E30 Headlamp wipers

Guest · Post Mon Feb 21, 2005 6:08 pm

Whats with these?!! Can I / should I take them off?

Post Mon Feb 21, 2005 6:14 pm

yes, you can take them off, they are supposed to be really heavy aswell.

Guest · Post Mon Feb 21, 2005 6:22 pm

So there are two reasons to lose them! They look rubbish and they slow you down!!

Guest · Post Wed Feb 23, 2005 9:39 pm

Is there a knack to removing them or do you just rip 'em off?!!

Post Wed Feb 23, 2005 9:48 pm

billgatese30 wrote:yes, you can take them off, they are supposed to be really heavy aswell.

Post Wed Feb 23, 2005 9:56 pm

Post Wed Feb 23, 2005 10:10 pm

Adam

If you want to remove them, remove the wiper arms, then remove the grills, and look through at the motor and remove the 2 bolts holding each motor on.

You will need some headlamp surrounds without the wiper arm rests, to make it look tidy though.

Personally, I found them really useful when working, (even if they do look a bit 80's, but hey the car is an 80's car!!) last time I went to a meet in the sport, I noticed how dirty other E30's headlamps where, and mine still looked nice and sparkly!

Post Wed Feb 23, 2005 10:11 pm

<edit>Balls,piped at the post</edit>

Remove the grills and the trim that covers the back of the light's in the engine bay,remove the wipers(8mm nut) and then just unclip the lecy connector,undo two nuts and bolts and it should just pull out.

The other way to do it is to remove the light clusters and then unbolt the motors.

The whole lot probobly wieghs about 2kg .

the only thing with doing this is you are still left with the black wiper retainers on the head light trim rings,so i've got some new ones i'm picking up tomorrow.Not cheap though 12 quid each plus vat from the dealers. [/b]

Post Wed Feb 23, 2005 10:32 pm

billgatese30 wrote:

The two motors wipers and loom are less than 1kg so how are they haevy?

Post Wed Feb 23, 2005 10:37 pm

i've heard that they were really heavy, about 5kg each with the motors and arms. never mind, must be one of them e30 fishwife/folklore tales then

Post Wed Feb 23, 2005 11:10 pm

If they were carved from solid gold, I doubt if they would be 5Kg each.

Post Wed Feb 23, 2005 11:12 pm

like i said, its just what i've heard....never mind we all make mistakes

Post Wed Feb 23, 2005 11:21 pm

Post Wed Feb 23, 2005 11:22 pm

Post Thu Feb 24, 2005 7:49 am

I'm with Simon on this one

Mine still work, and make a big difference with all the salt and crap on the roads at the moment. Not much point fitting nice bright bulbs if you have a load of crap on the glass for it to shine through

This is not a dig at Bill by any means, but people seem to get really hung up on this weight thing. Fine if you live on the track, but most of us don't, so not really an issue

Ian.

Post Fri Feb 25, 2005 10:04 pm

Mines works and its great you wont belive how much crap gets on the lights, also good for getting the snow off in the morning.

Post Sat Feb 26, 2005 12:05 am

ian332isport wrote:
This is not a dig at Bill by any means, but people seem to get really hung up on this weight thing. Fine if you live on the track, but most of us don't, so not really an issue

Ian.

couldn't agree more mate. i was told that they were quite heavy(wich i now know they aren't) and i know how some people do like saving weight where ever possible. no offence taken matey, i just thought i might be able to help. back to the drawing board

Post Thu Mar 03, 2005 9:40 pm

Hi - I'm with the guys who like their headlights clean in this cr*p weather - 30 miles on the Mway in wet drizzly sh*t and you really notice how dim dip beam has become. I've fitted 100 watt off-road bulbs to main beam, which work great (illegal, officer, surely not?)
Anyway, I've bout the full h/l wash/wipe intensive wash gubbins s/h - any tips on retro-fitting from anyone?
Treeman612

Post Fri Mar 04, 2005 7:06 pm

HOW DO THESE THINGS WORK ANYWAY ?, THERE ON MY 87 M3, I'M SURE THEY DON'T WORK, I DON'T SEE A SWITCH ON THE DASH ANYWHERE, DO THEY COME ON WITH THE FRONT WIPERS ?

Post Fri Mar 04, 2005 7:13 pm

big wrote:HOW DO THESE THINGS WORK ANYWAY ?, THERE ON MY 87 M3, I'M SURE THEY DON'T WORK, I DON'T SEE A SWITCH ON THE DASH ANYWHERE, DO THEY COME ON WITH THE FRONT WIPERS ?

They are 'supposed' to come on when the headlights are switched on, and the washers are activated, but in my experiences it doesn't always work like that, and most don't work at all!

Post Sat Apr 16, 2005 9:20 pm

im sure i read somewhere that they operate once in every ten window wipes think this is true but took mine off today as dnt like the look and always playing up Daz

Post Sat Apr 16, 2005 9:50 pm

I love them, think they make the front of the car.
If they are not on the car I buy then I'm going to fit them.

Post Sat Apr 16, 2005 10:03 pm

I dont think they work on mine. Must see if I can find out why.

Post Sat Apr 16, 2005 10:25 pm

The headlamp wipers and washers will operate only when the lights are on, and only on every fifth operation of the washers.
In my experience, it can be every fifth, sixth, or seventh time.
The only reliable way to trouble shoot them, is to disconnect the round plugs clipped to the middle of the back of the headlamp frames, and to power and repair each motor seperately, using a bench power supply, or from the battery by a wire and fuse.
When you are sure they are working properly, plug them back in and check out the controle module fixed to the washer bottle.

Post Sat Apr 16, 2005 10:31 pm

I have a PDF which tells you how to fix these motors if they are siezed, I would have thought if they are siezed they're fcuked but after reading this I'm going to have a go at fixing mine. If anyone wants the file (untill a nice mod hosts it on the server??!!) email me widget@blueyonder.co.uk and I send it back as an attachment.

Post Sat Apr 16, 2005 10:38 pm

I've also done a write up on fixing them for the zone, but still haven't seen it yet...'

Post Sat Apr 16, 2005 11:25 pm

Brianmoooore wrote:The headlamp wipers and washers will operate only when the lights are on, and only on every fifth operation of the washers.
In my experience, it can be every fifth, sixth, or seventh time.
The only reliable way to trouble shoot them, is to disconnect the round plugs clipped to the middle of the back of the headlamp frames, and to power and repair each motor seperately, using a bench power supply, or from the battery by a wire and fuse.
When you are sure they are working properly, plug them back in and check out the controle module fixed to the washer bottle.

Brian, mines work all the time ie with every wash and when the lights are on, i would like to sort this so that they only wash every five times, as the water doesnt last long with them going off every time. What do you think it could be? its obvious that its one of the relays, but which one?

Andrew

Post Sat Apr 16, 2005 11:28 pm

I have this problem too, although tey wash every 5 times or so but squirt for about 5 times as long as the windscreen does. I've tried replacing the relay by the bottles but it makes no difference. Any ideas?

Post Sat Apr 16, 2005 11:54 pm

Mmmm. Never considered this one before, and I must admit I don't know where the actual counter is - the big wiper relay in the fusebox or the module on the washer bottle. I would have thought it's in the washer bottle module, but that's only a guess.
I think the extra pins are the intensive wash control from the column switch and the feed to the intensive motor, so it's almost certainly in the washer bottle module.

The amount of time the headlamp washers work for is controlled by the number of sweeps of the right hand headlamp motor makes, which is controlled by a gear operated switch in the wiper gearbox. i.e. once the headlamp wipers start, they go through their complete sequence regardless.

Post Sun Apr 17, 2005 12:27 am

Thanks,

Like i said, everything works, the motors wash the lights and the water sprays for the correct length of time and the intensive wash also works correctly (it sprays the water for a good few seconds, then wahes for the same lenght of time) its just that every time i have he lights on and i clean the screen the headlamps also get washed, i just want to know what controls the time delay, i have noticed that if i were to wash the screen then wash it again straight after the headlamp wash doesnt kick in, but if you were to leave it for a while then wash the screen again the headlamp system also washes.

Andrew

Post Sun Apr 17, 2005 8:32 am

Brianmoooore wrote: The amount of time the headlamp washers work for is controlled by the number of sweeps of the right hand headlamp motor makes, which is controlled by a gear operated switch in the wiper gearbox. i.e. once the headlamp wipers start, they go through their complete sequence regardless.

That explains it Brian, my right one is siezed only the passenger side works!!!