Remember to mark the exact position of your wiper blades before pulling the blades. It's a PITA to get it back on to the right position. I used white out. There is a good DIY of the cowl grille here: http://www.bmpdesign.com/technical/tech_tips/e46_cowl_seal_leak.php

 

I had a problem with my wipers not stopping in the full down position. This DIY was very helpful, but I have a few additional notes.

1. To try to remove the wipers, I tapped on the wiper axles with a hammer while pulling up on the wiper. Bad move. The threads on the wiper linkage that poke through the cowl are plastic and I stripped them. I ended up having to replace the whole linkage. (Doh!)
2. You can't remove (or install) the wiper linkage with the wipers in the down position. Run the wipers and then shut off the ignition when the wipers are in the full up position.
3. Cleaning the motor did not solve the problem. Instead, I ended up having a bad wiper relay. Apparently it gets "sticky" and doesn't shut off quickly enough when the wipers reach the bottom position. In typical BMW fashion, the relay costs a way overpriced $25 (which is why I tried the motor cleaning route first).

 

I also did this procedure last year. I would like to add that I tightened the nut too tight and the spring on the bottom of the wiper arm rubbed on the windshield. When I finished the job, I tested the wipers and all worked OK. I had to wait 6 months until it rained in Southern California to see how they worked in the rain. Unfortunately the screech of the spring on my windshield had me pulling over in the rain to see what it was. I put black tape around the wiper and also some on the windshield to protect it. I ordered the "installation element" and will put it on this week. No more rain forecasted until next January.

 

I also did this yeasterday and I have 320d 2003. The motor was a little bit different compared with the motor in pictures but cleaning the grease did magic! By the way you have to disconnect your car battery for a minute after you have put everything back because if you don't everytime you test the wipers fuse number 59 (30A) blows. There is some software that needs to be reset and to do that just disconnect the battery.

 

OK so if anyone is blowing fuse #59 (30 amp fuse) when they've repaired or replaced their wiper motor here's what's probably going on...

If you look in the picture I circled in red a small clip that holds a braided copper wire. I also drew some red lines showing the path that the wires should take. Before you put the wiper motor back together make sure you push these wires back into the small clips to keep them away from each other and the other mechanisms in the motor!

When I took my motor apart for about the third time to try and find out what was wrong I realized they had gotten loose and were rubbing up against stuff.

Here's another shot where you can see the entire motor. There are also little metals prongs that hold the wires. I've circled a few of them in this pic along with the little plastic clips from the first pic.

Hope this helps!

 

Here's a picture of what my cars wiper motor looks like. It doesnt have the complete ring of metal for the brushes to contact like the other pics I've seen. You can see the path that the brushes take across the metal plate.

 

"Now I need to find something to do with a linkage and motor that parks 10 degrees up."

This is what mine did and it can be fixed! I saved about $400 by tweaking a few things. It's hard for me to explain what I did, I didnt take step by step pics so it won't be a perfect DIY, but I'll try. My wipers work absolutely perfect now. No need to buy a new motor just because they park 10*, 20* 45* etc degrees up!

Before I write this out I will also say I'm not responsible if you mess up your car. This is just what I did to my car and it worked. If you do this, it is at your own risk, I will not be held responsible for damage to your car.

Watch this video (Hopefully it'll load up on here) and pay attention to the direction the motor runs when you have your wipers on. Make note of it use a marker and write it on the linkage with an arrow if you have to. It's helpful to note the position that the linkage parks in before you take the motor and linkage out of your car. It will help you remember the way everything rotates when you get towards the end of the fix. Take lots of pictures HaHa it helped me out a ton.




Below you'll see where my motor decided to park. After you take the linkage and motor out you have to remove the nut that I pointed to in this picture below to free the linkage from the spline.

I have a feeling that the pic below shows what's really going on when the linkage goes out of whack. My wipers started parking across the windshield after trying to remove heavy snow with the wipers one day. The spline in the picture below was definitely slipping, and stripping a bit. There were small bits of metal shavings around it, as well as in the female part of where the spline is bolted to. I cleaned the grease and shavings off with some simple green on both the male and female part of the spline/linkage.

Here's a better shot of the spline and motor from further out. This "spline" thing is what spins when the motor is running and is what turns the linkage.

This thing attaches here HaHa You can see where the linkage bolts up to the spline. The motor for the windshield wipers seems pretty damn strong, so when trying to work under heavy snow/ice, I can see how it would just keep turning causing the spline to slip, and strip.

OK now this is the tricky part.... I don't remember if when looking at this part of the motor if it spins clockwise or counter clockwise. That's why it is important for you to note where your linkage stops when parked and what direction you linkage spins when your wiper motor is running.

Basically two little metal prongs circled in red in the picture below swipe across the disk in a circle. Once they hit the metal part of the disk the wipers park there. You need to line up the brushes to stay within the metal disk to get the motor to be in "park" by spinning the motor by hand. Since the linkage is already detached it should be easier to spin the motor. I circled in blue where you can spin the shaft to make the motor move.

Now that I think about it and see all the pictures I'm pretty damn sure that when looking at the motor the white disk turns clockwise so you should line up the metal prongs with the red dots I marked on the metal disk.

(If for some reason I'm wrong and it spins Counter-clockwise line up the metal prongs with the purple dots.)

Once you've done this do not allow the motor to spin or move or else you'll mess up where the prongs line up. The prongs must be in the proper start position or else you'll end up with your wipers parking in the wrong spot.

Now that everything is lined up and you've got the casing back together and snapped tight its time to reattach the linkage.

Put the linkage back together but dont tighten the nut down that holds the linkage/spline together. Line up the linkage WITHOUT MOVING THE MOTOR like in the picture from realoem.com

Once you've got it looking exactly like this without moving the motor now you need to secure the linkage so it doesnt move when you tighten the linkage/spline nut. I just used some strong clamps I had laying around.


Now tighten the nut down to secure the spline of the motor and the linkage together. I dont know what the torque specs are supposed to be so I just got it on there pretty damn snug (basically tightened the **** out of it).

If for some reason you feel like you moved the motor when tightening just unsnap the case and peek inside to make sure the prongs are still touching the metal disk in the park position.

Now reinstall the whole rig back in your car and test to see everything is working!

Hopefully this helps someone save some $$$$$$$$

Sorry for the rambling notes, its hard to describe, but once you get in there it should all make sense.

Good luck!!!

 

Not to bump an old thread, but thank you very much for this DIY. I did this today.

I did it with very minimal tools. I could not find a deep-socket 15/16" or even a wrench of that size, so I actually used the adjustable wrench in our own toolkit! Worked like a charm. Getting it back on, though, was a real pain and I chewed up the driver's side nut pretty good. But hey, it worked.

Getting the assembly out required me to remove the blower motor cover. Even then, I could barely maneuver it in and out, I had to really push down on the assembly to get the prongs through the hole. I was a little worried I might break the plastic housing around the blower motor, but it was all okay.

Everything is a very, very tight fit. The hardest part for me was the reinstallaton. The plastic/rubber seals that sit on the actual wiper linkage themselves proved to be the hardest part of the DIY. The retaining nuts did not want to go over them.

The best way to deal with this is to take them off. Remove the plastic snap ring and the washer that holds the seal on, then take the wiper linkage nut and run it through a few times. This should help, but it was an absolute pain to get them on. Soapy water helped some, too.

You can get away without having a 15/16" wrench, but it makes your job a hell of a lot harder. I'm just glad to have it done.

I had to replace mine because it was binding and chattering at the top and bottom of its travel. I believe the motor was going bad, but I haven't taken it apart to look yet. The first thing I noticed after I tested it was how quiet this motor is. It's really, really silent.

 

Thanks for this tutorial. I tackled the repair today and it went very well. I think that the key is making sure the linkage is in optimal position before trying to take it out or put the new one in. One noteworthy item is I saw T27 screws mentioned but mine were T30. Here's another tutorial that was really helpful (I referenced both for my repair).

http://www.bmwserviceguides.com/e46-and-e83-wiper-malfunctions/