Z4 Wiper Linkage

[KeithZ4]

Hi There,
Just purchased a 2004 Z4 2.2, Very happy with the car in general. One problem has arizen...The wiper linkage has popped off on the driver side.

The passeger side is fine and the motor is working. Was quoted €241 for a new linkage set and €120 for labour from the main dealer.

I am based in Ireland. Is there a good site out there for purchasing replacement parts outside of the local BMW dealer?

Hope you help.

Thanks

Keith

[AlanJ]

Welcome to the forum. Sounds like a part only BMW can supply unless others know different. Heres a link to the parts......

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do ... g=61&fg=45

[sk93]

hit a breaker for it.. that's astronomical!

[cj10jeeper]

Remove the wiper arms, take the plastic cowling off and fit the wiper arm back on its press fitting and all will be fine.

In the meantime as sk93 says - down the breakers for a complete unit that you can fit in under an hour start to finish.

[GAZA62]

Welcome

[kevineaton77]

i thought i would post on this as bmw dont sell the arm anymore, they sell the whole assembly for about 340 quid.

ive just fixed my wipers with this for £5. works a treat.

Ask The Mechanic- Ball Joint Size

thought i would post to save others some money

[Toe-side]

I had the same thing happen. I drilled and tapped the ball and fitted an allen cap bolt with washer with thread lock. Stops the coupling detaching. That was three years ago no further issues. The Kevineaton77 looks like a good option though?

[kevineaton77]

well, its worked for 8 hours so far....fingers crossed! for a fiver, its well worth a go.

[Marlon]

Welcome aboard

[cj10jeeper]

Welcome aboard

Bit late - he joined nearly 7 years ago

Great fix - love it

[kevineaton77]

Yeah its amazing what the outrage at having to spend 340 quid on a nylon bush can produce...

[Marlon]

Welcome aboard

Bit late - he joined nearly 7 years ago

[vanilla]

Hi guys, I'm having problems with mine on the drivers side not working which is not ideal in this crazy rain/sun weather. I've been told by a garage that their suppliers can't get the linkage and it's only from BMW who are likely to supply the whole mechanism unit. Still waiting to hear from the garage if they managed to contact BMW...anyways I really need this fixed quickly and cheaply. MOT is also due next month so it's going to be an expensive month.
Any suggestions for alternatives, I haven't had a chance to 'poke' around myself yet and won't get a chance until after next week..

[oli445]

Recently fixed mine with:

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vi ... ID=EBAY-GB

Less than £5. I'm not the most precise person so I had to remove the motor to get a good fit but as good as new!

[kristian663]

Hello,

I have just had this problem with my z4. the drivers side popped off and would not stay on the ball joint, as if a part was missing.


post images

My initial though was to drill out the ball joint and replace with a nut and bolt, with some kind of spacer for the link arm to rotate on. so i got my drill out and proceeded to drill a 3.5mm pilot hole through the ball joint before the bigger drill bit came out to remove it entirely. Once the pilot hole was done i looked at it and had a light bulb moment... what if i just put a split pin through the hole?

turns out, this idea works a treat :


imageupload

upload gambar

forum image hosting

The split pin looks loose, but it needed to be in order for the arm to move freely within its range of movement. the assembly feels rock solid, the joints all move freely and the wiper system is currently working a treat.
overall the cost of this repair to me was 10 min to remove assembly, 25 mins of drilling, pondering and split pinning, 10 mins of re-assembly. and 45mins to writing this post for others. cost was 1 split pin (10p) or free if you know someone with a stash.

Hope this helps people in the future.