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Thread: Fix walkthrough for faulty wipers

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Cambridge, Cambs, UK
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    166
    My Cars
    Z4 2.5i SE, Sapphire Black, Beige, 18" 107s

    Fix walkthrough for faulty wipers

    Hi,




    If you're wipers suffer from either of the following symptoms, then you should follow this walkthrough to fix them:
    1. When the wipers stop on intermittent or single wipe they go slightly back up again before they actually stop.
    2. When operating on continuous movement they suddenly stop for no reason and don't start working again for a few mins or until you turn the ignition off and on again.
    Mine is a 2004 2.5i Z4 - a friend with exactly the same year/spec car has also just completed the following fix. Someone else I heard took it to a dealer in the US and got charged $300 for them NOT even to fix it!! They even told the dealer about the fix below and they didn't listen.

    I found this post to help get me started but thought I would do a full write up as I did it today: http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=685&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=15

    This takes about an hour to complete and is an easy fix.

    STEP 1
    -------
    Lift the bonnet and pull off the two plastic caps of the wiper arm ends where they join the body.





    STEP 2
    -------
    Undo the two nuts holding the wiper arms on





    STEP 3
    -------
    Jiggle the wiper arms about a bit and then lift off when they become free



    STEP 4
    -------
    Pull up the rubber seal between the wiper area and the engine bay.



    STEP 5
    -------
    Undo the 4 plastic screws holding the large plastic wiper motor area cover - you will also need to ease out the plastic lugs the hold his on in the same 4 places once the screws are out. Its best to use a thin flat blade rather than a cross-head screwdriver as the plastic is fairly soft and it will grip better - two of them require having the screwdriver at an angle - it will look odd but it will work.











    STEP 6
    -------
    First of all - on the right hand side, pull the plastic cable tube out of the two clips (you will see one in the 3rd image in the last step) - this enables you to then lift the whole plastic cover off that is hiding the wiper motor area - note there are several plastic lugs holding it on at the edge nearest the windscreen - just lift fairly hard and they will come away






    STEP 7
    -------
    Undo the two hex screws holding the whole wiper unit on (they are T30 size).. Don't worry about undoing these.. it may look drastic but its very easy to put back together again!





    STEP 8
    -------
    Release the white plastic catch thats holding the middle part in by the motor. The easiest way to do this is to jiggle the whole mechanism and push the right hand side of the white clip towards the windscreen - you will see it needs to push past a little notch before it comes upwards.



    STEP 9
    -------
    The whole wiper motor and arms unit should now be free to bring upwards out of the recessed area - there is no need to unplug it. However, when lifting upwards bring the edge nearest the windscreen upwards and over so that it actually ends up upside down resting on the edge of the engine bay - you should be looking at the bottom of the motor and gearing as in the image in the next step.


    STEP 10
    --------
    Undo the 6 hex screws holding the gearing housing back on (These are T20 size). Again, don't worry - it may look drastic but its very easy to put back together again!



    STEP 11
    --------
    Lift the backing plate of the gearing housing off... it may feel a bit tight to begin with but it comes off fairly easily. Watch you don't lose the seal in this following image:



    You should now see the inside of the gearing.

    You will see if you look closely that there is likely to be a grease trail in the gap between the two ends of the metal contacts (highlighted by the arrows below) - This shouldn't be there and its what is causing the problem. When the contacts on the housing cover you just took off go to this area it should stop - but the grease is making the electrical contact continue - hence the odd wiper movements.



    STEP 12
    --------
    With a cloth - clean all the grease from the area in the gap. I also cleaned it from the whole top of the contact area and it didn't seem to have a detrimental effect.




    STEP 13
    --------
    Right - job done... now you've cleaned the grease away, everything should be fine.

    Time to put everything back together again in the opposite order from above. Don't forget to make sure the gear housing seal is correctly seated when putting it back together.

    I hope this works for you as it did for me and a friend.

    Regards

    Chris
    Last edited by trembler; 11-08-2008 at 12:13 PM.
    2004 2.5i SE Sapphire Black, Sand Oregan Leather....
    - 18" Ellipsoid Wheels
    - Extended Leather
    - 6 CD Changer

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Windsor
    Posts
    1
    My Cars
    Z4 2.2i SE

    Thanks!

    Trembler

    Great fix! Encountered this problem with my Z4 last week. Followed your guidelines yesterday, problem sorted.

    Many thanks - saved myself £££ !

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Cambridge, Cambs, UK
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    166
    My Cars
    Z4 2.5i SE, Sapphire Black, Beige, 18" 107s
    Cheers Clocker.... glad I could help someone else as well !!
    2004 2.5i SE Sapphire Black, Sand Oregan Leather....
    - 18" Ellipsoid Wheels
    - Extended Leather
    - 6 CD Changer

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Glen Mills, PA
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    2,833
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    2009 128i
    Hey Trembler,

    Would you mind finding a Toyota Avalon with the same problem and then fixing that and writing it up here? Great step-by-step. Good job.

  5. #5
    Join Date
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    NJ
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    German
    thanks for an amazing write up! i've been looking for this! will fix tomorrow!


  6. #6
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    German
    i tried doing this but got stuck on step #3. no matter how i jiggled the wipers, they didn't come off. if i jiggled any harder, i would've been afraid of breaking it.

    any thoughts??


  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Chantilly, VA
    Posts
    131
    My Cars
    1997 M3 Coupe 5spd
    This is the thread I've been looking for. I will give this a try tonight as this problem has been bugging me for over 3 months now. I tried replacing the wiper control module and that did not fix the problem. I hope that this will fix it for me. Thanks in advance.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Latvia
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    E39M5/E85Z4/CBR600RR
    thx for great manual, ill try it as soo i get back from vacation, hope thet will help

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Hungary, Budapest
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    Z4 2,2i /2005
    Hi Mike87!

    You wrote: "i tried doing this but got stuck on step #3. no matter how i jiggled the wipers, they didn't come off. if i jiggled any harder, i would've been afraid of breaking it."

    I have totaly the same problem! Please help, what was the solution?

    Thank you!
    DBMM

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Switzerland
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    z4 3.0
    Hello everybody, I am experiencing this problem right now... does someone have (maybe trembler?) the thread pictures? That would be so kind!!!

    Thanks a lot in advance from a new user this forum is soo useful!

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
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    Latvia
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    E39M5/E85Z4/CBR600RR
    for me too, pls

    o, nwm, i copied to word doc, it showd all pics
    Last edited by SteelRat; 12-01-2009 at 03:41 AM.

  12. #12
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    So you have a word doc?

  13. #13
    Join Date
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    Latvia
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    E39M5/E85Z4/CBR600RR
    jep, i can send you, gimme email its word7

    done it on my car alredy ~1,5 hours with coffe, and for first time, 300 usd is way to much

    o, forgot, about 5 minutes hand washing
    Last edited by SteelRat; 12-01-2009 at 05:52 AM.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
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    Switzerland
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    z4 3.0

    Thumbs up

    THANKS!!!!

    my email is:

    ghebansx

    @

    gmail.

    com

    really kind of you!

  15. #15
    Join Date
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    np m8 sent

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
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    Washington State
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    06 Z-4, 05 Subaru
    Quote Originally Posted by SteelRat View Post
    jep, i can send you, gimme email its word7

    done it on my car alredy ~1,5 hours with coffe, and for first time, 300 usd is way to much

    o, forgot, about 5 minutes hand washing
    Hi... I am having the same problem. Need to take it to the dealer but it would be easier to explain what they need to do if I had a document with pictures.

    Can you send me a Word copy with pics to loanappletree (at) yahoo.com

    Thanks

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Waynesboro, VA
    Posts
    1
    My Cars
    2003 BMW Z4 3.0 SMG
    I am having the same problem. Can someone please email me with the pictures? jeremy.delange @ me.com

    Thanks!

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Washington State
    Posts
    13
    My Cars
    06 Z-4, 05 Subaru
    Update on my wiper problem. Took the 06 Z4 into the dealer yesterday. They evaluated some fault codes and confirmed it was the wiper motor. They replaced the motor under warranty.

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
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    England
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    Z4 (E85)
    Images anyone??

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
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    newmarket, ontario, canada
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    19 850i 94 325i
    would love the pics and the right up myself as mines just started acting up also.. sightseeker2@gmail.com

  21. #21
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    England
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    Z4 (E85)
    Quote Originally Posted by dbmm View Post
    Hi Mike87!

    You wrote: "i tried doing this but got stuck on step #3. no matter how i jiggled the wipers, they didn't come off. if i jiggled any harder, i would've been afraid of breaking it."

    I have totaly the same problem! Please help, what was the solution?

    Thank you!
    DBMM
    Exactly the same problem, the wiper arm seems to have some white corrosion which is joining it to the bolt. I've pull it as hard as I can! and even used to levers, but there is simply no chance of it coming off. Any tips?

  22. #22
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Hungary, Budapest
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    Z4 2,2i /2005
    The solution is: you must use a special wiper puller tool, that windscreen replace&repair firms use.

    For example:
    http://www.nextag.com/wiper-arm-puller/compare-html

    I bought a cheaper one, and it has worked.

  23. #23
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    England
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    Z4 (E85)
    Wow I never realised such a tool existed

  24. #24
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
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    NJ
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    German
    now when the wiper is off after removing it with the special tool, do i need to add any special adhesive before putting the wiper back on?


  25. #25
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    Santa Rosa, CA
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    03' Z4 3.0
    Chris, Thanks for the great write up and pics!

    I just finished this and the fix worked great. It was super easy and between coffee, facebook etc., it was less than a hours work. For those that had a hard time removing wipers, I used a little WD40 and a couple taps from a hammer and they came loose.

    Thanks again Chris!!!

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