Subject: just did this exact job a few weeks ago Author: thesteve : member since December, 2003 : 3834 posts Posted on: 2004-11-17 23:03:23

Same exact thing... Found both relay sockets burned and one of the relays was definitely shot. Replaced relays...nothing. Still no wipers. Found one broken wire. While investigating, two other wires broke off. So I "redid" all 4 thin "signal wires." I too used the diagram from e38.org. I had the benefit of being an electrical engineer though. I will try to find the notes I jotted down and pass them on to you. I can tell you which wire goes where. I even took pictures. I'm just very lazy and never posted anything. The way those plugs work is as follows: You start with an empty plastic plug. Then you have a bunch of wires. Each wire has a "pin" crimped to its end. The pin and also the plug are made in such a way that once the pin/wire is inserted into the plug, it snaps and locks in place. So you can get new pin/wire combos (pre-crimped) from the dealer. They're $2 each. The problem is removing the old pins that are still locked in place in the plug. This is not easy to do. There are 4 things that simultaneously have to be bent in order for the pin to come out. I don't recommend trying to do it without the special tool that BMW makes. I looked into getting this tool, but it seemed like it came as part of a kit. I was able to use two small jewelers screwdrivers and a pair of locking forceps to get them out. But I have experience with "pin extraction" These pins are much harder to extract than the usual pins you might come across. Of course you also have very little room to work with. So once you remove all the pins and replace them with the premade pin/wire combos, you then just splice the broken wires to the ends of the new wires. I would recommend doing all four wires since, they will almost definitely break off just while doing the job, let alone down the road. I will find the part number for the pre-crimped pin/wire combos. They were a stock item. They were "universal" and were of a thicker gauge wire. So they should last.
So anyway, could be a DIY with the special pin extraction tool. Or anyone highly skilled and very patient could do it.

• The Windshield Wiper Saga continues… - scarleton 2004-11-17 20:15:16 (746 views)
  • just did this exact job a few weeks ago - thesteve 2004-11-17 23:03:23 (405 views)
  • The connections are most likely crimped - farnarkler 2004-11-17 20:18:13 (273 views)
    • I agree with farnarkler... - M.Wong 2004-11-17 22:34:56 (185 views)