Front Wiper on X5 Stopped Working...
 

.... and the dealer wants $1,000 to fix it! When I turn on the wipers, they go up about two inhes and then stop; it's not the fuse and even the dealer says the motor is OK electrically, and that it's a 'mechanical' issue. But they say they can only replace the entire assembly (motor and linkage) and I think that's insane given that something physical is catching inside. Could it be a bolt that loosened and is now interfering with the linkage? A pebble or piece of metal that got inside the motor housing? Or is it more likely a motor gear has been stripped? Any advice??

cant give much advice. but start by doing your own narrowing down.. is it one wiper or two? pop the hood and plastic cover and inspect assembly. im thinking its not the motor or electrical its more the assembly where something is blocking it from going all the way up.

Run away from your dealer and find an independent shop you can trust. Start sourcing used parts rather than buying new. I know there was a guy on the forum who was parting out an X5, I bet he still has the wiper mechanisms.

:iagree:

I helped a friend with a similar issue on his 2000 530i. Same story, dealer wanted $$$$. We took the plastic cover off and it turned out one linkage that connects to the motor was loose, tighted that up and everything word for a sometime but failed again 5 or 6 month later. He decided to get a new set of linkage (ebay for a couple hundred bucks) and just changed the entire thing (wasn't too hard to do the change).. If you are not comfortable, ask ur local mechanic to open the plastic and check there first. Good luck

Hah! Thanks for all the advice. That gave me the courage to push back. So I called the dealership and said 'dig a little deeper, dudes.' The tech calls me back an hour later and says, 'uh, well there were two nuts that came loose and were blocking the wiper arms. The motor is fine.' Total cost? Not $1,000 but $100 for the labor.

Thank you, XOutpost mavens. And stay tuned to help me resolve the next $2,000 estimate they gave me...

good chance the dealer dug a little deeper by reading this thread, and thereby avoided a hell of a lot of bad p.r.? one can only hope.