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Broken windshield wiper arm (spline?)

9K views 5 replies 3 participants last post by  KNCArmonk 
#1 ·
2004, X3, E83, The right side windshield wiper arm has stopped moving across the windshield, left side works fine. The right windshield wiper are was frozen and when I turned on the wipers, I believe I stripped the threads (spline?) of the motor armature. So far I have taken off the first nut and it appears that I need some type of special tool of lift off the windshield wiper arm. ...anyone have "advice and guidance" as to how to proceed..??? Is this a DIY fix?
Thx in advance!
 
#2 ·
Id have to look to be sure.. but your motor is on the driver side.. and the arm that connects the left and right side has came off..

at least ony every other car thats how it is..
take the rain tray off and look at the assembly
 
#4 ·
Thx Burned2nd. On closer inspection with the windshield wiper (motor) "on", it appears that the steel nut imbedded in the wiper arm is free moving ...the nut rotates but the arm does not move. I assume that I need a new right wiper arm. Does anyone know if I need a special tool to lift the wiper arm off of the (rotating) shaft??
 
#5 · (Edited)
I recently dealt with this except it was my drivers wiper that wouldn't move. Exact same symptoms occurred and turns out steel nut splines were all stripped because the nut that keeps the wiper arm tightened down had come loose somehow. After I got the wiper arm off I took a wire wheel brush and cleaned the splines on the wiper motor as best as I could then re-installed a new steel nut into the wiper arm, repositioned it and then tightened it all down firmly. Probably a good idea to mark the current position of your wiper arm on your windshield with some tape to make re-installation easier. Replacing that steel washer nut in the wiper arm seemed to fix the issue for me.

I used a wiper arm puller that I found at my local hardware store and it worked well (was around $5 or $8 for the tool). You could also try pulling the wiper arm until it breaks free but it's probably going to be stuck on there really good and I didn't want to damage the motor or anything else.

The part number for the steel nut imbedded in the wiper arm or washer looking piece is: 61618226059

Can be found here: http://www.ecstuning.com/BMW-E83-X3-M54_3.0L/Search/SiteSearch/61618226059/ES169836/
 
#6 ·
Many thx for the help, all... There is a (soft) steel nut which gets tightened down, seating in to the wiper arm. With some gentle prying and penetrating fluid... leveraging a flat surface of a large putty knife and a 10" long screw driver, I was able to free the wiper arm up and off. I cleaned the filings out of the wiper arm hole and reinstalled everything and so far it works fine or at least until I can source a new steel nut.
 
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