E46 touring boot glass switch replacement
I’ve mentioned on and off that the 330d’s boot glass has been misbehaving. The first symptom was that the button under the rear wiper stopped working. I could live with that. However, then the lid starting popping open at random times of its own accord. Rather irritating when you’re driving along; extremely worrying when it does so when parked at night – boot lights alerting any would-be criminal that it’s open.
A couple of weeks back I dismantled the assembly and cleaned it up. This brought the switch back to life, and I thought it had stopped the boot from opening of its own accord, but recently it started playing up again. I’ve therefore invested in a replacement unit, and have installed it today. Here follows a step by step procedure for anyone else who is suffering the same.
Parts:
B61.31.9.218.995 – key button
B61.31.8.385.694 – gasket
Before any discount but including VAT these cost ยฃ30. The ‘key button’ was in stock but the gasket wasn’t, so I had to return to collect that later. Annoyingly, when I came to do this job I discovered the ‘key button’ came with a new gasket so that part wasn’t required at all. I’m not certain if this is supposed to be the case or not, but certainly worth checking, and if you don’t need to order the gasket separately, it’ll be more like a ยฃ25 job.
So, the procedure. Open the boot glass. Remove the two plastic covers, and unleash a 10mm socket to free the plastic housing.
Undo the newly visible 10mm nut.
Next lower the glass lid and attack the outside. The rear wiper’s plastic hinge cover should come off with a bit of persuasion to reveal a 13mm nut. Whip that off.
That will allow you to remove the wiper arm – you may need a spot of leverage with a flat head screwdriver to pop it off the splines.
Then get a 24mm socket on the exposed nut. Once that’s off, the switch needs disconnecting from the car on the inside, and all parts can be removed. This should leave you with a pile of goodies that looks something like this:
Clean everything up “good and proper”.
Reassemble with new switch and gasket.
So far everything it good: the switch works and the lid has remained shut. Only time will tell how permanent this fix is!
Hi,
Switch is replaced and still not working…
Hi – sorry to hear that. I guess you need to look at other things – relays, fuses and solenoids etc. Good luck!
check also the 58 fuse !
if that is ok, it may be the suppression filter… to complicated to change by your own hand!
Hi I just found this web site AFTER I spent 2 hours working out by back tracking the wires that it’s the switch..
I take it it’s main dealer only part?
I used an old car battery on to the solenoide to check it worked first..
it did..
then belled out the wires at each connector back towards the switch
using two sewing pins
Then bingo worked out it’s the switch. opened it up and it’s all clean in there bar one area I think is the issue some rust or corrosion in the solf clear rubber part at the very bottom that looks to be the issue of why they fail.. poor design..
Great another part they get wrong and we have to pay for their poor workman ship..
anyway a trip to the main dealer… for the part. Think this is going to be expensive I get get some free stuff from in there to sell on ebay to make up for the parts costs LOL..
How do you take off the switch from the glass
Once the 24mm nut is off, it should just come free.
Hi replaced tailgate release and fixed problem, water had got into the switch made it open at random.
Very useful DIY.
Thanks for a helpful DIY.
When I got to “all parts can be removed”, mine couldn’t be!
The metal collar in the old switch had welded itself to the wiper arm shaft – my new switch has a plastic insert in the middle instead – it looks like yours had metal, so they must have changed the design again!
Anyhow, first I had to cut the plastic part of the switch away from the metal collar (fairly easy, quite soft plastic); even then the collar couldn’t pull back through the glass and I had to use a Dremmel to grind away the collar (again, fairly soft alloy and very easy to see when I’d gotten through it to the shaft which is much harder metal) so I could split it off the wiper shaft (like using a nut splitter).
All easy after that, so this is just a comment to let people know that this can be a bit of a longer job than it might be!
If switch is not working and the window is shut how do I open the window to change the switch?
Many thanks,
Alan.
Hi Alan. When the button stopped working I was still able to open the boot using the button on the car key.
Thank you for the guide!
My switch has stopped working, though the glass hasn’t started opening on it’s own (yet)…. Would you recommend cleaning up the switch? If so, do you what process did you take? I wouldn’t mind repairing the switch if possible.
Thanks again!
Hi Deba – I’m glad to hear you’ve found this guide useful! I’ve never tried to clean up the switch. It’s got to be possible I suppose, although it might not be as simple as corroded contacts – it could for instance be a weakness where the output cables meet the switch moving parts.
Any idea how to open the glass compartment when the button behind the wiper has stopped working?
Hi James,
I’ve used the button on the key fob as that always seems to work. If it doesn’t, check fuse 58 is still in tact as I think that’s the one that’s responsible for the boot glass opening circuit.
hi, trying to remove rear wiper switch, but underneath (picture 2) the metal bracket with the lock mechanism does not budge?!
I have removed the spindle/pivot where the wiper arm attached to and all nuts etc.
The part will not come off so i am unable to remove switch!
Any help please?
Have you got the switch part off the outside? see my earlier comment #8. Until I’d removed that, the inner piece would not move at all – I was either going to bend it badly or shatter the glass. Once I’d cut the old bit off the outside, it came simply.
Thanks for reply Jon. I ended up hacksawing the shaft off lol.. removed everything and fitted hole in glass with grommet. Nice clean look! Cheers
Hi.
Great site, great thread.
I have exactly those symptoms and think i could probably tackle the issue with your guide, however the only thing that puts me off is wires! are there not any electrical wires to connect?
also, where do you buy the parts from? bmw?
many cheers in advance
Hi,
There’s just one electrical connector to disconnect as you strip it down and reconnect as you rebuild it – that’s the power for the motor. And yes, I went to BMW for the parts. These is the part number that was correct at the time (6 years ago!)
B61.31.9.218.995 โ key button
As mentioned that was around ยฃ25 then. Good luck!
Hello. i got similar problem,after few cold weeks button under the rear wiper stopped working, but button on the key works fine ant opens the window, should i be concerned and try to replace the button under wiper or there is some other way what might work?
I’m not sure this is the same kind of failure that I experienced, but the switch replacement part number and procedure will be the same. Good luck!
Well, today i came and found that windown open, but i closed it and it seems that everything works fine now, button under wiper is alive again. I guess i need more investigation on what my car is doing before replacing anything.
Hi I have similar problem but can’t open the window to take the switch off any idea how to do it with close window? Thank you
Have you checked fuse 58? If that is okay you should be able to open the glass flap using the third button on your car key. Feel free to read through all the comments on this page – your question has been asked before and others have contributed some very useful information. :)
Many people are stuck like I was, how to open the rear boot window when button isn’t working or fob is configured to open the boot, found this blog which explains how to unlock the window manually but you will need to remove the plastic panel which covers the wiper motor and lock, lock mechanism is located to left of the wiper motor. Good luck.
http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=1091150