and on again.

Not sure if its the motor or a control module failing, or both, I'd be pleased to hear from anyone who has had a similar issue and how it was resolved.

hadyn68

I have the the same problem. It all started after power of washing the car so I am guessing water has got in somewhere. I now need to dismantle it and see what's what. Hopefully it'll be something easy!

kenza750

maybe try to clean the rear wiper parts. See here for a nice DIY:

https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...Rear-wiper-fix!

Sometimes dirt will make the control sensors unable to determine the position of the rear wiper.