Fyi, I followed the recommendations here and it did not correct the problem, replacing the relay fixed it. I have a 2003 Z4 and the original relay was blue and the replacement is black, also another word of caution working at the back of the fuse panel there are two locations for a relay, the one for the wiper is the upper one, the lower one on my car is for a headlight washer and was empty on my car. I installed the relay in the wrong slot and the wipers ceased to work, be sure to install the relay in the upper location.
HOWTO: Fix wiper resting point issues
- Thread starter sk93
- Start date
Just to keep it alive. Just did the repair and it fixed my issue perfectly. I did snap one or two of the plastic hooks on the windscreen pan. I think using some tool and sliding it down the window to get a good vertical force straight upp might avoid it. Though about lubricating the plastic prongs so they come out easier if I need to do it again at some point.
robinsevers10
New member
Bought a 2004 E85 2.5i on Wednesday. My wife immediately noticed the wipers were going down and then bouncing back up to about two inches from the bottom of the screen and resting there, so I tried to fix it...
A few problems I encountered:
1) Wiper arms would not come off. I don’t consider myself a weak man but they just would not budge. I ended up buying a wiper arm/ battery terminal puller from amazon for £9. This did the trick.
2) The plastic screws are trash and having to remove and replace the scuttle 3 times didn’t do them any good (This is because I’m an idiot and a perfectionist, read on...). Still managed to get them all back in though.
3) EVERY. SINGLE. CLIP. SNAPPED. I was so cautious because I’d already done quite a lot of reading on this and didn’t want to mess up my new car, so I slid my hand under one end a gradually pulled it up but it didn’t work at all. By the looks of it the clips on my one had been permanently attached. I’m not sure if anyone else has found this, but they looked like the tabs that connect the scuttle to the clips had been melted into the clips from the other side (see photos). I ended up managing to get one clip to slot back together but removed all the others because they were causing the wiper pan to sit higher with a concerning gap between it and the glass. Not sure how BMW service centres would do this without providing an entirely new part because the damage isn’t just to the clips but to the wiper tray itself.
4) I forgot to plug it back in
. Seriously please don’t forget this step when reassembling. I had attached everything back together, got in the car to test it and... nothing. This meant having to take it all apart and reassemble it again.
5) I was concerned about the seal of the wiper pan against the window because of the lack of clips. I didn’t want there to be a big gap, although presumably water can drain from beneath anyway as there are gaps at either side. I gently bent the tray a few times just to make sure it sat right when I placed it back down.
It worked though! Wipers now sit in the right place, wife is happy, and I’m only slightly p***ed off.
A few problems I encountered:
1) Wiper arms would not come off. I don’t consider myself a weak man but they just would not budge. I ended up buying a wiper arm/ battery terminal puller from amazon for £9. This did the trick.
2) The plastic screws are trash and having to remove and replace the scuttle 3 times didn’t do them any good (This is because I’m an idiot and a perfectionist, read on...). Still managed to get them all back in though.
3) EVERY. SINGLE. CLIP. SNAPPED. I was so cautious because I’d already done quite a lot of reading on this and didn’t want to mess up my new car, so I slid my hand under one end a gradually pulled it up but it didn’t work at all. By the looks of it the clips on my one had been permanently attached. I’m not sure if anyone else has found this, but they looked like the tabs that connect the scuttle to the clips had been melted into the clips from the other side (see photos). I ended up managing to get one clip to slot back together but removed all the others because they were causing the wiper pan to sit higher with a concerning gap between it and the glass. Not sure how BMW service centres would do this without providing an entirely new part because the damage isn’t just to the clips but to the wiper tray itself.
4) I forgot to plug it back in
. Seriously please don’t forget this step when reassembling. I had attached everything back together, got in the car to test it and... nothing. This meant having to take it all apart and reassemble it again.5) I was concerned about the seal of the wiper pan against the window because of the lack of clips. I didn’t want there to be a big gap, although presumably water can drain from beneath anyway as there are gaps at either side. I gently bent the tray a few times just to make sure it sat right when I placed it back down.
It worked though! Wipers now sit in the right place, wife is happy, and I’m only slightly p***ed off.
Thadeus1991
New member
sk93 said:
Just to let everyone know: this seems to be the incorrect part number. The rivets look the same but are much bigger (too big to fit). The part you want is 51481915964.
[ref]sk93[/ref] - would you be able to edit that in your original post? Might help people to avoid ordering the incorrect part
Z4Couple4me
New member
Came across this video, interesting technique to get the blades off with the wooden wedge.
Haven't tried it but might be worth trying if you're struggling.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZMna_thucU&list=TLPQMDMwNjIwMjFpXVoMuHr1ag&index=2
Haven't tried it but might be worth trying if you're struggling.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZMna_thucU&list=TLPQMDMwNjIwMjFpXVoMuHr1ag&index=2
caius
New member
Had a slightly different issue with mine, whilst the blades were sat high on the windscreen at rest they didn't return down when the engine was turned off, they just stayed about 10% up the screen the whole time. They also swept down to where I'd expect them to stop, before coming up the 10% during the normal stroke. It was as if the rest point was just offset by 10% into the stroke for some reason.
Followed the above to pull them apart, many thanks to everyone that's contributed to this and the prior thread(s) over the years, it was super clear and easy to follow. Wasn't going particularly quickly and had it all apart, cleaned and back together in about 45 minutes. Couldn't see anything mechanically wrong/adjustable, and the contact disc inside the mechanism didn't _appear_ to be greasy, but I cleaned it well with meths anyway.
Put it all back together, tested it without the arms attached and it appeared to rest at the bottom of the sweep now as you'd expect normally. Put everything back together, angling the wipers at rest just below the black edge of the screen border. Both of them sweep the screen perfectly now. Well, aside from what used to be the tax disc area, but that's what I get for buying cheap blades from Wilko - they don't bend much.
Followed the above to pull them apart, many thanks to everyone that's contributed to this and the prior thread(s) over the years, it was super clear and easy to follow. Wasn't going particularly quickly and had it all apart, cleaned and back together in about 45 minutes. Couldn't see anything mechanically wrong/adjustable, and the contact disc inside the mechanism didn't _appear_ to be greasy, but I cleaned it well with meths anyway.
Put it all back together, tested it without the arms attached and it appeared to rest at the bottom of the sweep now as you'd expect normally. Put everything back together, angling the wipers at rest just below the black edge of the screen border. Both of them sweep the screen perfectly now. Well, aside from what used to be the tax disc area, but that's what I get for buying cheap blades from Wilko - they don't bend much.
jamiecarpenter
New member
I did this resently as the wipers were doing the same thing of not resting in the correct position. However after I had completed this Ive found that the intermittent function has stopped working, the two speeds are working fine however. Has anyone else had a similar issue? The rain sensor on the window appears to be ok so I cant see it being the problem.
For years my wipers would sometimes raise an inch or 2 when they stopped. It wasn't annoying enough to even look into.
But thw other day i was using the Z (as the daily was broke) and the wipers stopped entirely! In the dark and rain. Engine off and on again fixed it for a few wipes.
So, followed this guide and they seem to work really well now, dont even jump back up.
I had 16mm wiper arm nuts and torx bits on a 56 plate. Also gave it all a good clean, so many leaves under the skuttle.
Thanks OP!
But thw other day i was using the Z (as the daily was broke) and the wipers stopped entirely! In the dark and rain. Engine off and on again fixed it for a few wipes.
So, followed this guide and they seem to work really well now, dont even jump back up.
I had 16mm wiper arm nuts and torx bits on a 56 plate. Also gave it all a good clean, so many leaves under the skuttle.
Thanks OP!