The wipers on my 04 R50 Cooper do not work.


The rear wiper works fine.


I cleaned up the BCM connections, they were quite corroded from an old sunroof leak that has since been fixed.


Everything else works, so I'm hesitant to call out the BCM as the fault.


I have replaced the wiper motor. While the motor was out, I checked the connections at the motor and I have 12V at either pin 1 or 5 (can't exactly recall which) but nothing at pins 2 or 3 when the switch is activated.


I checked all the fuses and relays, swapped them around in all combinations possible. I didn't bypass the relays with a jumper like I normally would to rule out the relay since BMW doesn't label their relays like I'm used to (pin 30-87 for Audi) the pins are just labeled 1-5 on the relay.


Can anyone offer suggestions of what to test for, which pins to check on the relays before I spend $500 on a BCM? I'm pretty good with a multimeter, tried to check for continuity between the BCM pins for the wipers but I wasn't sure if that is an appropriate test?


I also tried the ground wire trick to the wiper motor and that didn't work.

 

I swapped in a brand new body control module from the dealer and no change. Wipers do not work. Has to be wiring related. Going to pull the steering wheel to investigate. Any one have any suggestions??

 

You check the wiper stalk?..on regular wipers...not sure with auto...
Check the grounds at the wiper motor?
Seems some time with a $10 voltmeter might save you some time and $$ rather than just changing parts....

 

Ground at the wiper motor is good, motor was replaced. Going to check the stalk today, and verify wiring is good between stalk and BC1 connections

 

Seems some time with a $10 voltmeter might save you some time and $$ rather than just changing parts....

come on ... OP says: I'm pretty good with a multimeter, and describes what he's checked . . .


Out of left field thought but, when the wiper motor was out did you verify that the wipers were free to move?

On my Miata, after I'd done some under the bonnet work, the wipers were VERY sluggish then froze. Car was 10 years old by this time so I just figured "what next".

When I got to investigating I discovered I'd left a screwdriver in the cowl area and it had found its way to where it was jammed in the linkage. Removing my wayward tool was WAY less expensive then a new wiper motor!

Do you have a wiring diagram (or are you working blind)? If not, PM me.

 

Thanks I definitely checked the linkage, it moves freely.
I also checked for 12v at the connector, as I described above. Has to be something with the wiring since my horn doesn't work either. Going to investigate removing the wheel and checking those connectors tonight

 

Thanks to some help from Capt_bj I was able to hunt down the exact wires and get this fixed.


It turns out pin 44 on the white BC1 connector (X254) was badly corroded. When I tried to pull the pin out after verifying it wasn't making a connection I found the pin was cracked in half. Once I got the wiring cleaned up I could hear the On/Off relay clicking when I applied ground to pin 44 but still no movement from the wipers. So then I applied ground to one of the wiper motor bolts and viola! We have wipe. Added a ground wire to the wiper motor and everything works!

 

Update:

The wipers work in every way except they do not return to the correct position. They wipe correctly but instead of parking at the bottom of the range they go to the bottom and then return about halfway up the windshield. I tried to remove the wiper and reattach and they just wipe lower (wrong!).

I replaced the motor with a Valeo rebuilt about one month ago while I was trying to figure out why they weren't working initially. Could it be the motor?

 

I do not have rain sensing wipers btw

 

where is the stalk?

 

No matter which stalk position, when I turn them off they finish wipe down and go back to the middle

 

Did you took the linkage out? There's a specific way the for the linkage to be installed and if you re-installed it while it wasn't positioned correctly, you can end up with improper travel. On some cars, one wiper can even go clockwise while the other go counter-clockwise (I accidentaly messed mine up on my 95 Corolla after getting it unseized).

 

The travel is 100% correct. The park position is not correct.

I did not take the linkage out.

 

What controls where the wipers stop? Instinct tells me it's the wiper motor

 

After sleeping on it, all I had to do was rotate the linkage connection at the motor. Now the stop in the proper place. SOLVED!!!!

 

To recap, I had the trifecta of wiper problems:

-Needed to add a ground wire to the motor
-BC1 white connector severely corroded at the harness
-BC1 white connector pins inside the module were half missing from corrosion

 

Forgive me if the culture here is typically to start a new thread; some boards I’ve seen prefer posters to find an existing thread that describes the problem.

I have a 2005 R50 with 75K miles that I’ve recently begun driving much more due to a new commute. Unfortunately things just keep going wrong: first it was the power steering pump, then parts of the exterior trim fell off, and now the passenger side front wiper has failed in a very specific way: for about an hour of driving it would only travel halfway up the windshield, and then it stopped entirely. The driver side wiper seems to work normally.

Is there anything specific that would trigger one side to fail, and does this make the repair more or less costly? I have a local shop that did great work on the power steering recently, so I’ll go back there unless this is a very detailed repair potentially requiring specific MINI expertise.

Thanks for any advice you can offer!

 

Moving this to the Stock Problems/Issues area.

You have checked the obvious things such as the wiper arm is properly tightened and that the linkage between the two wipers is in place and not loose?

 

Thanks for your reply. Those suggestions may be obvious to you, but they’re not to someone with less experience in this area! Is there a step-by-step instruction somewhere on how to accomplish both of those?

 

msg me with an e-mail that takes attachments and I'll scan 3 pages from HAYNES with instructions and pictures.

or

no, there's nothing MINI specific here, and mechanic should be able to take a look. There's a motor connected to a linkage connecting the two arms, the arms are pressed onto spindles connected to the linkage.

 

Gave up the fancy phones with cameras when I retired, yes there are people like me still in the world. Will try to explain:

1.) Standing on the driver side of the car just in front of the driver side door, the wiper arm is shaped somewhat like an eyebrow that doglegs down at the car-edge side of the arm.
2.) At the bottom of the dogleg, you should find a round rubber cap/button that is pressed into the arm itself. Using a small flat tip screwdriver, remove this cap/button. Be careful not to scratch the surfaces around the button.
3.) With the cap/button out, you should see a nut that when tightened holds the wiper arm onto the grooved portion of the wiper stud. The inside of the wiper arm is drilled out and then machined so that protruding portions fit within cut-out/machined sections of the wiper stud.
4.) The wiper arm is made so as to apply pressure against the windshield via a spring that connects the straight portion of the wiper arm to the dogleg section. If you loosen/remove the nut noted above and release the spring tension by flexing the wiper arm so that both the arm and the dogleg are straight, you should be able to remove the arm from the stud. To reinstall the arm, reverse these instructions. Remember or mark the postion of the wiper arm relative to the straight bottom edge of the windshield as if you rotate the arm to much it will either hit the hood extension or swing off the edge of the windshield.
5.) Repeat these actions on the passenger side as well.
6.) If the nut is not tight then there is the possibility that the machined portions of either the dogleg or the stud groves are worn and the wiper will move independent from the stud rotating.
7.) If the nut is tight and you cannot move the arm by hand, warning do not place allot of pressure as you may break something, then the next step would be to check the linkage that is accessible by opening the hood.
8.) With the hood open, locate the linkage by placing your hands below the wiper stud to locate the mechanism. There may be some sharp edges on the linkage so be careful.
9.) To totally access the linkage you should remove the air grilles that are next to the wiper arms and then remove the plastic trim that separates the engine compartment from the firewall. Between the plastic and metal fire wall at the driver side is the brake booster and at the passenger side is the ABS module.
10.) I will try searching RealOEM for some plates/drawings of the wiper linkage.

I am thinking you may find the passenger side wiper arm nut loose.