Windshield wipers won't stop.

I could not find any posts regarding this issue. On my 2000 328i sedan, when ever your activate the windshield wiper, it will not stop until the ignition is turned off. When I move the stalk down, to activate a single wipe, it continues to function, although it does seem to vary in speed, ie, when the car is not moving it will actuate more slowly, once every several seconds. When the car is moving, it actuates more frequently, and actually responds to rain, and will actuate faster in rain, but it does not ever go off. Again, when I move the stalk up one click for continuous function, it works, but trying to shut it off doesn't work, it just keeps moving.
Any idea where to start for this problem?

Do you have rain sensing wiper option? If so, just turn it off. I think the button is on the end of the stalk, but check your owner's manual.

That was an exciting thought, and I couldn't wait to get back out to the car to see, unfortunately, I don't have button at the end of the stalk. Managed to look up the manual, and the intermittent rain sensing option is just the stalk in position 1. So it should already be off. The problem is that when I use the brief wipe option, it does not go off after one or 2 wipes, it just keeps going.

When they stop, do they park in the right place? If not, it may be that the switch that indicates when the wipers have reached the parking position has failed. This switch would probably be part of the wiper motor/transmission assembly.

I assume by "brief wipe" option, you mean pressing down on the stalk momentarily, then it should wipe once and stop. But your's keeps going, right? Have you had any other malfunctions? Sometimes a weak battery will make the car do weird things, and if your battery is original, 5 years is about the time they start to go bad. Other than that, I don't know.

Originally Posted by BigJon53

I assume by "brief wipe" option, you mean pressing down on the stalk momentarily, then it should wipe once and stop. But your's keeps going, right? Have you had any other malfunctions? Sometimes a weak battery will make the car do weird things, and if your battery is original, 5 years is about the time they start to go bad. Other than that, I don't know.

That's right, it keeps going, and nothing else malfunctioning, battery just a year old. And it does park in the right position when stopped. It seems like some kind of control module is malfunctioning, just don't know what or where that is.

First, the E46 doesn't have a button at the end of the wiper stalk for rain-sensing wipers, it just uses the intermittent position. Putting the stalk in the "off" position (0) should turn them off altogether.

Second, it sounds like your stalk has failed.