reedreed

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1 Junction box, fuses
2 Plug connection to ignition / starter switch
3 Ignition / starter switch
4 Battery
5 Wipewash
and intermittent action wipers
unit
6 Plug connection to wiper switch
7 Wiper switch
8 Wiring harness with connection for
engine compartment light
9 Plug connection for windshield washer
pump
10 Plug connector
11 Ground (earth) point
12 Headlight washer pump
13 Windshield washer pump
14 Headlight cleaning system contact unit
15 Connection for engine compartment
light
16 Left headlight wiper motor
17 Right headlight wiper motor
Great! thanks a lot!
 

Markos

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Thanks for the additional reference picture @tferrer!

3E87EC71-E157-4519-AAEE-4564B02B0E24.jpeg
 

lip277

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I have to smile.....
All the calories spent on putting in a headlight wiper/washer system on a car that no current E9 owner/driver would willingly take near the rain or inclement weather. LOL
Keep up the good work! Awesome....
 

Stevehose

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I have to smile.....
All the calories spent on putting in a headlight wiper/washer system on a car that no current E9 owner/driver would willingly take near the rain or inclement weather. LOL
Keep up the good work! Awesome....
It's all about the chase!
 

Markos

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I have to smile.....
All the calories spent on putting in a headlight wiper/washer system on a car that no current E9 owner/driver would willingly take near the rain or inclement weather. LOL
Keep up the good work! Awesome....

What can I say, I’m drawn to rare parts and factory options. I’ve always been fascinated by headlight wipers, an accessory that is quintessentially “Euro”.

Far more collective energy is spent on headlights in general. I wonder what percentage of people actually drive their e9 at night? :D
 

DerSchwede

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I can confirm that all 3.3 L/Li had the headlight wipers installed as a standard feature, exaclty like the drivers-side power-door-mirror. The only options (which you had to pay for) for those models were:

A/C
LSD
rear sway bar
self-levelling suspension

the rest was in there - take it or leave it. (velours/suede upholstery and a manual gearbox were no cost options…)

The function is triggered every 5th time when you turn on the low-beam (I think it was, haven‘t driven mine for a long time)

Then there were countries, where national legislation made headlight wipers mandatory from the early/mid 70ies - for all car manufacturers, so there you will find it on all cars sold there in period.
 
Last edited:

Luis A.

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I can confirm that all 3.3 L/Li had the headlight wipers installed as a standard feature, exaclty like the drivers-side power-door-mirror. The only options (which you had to pay for) for those models were:

A/C
LSD
rear sway bar
self-levelling suspension

the rest was in there - take it or leave it. (velours/suede upholstery and a manual gearbox were no cost options…)

The function is triggered every 5th time when you turn on the low-beam (I think it was, haven‘t driven mine for a long time)

Then there were countries, where national legislation made headlight wipers mandatory from the early/mid 70ies - for all car manufacturers, so there you will find it on all cars sold there in period.
The system triggers when city lights or headlights are on and the wipe wash stalk is pulled towards you as for normal windshield washing. However, the headlamp wipe wash has a ~30 second lock-out time after each activation during which it will not activate.

Sweden was the one country that required headlight washing starting in the early-mid 70s. It didn’t have to be wipers, some manufacturers implemented it with pressure washers, but not nearly as effective since the pumps at the time were not as powerful as modern washer pumps.
 

DerSchwede

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The system triggers when city lights or headlights are on and the wipe wash stalk is pulled towards you as for normal windshield washing. However, the headlamp wipe wash has a ~30 second lock-out time after each activation during which it will not activate.

Sweden was the one country that required headlight washing starting in the early-mid 70s. It didn’t have to be wipers, some manufacturers implemented it with pressure washers, but not nearly as effective since the pumps at the time were not as powerful as modern washer pumps.
Thanks for the clarification Luis! I remember that the 3.3L had the wiring messed up at the relay when I bought the car in the 90s and it tended to activate the headlight wipers every time those were turned on - very annoying!

I know that when I grew up in Sweden in the 80s, all cars had the wipers, it was mandatory from 1973/1974 and in the eighties the legislation also started to accept the high-pressure solutions then introduced, seen on E32/E34 for instance. Other cars, like XJ40, W124, Volvo 700/900 and SAAB 9000CD still had wipers until the mid/late 90s. When Sweden joined the EU in January 1995, some national regulation had to be adopted to be aligned with the EU directives etc. and hence Sweden had to give up the cumpulsory fitment of headlight wipers / spray nozzels taking effect during 1994. After that, many car owners got rid of the old wiper systems, since they tended to seize after many winters with a lot of road salt…
 

Markos

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Very cool to see them in operation. Shouldn’t there be a spray of washer fluid or did I miss something?

You missed it. This is a gap in the notes but you can see it fire in the video, and the aftermath of droplets on the bumper.
 
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