Wiper Relay and Stalk Replacement

5 minute read

Wiper Relay and Stalk Replacement

If your wipers stop working it could be your motor going out, a bad relay, or the stalk could be bad. If your wipers never stop working partway through their sweep the motors are probably ok so its one of the other two. The relay is very easy but the stalk replacement is a little more involved. Maybe 20 min to an hour.

Make: BMW

Model: 325is

Year: 1987

Engine: Any

Tools Needed:

22mm socket

Philips Screw Driver

mini standard screw driver (or other small prying object)

wire cutter

zip ties (optional)

Parts Needed:

Wiper relay - BMW part# 61 31 1 368 199

Wiper stalk and harness - BMW part # 61311372584

The relay is the easiest to do so you can try it first and see if it fixes it. Unfortunately it didn't fix mine so I had to replace both. 

Under your hood will be the fuse box. The wiper relay is the largest one, you can see it below. 

Just pop it out and put in the new one. Turn on your car and see if it fixes it. If not you'll have to replace the switch too. Its not too hard to do.

First you'll have to carefully pry off the BMW badge from the steering wheel. These badges are why these cars cost so much, so don't scuff it :p

Underneath you'll see the nut holding the steering wheel on. Make sure you remember what orientation your wheel is in before you take it off. Easiest to just have it straight ahead. Use a 22mm socket to remove the nut, you may need to use an extension. I had a breaker bar so it was easy enough to remove.

Your steering wheel might be locked, so put your key in and rotate it enough that it unlocks it. Then you can remove the steering wheel. 

There are two phillips screws coming in from the top of the column holding the trim pieces on. Unscrew those. They are circled in red below.

On the bottom piece of trim halfway down the column there is a slot that hold two more Phillips screws, remove those and you can remove the bottom trim piece. 

Now you can see the two Phillips screws holding the wiper stalk to the column. Take these out. Make sure you don't loose the washer from the grounding wire that's around the bottom screw.

Now you can follow the wires down the column. You'll need to snip the twist ties holding the harness together. Make sure you don't cut any wires that would be bad mmkay.

This part is the painful part. All of the plugs on the steering wheel are attached to each-other in a stack on the steering column, and the plug you have to remove is part of the stack, you can't just unplug it. The plug is the second one down. There will be little arms coming out of the plugs toward you. If you squeeze them inward it unlocks and push the plug backwards and off the stack. You still have another plug attached to the top, which slides off. You now can unplug the thing from the daggum harness. You'll probably need the little screwdriver from the beginning to separate the plugs. 

Now loop the plug out from under the dash and squeeze it over the steering column and you'll have it out. 

Don't mix up your bad and good switches. If your good one is used it may be hard to tell them apart. 

Install the new switch by going in the reverse order. It would be good to re-zip tie the harness together. Don't forget to re-attach the grounding wire to the bottom screw when you put the switch back on. 

Now you can drive to work without potentially causing a wreck and giving yourself a heart attack. Enjoy!