Windshield Wiper Relay Question

[Haykoe39]

When i turn my wipers on they start working, go up and down 7 times, and stop right in the middle of the windshield, i did some research and bought the relay (part number 61368384505). So i take my air box apart, and find this


while the relay i bought is much taller than all of these, and is brown. so which one is the relay for the windshield wipers? and do you have a PN for it?

[jfmjr442]

in the e-box there should be 3 relays right up top in the front, the wiper relay is the tallest of the 3. Double check the wire colors going into the relay to be sure you have the correct 1. The colors should be....* * brown/white* ** brown/blue* ** red/white black/brown** black/green** and 1 thats just solid brown.
Hope that helps.


John

[Haykoe39]

well what i did was, i took one of the purple ones out (the one on the bottom of the picture) and turned the wipers on, and they worked, so i put it back in and removed the one on left top, and wipers didnt work, i put that one back, and removed the one on top right of the picture, turn the wipers on and they dont work again, so i went to dealership, got two of those relays, got home, changed the old ones with the two new ones i got and the problem is still there.

I guess this proves that the problem is not the relays. What is it then?


The tallest one that jfmjr442 referred to isn't in that box. When i was searching for the relay part number i found a DIY about changing it, which said and showed in a picture that that guys car had the relay under drivers side airbox, which i removed and found NOTHING.

I am lost...

[Qsilver7]

... i found a DIY about changing it, which said and showed in a picture that that guys car had the relay under drivers side airbox, which i removed and found NOTHING.

I am lost...

Can you find that DIY? If you can, go back and double check the model/model year of the car that was in the DIY.

Perhaps someone with a Bentley will chime in the location of the wiper relay.

Here's a pic I found online of an e39 with I6 engine...the wiper relay (brown) is circled in red:

Click this link for instructions on how to remove all the stuff to get to the E box under the microfilter: http://www.dgce.co.uk/

[Haykoe39]

Can you find that DIY? If you can, go back and double check the model/model year of the car that was in the DIY.

Perhaps someone with a Bentley will chime in the location of the wiper relay.

Here's a pic I found online of an e39 with I6 engine...the wiper relay (brown) is circled in red:

Click this link for instructions on how to remove all the stuff to get to the E box under the microfilter: http://www.dgce.co.uk/

that is the DIY i was talking about, and in his car relay is under drivers side airbox, i found nothing under mine, and the left one looks like the pic i posted in the first post, and plus as i said removing any of the purple ones on the top makes wipers not work, and changing both of those with new ones didnt help. So i guess in my case its not the relay.

My friend has a 3/97 made 528. i am going to compare my car (6/97) with his and see what is different and change relays from one car to another, and see what happens. but at this point i am 99% sure relay has nothing to do with my problem.

Met my friend, changed the relayes with his working ones, and no luck, then changed fuses with him, and again nothing. Can this be a battery? wiper motor? ignition switch?

[Haykoe39]

As i mentioned before relays and fuses are in good condition, so what is it?

By the way i checked my friends car, and when i move the wiper switch down and let it go, his wipers go up and down once, and stop, on mine it goes like 8 times and stops in the middle of the windshield, till i turn the car off and back on...

[e30bmer]

I have the same problem as well, tried to check my relay and mine is a 97 528 as well and here is what I saw..
[IMG][/IMG]

I have not done anything yet as I am not sure what to do next. Like you.

[e30bmer]

I have not changed the relay yet as on the picture, I do not have the "Brown" relay that has been said to be the wiper relay. Any help in pointing which among the relay here is the wiper relay is appreciated tnks.

[540SportQship]

I found this inside an earlier post. I hope it helps...http://www.princeton.edu/~sdepasqu/b...agesFailed.pdf

[cnn]

1. Relay diagram, 1997 is different from 1998.
See attached pic that shows the difference.
For your 1997 528i, the wiper relays are K36 and K37.

2. If new relays do NOT solve the problem, then look into the wiper motor itself.
Here is a useful thread for you:
http://www.forums.bimmerfest.com/sho....php?p=4729485

[e30bmer]

I think the problem on mine is the motor as I just replaced the relays and problem persist. I wonder if there is a diy or instructions or DIY on how to replace the motor itself..

[rcramer2]

After replacing relay to no avail researched some more and a good man suggested motor grease / contact issue in motor which led me to a solution for myself. my father taught me a trick to tap on the starter motor in the cold when the starter would not engage which I also used on tilt & trim motor on my boat, gummed up electric motors! So I got panel off to expose windshield wiper motor taped lightly with hammer and bingo / works like a champ

I hope this might help someone as you guys helped me before you spend any funds

Thanks

old BMW owner

[blue 540i]

After having this same issue, I did a bit of wiring research in my Bentley manual and on my relay itself and came to this conclusion...

The wiper system uses two switching steps in series to control the wiper motor. The first switching step in the series switches power on and off and feeds the 'on' power to the second switch. The second switch sends the power to either the 'high' or 'low' in the wiper motor.

The engineers used two different methods to accomplish this collective task. The first method involved the use of two separate relays which they called 'K36' and 'K37'.

The second method uses a single relay which performs both function internally. It has two relays inside itself which feed the first step into the second step. This is the 'K11' relay.

So in conclusion, I think, you either have a 'K36' AND 'K37' relay in your relay box, OR you have a single 'K11' relay in your relay box. My car is a '98 540i with auto trans and non-rain sensing wipers and I have a single 'K11' relay in my system.

I hope this helps clear up some confusion.

[blue 540i]

This is the schematic of my K11 relay. The pin assignments don't match the pin assignments in the Bentley manual. You can see the two separate switch circuits inside the K11 relay. In a K36 with K37 system each relay only does one of the switching tasks and are wired together externally.

The resistances that I have from the 5 pin to the 8 pin was 96.9 Ohms. The resistance I have from the 5 pin to the 9 pin is 80 Ohms. Why they are different, I'm not sure. The circuits have internal resistors which is why they are so high.

[blue 540i]

This is the schematic I drew myself which translates the K11 relay into the BMW wiring harness and can be used to test the K11 relay and the wires in the harness.

[tdbeemer]

I have a 97 540 with intermittent wiper functionality. I am going to start with the relay(s). Do I need to pop off the cabin filter housing to determine if I have a K11 or K36 and K37? If so, what side do I need to remove driver or passenger? Any other helpful info would be greatly appreciated.

[97heath528i]

passenger side to get to the ebox