X-3 CPO and Due Diligence

[TrishDeens]

Well, let's just say I did not conduct a proper due diligence when I bought my CPO.

X3 purchased in August, the first good rain and my wiper's were skipping all over the windshield. I've had then replaced 4x's along with the control arms. It's raining as opoosed to snowing here today and skip to a Lou my darlin' - there they go again.

Now, I'm past the cranky point! I am starting to suspect a couple of things -- why won't my winshield wipers pull off the glass and remain in an upright posistion? Is that by design? If not, then why are mine not moving off the windshiled?

Next step, is there a difference in either the hood or glass that's not keeping in line with the deisgn/build specs?

Which led me to run a CarFax report and found that an accident had been reported on the left front end. Hmmm, did they replace the hood and or glass?

Any advice on dealership demands? I'm way past lemon law SOL. So maybe that's it, I'm SOL.

Sorry for the rant, but this is my first Bimmer and I was so proud

I have "all" of the maintenance history from the dealer and naturally, you'd never new it happened.

Trish

 

[Kirby]

Ummm, sorry, not completely understanding this question:

I am starting to suspect a couple of things -- why won't my winshield wipers pull off the glass and remain in an upright posistion? Is that by design? If not, then why are mine not moving off the windshiled?

But in general, *sometimes* the skipping/chattering issue is actually caused by contamination on the windshield. Try cleaning the windshield with a dishwashing liquid, and rinse well several times. Then apply some RainX and see if the chatter goes away. If it does, there was some invisible gunk on the glass.

 

[TrishDeens]

My question is - is it really the windshield or wipers? Perhaps the hood and or windshield had been replaced, due to the repoted accident, causing the wipers to not properly meet the windshield.

I was amused by your recommendation to use RainX as the dealership is very against using RainX. They claim that it causes skipping. I will try again to clean the windshield and see if that works. And if it does not.....

I've been reviewing some garages in my area and will look for a 2nd opinion.

Thank you for your input.


But in general, *sometimes* the skipping/chattering issue is actually caused by contamination on the windshield. Try cleaning the windshield with a dishwashing liquid, and rinse well several times. Then apply some RainX and see if the chatter goes away. If it does, there was some invisible gunk on the glass.[/QUOTE]

 

[Big Daddy]

I use Rainx and only experience skipping/chattering when my blades are worn out or it is time to reclean and reRainx the windshiled. I highly recommend it and I live in the excessive rain area of Seattle, we know our rain!

 

[Kirby]

If the windshield wiper arms were removed, on most cars, they can be put on misaligned. That is, they don't disappear under the hood. BUT this really does not affect how they maintain contact with the glass, it only affects the location of the sweep.

One possibility is that the arms were removed and mishandled, bending them and changing the tension/pressure they apply to the glass. In this case, they can chatter. But good luck on getting the dealer to replace the arms and blades to see if it fixes the problem, I doubt they will agree to do this.

 

[TrishDeens]

They've replaced arms already - i'm under CPO warranty until June. The blades have been replaced 4 X.s with little results. I'll keep plugging away, I guess and post any points that may help others.

 

[Detrich]

what exactly do u mean by "skipping?" do they drag and make a loud noise, or are they crossing and bumping into each other?

if it is dragging, then the rubber on the wiper blades just need to be re-moistened. overly dry or dry rubber has a tendency to drag. i've noticed that bmw uses VERY lousy grade rubber ALL over the car. on my car, all 4 of my windows actually started rattling very early on because the rubber lining gets too dry and doesn't grip them tightly. but, after i coat the rubber lining around each window w/ s2000 rubber cleaner all a few times, the rattling goes away. it's such a stupid and annoying problem, but nonetheless a reality of how bmw does cut corners in places. (the dealer confirmed this problem as happening to a lot of customers when i initially complained.)

for your wipers, try cleaning the blades first w/ soap & water and then generously applying some rubber moisturizer to them. (meguires, armor-all etc.) sometimes it takes 2 or 3 applications before the rubber to get fully moisturized. so, if the first application doesn't work, wait a day and then repeat.