E60 wiper arms to E39 DIY

[Tunerbuilder]

**NOTE** This DIY does not hold ME responsible for the damages YOU could make to YOUR vehicle during this procedure. Proceed at your own risk!

Now with that bit of ugliness out of the way we can begin. I ordered some E60 wiper arms w/ blades from ebay for $80 w/ shipping.
Tools including, but not limited to: MIG welder, semi gloss black spray paint, 17mm and 13mm shallow 3/8" drive sockets, 2" - 6" 3/8" drive extension that you are Ok with hammering on, a 3/8" drive extendable handle ratchet, 3/8" torque wrench a short pry bar/flat blade screw driver, a can of some sort of penetrating fluid (eg. WD40), a marking device (I use a paint pen) a short handle 5 pound sledge (yes this will come in handy if you don't have the wiper arm remover special tool), long pry bar (at least 2 feet or longer), a Cut off tool/zip wheel, and wiper arm removal tool (optional).

Here is what my new E60 wiper arms look like look like.


Remove the two beauty caps that cover the nuts on the passenger side wiper arm. Remove the two 13mm nuts under said beauty covers and spray the wiper arm rotating rods with penetrating fluid. This picture is after I separated the arms from the rotating rods.


First remove the driver side and let the passenger side soak in penetrating fluid. Be gentle with this next part!! Pop the beauty cover off by using a flat screw driver/small pry bar underneath the cover and prying it up.


You can see the two tabs that hold onto the edges of the wiper arm, on the left side.


Next is to remove the 17mm nut and washer the holds the wiper arm tight against the rotating rod. Be sure to mark the location of the right side of the washer on the wiper arm to later transfer onto the E60 wiper arm for proper alignment.


Now remove the wiper arm, it should be free after you take the nut and washer off.


Next, set the E60 wiper arm and the factoy E39 wiper arms beside each other so you can transfer the alignment mark you made earlier. now place the E60 wiper arm on the windshield and place the washer onto the rotating rod. Move the wiper arm up or down in the slot untill the mark lines up with the right shoulder on the washer.


Tighten the 17mm nut to 35 nm (as stamped on the wiper arm, lol)


Now it's time for the passenger side arm, it's not too bad if you take you time. If you have the wiper arm removal tool this part is simple. Using the 2 foot or longer pry bar, pry up on the wiper arm at the rotating rod you sprayed with penetrating fluid earlier.


At the same time tap on the rotating rod coming through the wiper arm (****only tap firmly, aggressive hitting of the rod will damage the threads requiring new wiper linkage). If this does not work try the following. Thread one of the two 13mm nuts partially back onto the rod coming trough the wiper arm. Place the other nut inside of the 13mm socket and attach the 3/8" extension to the 13mm socket. Then slide the socket over the partially threaded on nut. This will give you clearance between the socket and the wiper arm. Pry up on the wiper arm with the long pry bar as in the pic above. Use your elbow to old the pry bar down and your hand to hold the socket/extension steady on the rotating rod. Hit the end of the extension with the hammer with a bit more force then before. It's ok to get a #LITTLE# aggressive because no damage will be done to the threads since the nut is taking the brunt of the force inside the socket. Make sure you hold the pry bar down as hard as you can with your elbow while holding the socket/extension. The more prying force used, the less hammer force required. Do this for both of the rods on the passenger side wiper arm and remove the wiper arm.

Now comes the cutting/welding. Cut the passenger side E60 and E39 wiper arms as shown. Ty to make the cuts as symmetrical as possible, makes the welding cleaner/easier.


This next part is very important for quality welds. Clean and buff the areas to be welded right down to the bare metal. Next butt the E39 wiper linkage cut point up to the E60 wiper arm cut point and tac in place. If everything looks good, weld it up. If not, the tac is made to allow minor adjustments or grind it off and start again. Do the tac and check first or you will have to cut and grind down the welds if you check after you finish welding. Take your time here, and the finished product will be exactly the same as factory. Grind the welds flush with the existing surface and prep for paint! (this is mine half way through)


Now rebuff the affected areas for paint. I chose semi gloss black spray paint from Canadian Tire. Apply three medium coats and let dry for an hour or so. Place the wiper arm where you think it should be on the windshield and tighten the two 13mm nuts. Give the wipers a quick cycle to see how they work/if they are aligned correctly. If your happy, torque the two 13mm nuts to 35nm and reinstall the passenger side beauty covers over the nuts. The driver side beauty cover will have to be modified to correctly fit the E60 driver side wiper arm. The end will have to be shortened about 3/8". Here's the before


And here is the after.


The top two tabs will have to be shortened about 1/4" (one broke off on me, but the left one is the correctly modified length for both tabs).


Install the cover and give the wipers a final test!


DIY complete! This took me about 1 hour and 45 minutes, waiting for the paint to dry added an hour. Remember to look up wipers for a 2003-2010 5 series whenever you buy wipers. If you have any questions, please post below. I'll answer them as best I can. This is my first DIY write-up; so if I forgot anything, my apologies.

[edjack]

Good job, but what is the purpose?

[Tunerbuilder]

The metal frame style wipers are the only ones that fit the factory E39 wiper arms. I rain they are ok, but in snow or ice the metal hinges freeze and the wipers stop working entirely or streak so bad you can't see out the windshield. This mod allows the E60 5 series wiper arms to be fitted to the E39 5 series. The E60 wiper arms have just as many options as the J hook style wiper arms. In short, the wiper blade options are extremely limited from factory. But after this mod, the wiper blade options are pretty much endless.

[johnfredrickson]

I've always wanted to do this but I don't have the welding equipment or the expertise in welding (I can change a wiper arm, no problem). I know the driver wiper arm just bolts right on, but what specifically is stopping the passenger wiper arm, it looks very nearly the same?
Right now I have the Good Rain wipers, but they don't seem to wipe very cleanly (they skip places), so I am still looking for a better upgrade.

[blackknight530i]

Couldn't you use the e60 driver side beauty cover instead of modifying the e39 cover? Could the linkages on the passenger side arm be transferred to the e60 arm, eliminating the need for welding?

[Samaid16]

I think the bigger problem is that you can’t find replacement wipers for e39 at a reasonable price because the hinges are unique to E 39. And instead of cutting and welding, Could you just replace the entire arm with the E 60? Do they align? The east 60 does have the double knot passenger wiper arm just like the E 38 and e39.