Windshield wipers stopping in new position

[Dios007]

This is a really annoying problem it has happened a few times now but this time it won't correct itself. I was driving along and it started raining, turned on the wipers they are working just fine it stops raining so I turn them off and they don't go back to their normal stopping position. They go down to were they should stop and then come back up and stop right in the middle of the damn windshield. When I turn them back on they work fine and go over the entire window but proceed to rest in the same spot right in the middle of the window. I tried pushing them back but they refuse to stay in the right position when the car is turned back on they immediately come on and move to the middle of the window if the car is on and you try to move them they do the same thing. This recently happened on a long trip I took but after leaving them on for awhile they corrected themselves, this time I don't seem to be so lucky. I have a '97 328i. Any help would be great.

[BMuu]

Well you could say you did it on purpose, You know how the ricers convert to one wiper and leave in in the middle all the time? ... Sorry I cant be of more help I have never heard of this problem.

[fivefreshfish]

With the wipers in the middle of the windshield, loosen the arms where they attach to the car. Move them to the desired "parked" position and tighten.

[patrick S]

With the wipers in the middle of the windshield, loosen the arms where they attach to the car. Move them to the desired "parked" position and tighten.

NONO!!!

you have to get acess to wiper motor, loosen that arm from it and relocate into right position

[BMuu]

With the wipers in the middle of the windshield, loosen the arms where they attach to the car. Move them to the desired "parked" position and tighten.

I was going to say this until I read about how it would move all the way down, then up to the middle.

[W7VJ]

With the wipers in the middle of the windshield, loosen the arms where they attach to the car. Move them to the desired "parked" position and tighten.

Same thing happened to me yesterday, although the entire windshield wiper arm is now loose. Do not see how to tighten the armature to the motor. Bently manual does not help. How do you tighten the arms to the motor?

[Dios007]

I was going to say this until I read about how it would move all the way down, then up to the middle.

yeah that is a big problem with this i think, if i loosen them and move them back to the lower position when i turn the wiper on it is going to try to wipe the engine. its not that they loosened and moved off the window it's as though the switch is somehow messed up. After i posted the original problem I noticed that sometimes the intermittent setting doesn't work at all and the regular speed of the windshields becomes the intermittent while the superfast stays superfast. I have to mess around with changing the speeds to get it to work normally again and in doing this sometimes the wipers will stop further down toward the normall stopping position until the speeds go back to normal then the damn things stops close to the top again. this is a really strange problem.

[k3nny]

Old post, but I'm having this exact problem... I'll try to loosen the arm at the wiper-motor, move the arms to the correct position, and tighten...

By the way, I was caught on a narrow bridge in pouring rain and all of a sudden my wipers weren't working... that was scary.

[bobweav]

Two things control this. If the wiper arms aren't loose on the shaft, then wiper motor has a switch in the gearbox for home position. Also there is a wiper control module. My control module went bad and my wipers would stop in random positions. I could turn them on high speed and time it just right to turn them off and get them to stop at the bottom. Replaced the control module and it fixed it.

[edgarski]

NEVER reset your wipers 'mechanically' ( It stops in middle, take wiper out and set it to zero/end).Once your control module kicks back to normal (this is as soon as you turn off your engine and start it again) your wipers will slam unto your hood.

Yes. It is the wiper control module. It is located just under your dash hooked on the neck of your steering column (mine's 1991 318i). Normally its like a big BLUE relay type package.
I was not able to replace it because I could not find a replacement but I managed to repair it. If you can find a replacement go replace it straightaway.

It is easy to take the pcb out, a small screw driver will do. Once you have the pcb out, carefully examine the under side of the pcb and look for 'cold solder'. Cold solder = solder with cracks around it. If I remember it right, it is laminated with heavy duty varnish. So once you pinpoint a cold solder just use stanley to scrape the varnish then resolder.
You will see a single small electrolytic capacitor, replace it ! Electrolytics tend to loose their filtering power over a period of time. I can't remember the exact spec of the capacitor and it's a hard to find uf/v. You can use different spec as long as it is more than the original.
Ex: Orig is 6.3uf/10, you can use 6.3uf/16v or 10uf/10v

Never had a problem since.

Good luck guys !

Two things control this. If the wiper arms aren't loose on the shaft, then wiper motor has a switch in the gearbox for home position. Also there is a wiper control module. My control module went bad and my wipers would stop in random positions. I could turn them on high speed and time it just right to turn them off and get them to stop at the bottom. Replaced the control module and it fixed it.

[k3nny]

I was hoping it wasn't so involved, but it does sound like the wiper control module is messed up. My symptoms were similar to what you described.

[bobweav]

Also there are different control modules for different years, and they are located in different places in the car. My 92 had it mounted under the dead pedal in the drivers footwell. Took me forever to find it. I think some of them are mounted behind the glovebox also.

[k3nny]

I found some more info on it. It's part #61358366366 and it's located behind the glovebox on my '95.

Does anyone know a better price than pelican parts? It's $77.25, but I've heard it was cheaper than that... The dealership wants $92.70 + tax

(Also checked realoem.com and their price is $83.70)... looks like I'm probably going to go for pelicanparts.com unless someone says otherwise.

Also, the dealership said for a temporary fix that I should "flick" the module when it's acting up, lol

[edgarski]

try the repair i've done.

I found some more info on it. It's part #61358366366 and it's located behind the glovebox on my '95.

Does anyone know a better price than pelican parts? It's $77.25, but I've heard it was cheaper than that... The dealership wants $92.70 + tax

(Also checked realoem.com and their price is $83.70)... looks like I'm probably going to go for pelicanparts.com unless someone says otherwise.

Also, the dealership said for a temporary fix that I should "flick" the module when it's acting up, lol

[jamespkeane]

You will find a number of WRONG fixes for this issue on the forum. The range from removing the battery power to the wiper circuit, pulling fuses, even taking the wiper blades off and on again.

I struggled with this on my 2005 X3 and finally found a SIMPLE, immediate solution. Turn the wipers on then off. They will park in the UP position. Grab the drivers side blade firmly, turn on the wipers and then turn them immediately off, letting go of the wiper blade at the same time.

You will feel an initial tug and then the wiper motor will slip past the detent in the spline and finally stop where it should. The will likely stop in a 'mid' position on the windshield. Repeat the same procedure but only lightly grab the wiper and the motor will slip again until it reaches the intended detent on the spline.

Problem solved - and DON'T even turn on the wipers again if you have snow or ice buildup on the window.

[sightseeker]

Frist off search the thread wiper motor problems , lots of threads come up. theres is a home switch in the wiper motor that does act up or quite working, theres the wiper module behind the glove box on your car. turn wipers on to see if its working right. mine turned out to be the drivers side wiper post was the problem was the lube ran dry and that post was running slow and ended up stop working...had to take it all out motor and all and take it all apart and lube it back up, did both while i had it apart , been to years now .. go luck..remember to post your soluction

[heynowjerry]

You will find a number of WRONG fixes for this issue on the forum. The range from removing the battery power to the wiper circuit, pulling fuses, even taking the wiper blades off and on again.

I struggled with this on my 2005 X3 and finally found a SIMPLE, immediate solution. Turn the wipers on then off. They will park in the UP position. Grab the drivers side blade firmly, turn on the wipers and then turn them immediately off, letting go of the wiper blade at the same time.

You will feel an initial tug and then the wiper motor will slip past the detent in the spline and finally stop where it should. The will likely stop in a 'mid' position on the windshield. Repeat the same procedure but only lightly grab the wiper and the motor will slip again until it reaches the intended detent on the spline.

Problem solved - and DON'T even turn on the wipers again if you have snow or ice buildup on the window.

Brilliant! Worked like a charm!!

[JDStrickland]

Brilliant! Worked like a charm!!

... he said, three years later.

[15Michaeljoseph]

Hahaha what

[Melle]

Thanks a lot -- this was posted 2007 but it solved my problem and as jamespkeane says -- lots of wrong suggestions….
Not even the BMW shop could help with this !!
Thanks !!

[snaponbob]

And there are even more "remedies". Somewhere on this site it was suggested to simply rotate the left arm back into its correct position, and then turn on the wipers and turn them back off. SIMILAR to the #15, but even more basic. Worked on mine as well. Still working properly.

[e36fiend]

... he said, three years later.

Looks like the search function is doing its job then!

[snaponbob]

I rarely have luck with the site search function. Google does a better job. And I am sure that is missing stuff as well.

[e36fiend]

I rarely have luck with the site search function. Google does a better job. And I am sure that is missing stuff as well.

Same. Just type in 'site:bimmerforums.com QUERY' in Google and I usually find what I'm looking for.

It was more just a commentary on how we chastise people for not searching, then make fun of them when they revive an old thread that solved their problem :p

[fonafin]

It's now 2019 and I just did this on my 2003 325xi. It totally worked! It was stopping mid-windshield and the first time I did it, it stopped completely vertical. Kept at it for a couple swipes until I got it back in the right "home" position. Thanks for saving me over $500 in parts and labor!