F31 335d Touring new owner - 3 questions

[zsdom]

Having just purchased this:




1. Is the screenwash story real/still a thing or a myth

2. which is the best fuse to hardwire my dashcam to

3. Can anyone recommend somewhere/someone in the West Midlands to retrofit a reverse camera?

Thanks

[E63eeeeee...]

I've had four BMWs, two E46s, an F10 and an F13, for something like 50,000 miles in total and just used whatever screenwash with no issues at all to date.

[danb79]

zsdom said:

Having just purchased this:




1. Is the screenwash story real/still a thing or a myth

2. which is the best fuse to hardwire my dashcam to

3. Can anyone recommend somewhere/someone in the West Midlands to retrofit a reverse camera?

Thanks

Welcome to the F31 club Great colour, but I am biased



Sort of re screen wash; but it does happen unfortunately - but easy enough to rectify. If not already; stick a load of hot water in, a bit of whatever neat screen wash and give the pumps a run through for now, but if you can, stick with one brand of screen wash and it'll help reduce the gunk build up

Re dashcam; I've left the Nextbase front/rear dashcams connected to the central middle 12v connection as the cables are long enough and easy to hid in the A/B/C pillar trims and head liner etc - you could use the under front glovebox 12v connection too (at the back as you look up); it does make life easier IMO

[Pica-Pica]

Screenwash. I have always used BMW for last 10 years. They have stopped selling th 50ml liquid concentrate, so I now have the tablets. Just add water (plus screenwash anti-freeze in winter).

[danb79]

Pica-Pica said:

Screenwash. I have always used BMW for last 10 years. They have stopped selling th 50ml liquid concentrate, so I now have the tablets. Just add water (plus screenwash anti-freeze in winter).

Just bought 10l via BMW eBay as they had 20% off

£42 delivered

[mr sagman]

zsdom said:

Having just purchased this:




1. Is the screenwash story real/still a thing or a myth

2. which is the best fuse to hardwire my dashcam to

3. Can anyone recommend somewhere/someone in the West Midlands to retrofit a reverse camera?

Thanks

That is one stunning looking car, I was watching that on Ebay hoping it would drop a bit to come into my budget but I just knew it would get snapped up as it looked so damn good, the black gloss against the silver paintwork looks absolutely stunning, Hope you enjoy the car, and enjoyed the drive back from Devon, I've just put a deposit on a Black /beige leather, Pan roof , HK, Hud, Pro Nav 335 D Touring also, they are fab cars.

Edited by mr sagman on Saturday 7th June 21:47

[mmm-five]

My 3ch Viofo dashcam is simply plugged into the 12v socket under the glove box. Wires are routed behind carpet, door rubber, a-pillar trim and headliner.

The only time my car gets BMW washer fluid is if it's been in for a service or recall. The rest of the time it uses diluted Prestone from Costco at about £12 for 5 litres of concentrate (which makes upto 100L).

[Wills2]

Never had the an issue with the screen wash over 13 BMWs but then I've never had the door squeal issue either and many will swear they all do that sir.

[RSTurboPaul]

What is the screen wash issue??

[danb79]

RSTurboPaul said:

What is the screen wash issue??

The mixing of screen wash over time (ie different brands) creates a gunk build up and clogs the filters - it doesn't always happen, but it does happen though and it's a faff to sort as the washer bottles are spugged away inside the wing etc

You can use milton tablets to sort it as a temp measure; but they don't rid the grime build up nor do they fully clear the filters; so the full fix is to pull it all out, clean the bottle and filters properly, replace any pumps that need replacing and then refit and ideally, stick to using one brand of fluid after that (any of your own choice)

[RSTurboPaul]

danb79 said:

RSTurboPaul said:

What is the screen wash issue??

The mixing of screen wash over time (ie different brands) creates a gunk build up and clogs the filters - it doesn't always happen, but it does happen though and it's a faff to sort as the washer bottles are spugged away inside the wing etc

You can use milton tablets to sort it as a temp measure; but they don't rid the grime build up nor do they fully clear the filters; so the full fix is to pull it all out, clean the bottle and filters properly, replace any pumps that need replacing and then refit and ideally, stick to using one brand of fluid after that (any of your own choice)

That seems... annoying... lol

Thanks for the info!

[asfault]

danb79 said:

RSTurboPaul said:

What is the screen wash issue??

The mixing of screen wash over time (ie different brands) creates a gunk build up and clogs the filters - it doesn't always happen, but it does happen though and it's a faff to sort as the washer bottles are spugged away inside the wing etc

You can use milton tablets to sort it as a temp measure; but they don't rid the grime build up nor do they fully clear the filters; so the full fix is to pull it all out, clean the bottle and filters properly, replace any pumps that need replacing and then refit and ideally, stick to using one brand of fluid after that (any of your own choice)

56000- 127000 miles on mine and never once had an issue. mixture of bmw stuff halfords, tesco summer weird stuff winter stuff aldi stuff and or just bung some water in.

[danb79]

asfault said:

danb79 said:

RSTurboPaul said:

What is the screen wash issue??

The mixing of screen wash over time (ie different brands) creates a gunk build up and clogs the filters - it doesn't always happen, but it does happen though and it's a faff to sort as the washer bottles are spugged away inside the wing etc

You can use milton tablets to sort it as a temp measure; but they don't rid the grime build up nor do they fully clear the filters; so the full fix is to pull it all out, clean the bottle and filters properly, replace any pumps that need replacing and then refit and ideally, stick to using one brand of fluid after that (any of your own choice)

56000- 127000 miles on mine and never once had an issue. mixture of bmw stuff halfords, tesco summer weird stuff winter stuff aldi stuff and or just bung some water in.

Very good; as said, it doesn't happen to everyone, but it does happen unfortunately

[mmm-five]

danb79 said:

Very good; as said, it doesn't happen to everyone, but it does happen unfortunately

It seems to be very random.

Last time I had it was on my e34 M5 (same bottle for both windscreen & headlights) between 1998-2006...and I was using the same screenwash back then (swapping between summer & winter blue/yellow Prestone concentrate as needed - they only seem to offer the blue stuff now).

Only happened that once, so I removed the reservoir, steamed-cleaned it, and carried on with the same screen wash until I'd sold that car.

[zsdom]

mr sagman said:

That is one stunning looking car, I was watching that on Ebay hoping it would drop a bit to come into my budget but I just knew it would get snapped up as it looked so damn good, the black gloss against the silver paintwork looks absolutely stunning, Hope you enjoy the car, and enjoyed the drive back from Devon, I've just put a deposit on a Black /beige leather, Pan roof , HK, Hud, Pro Nav 335 D Touring also, they are fab cars.

Edited by mr sagman on Saturday 7th June 21:47

Good luck with the purchase of yours, they are a phenomenal piece of machinery

Thank you, I'm over the moon with it, it's got everything I could need for a daily motorway mile muncher, when looking I knew I wanted pan roof, HK audio, pro nav & heated wheel, everything else would've been a bonus, I even found out half way home it had wireless carplay! the only thing missing is the reverse cam, it's a bit longer than my TT!

The drive home was dull as ditch water, driving the Devon link road and then the M5 all the way to Birmingham was boring but the journey home in my TT from the viewing averaged 34mpg, this got me 50mpg which is 90% of the reason for buying one

for those that use the 12v plug do you leave it plugged in or disconnect it each time?

[danb79]

zsdom said:

mr sagman said:

That is one stunning looking car, I was watching that on Ebay hoping it would drop a bit to come into my budget but I just knew it would get snapped up as it looked so damn good, the black gloss against the silver paintwork looks absolutely stunning, Hope you enjoy the car, and enjoyed the drive back from Devon, I've just put a deposit on a Black /beige leather, Pan roof , HK, Hud, Pro Nav 335 D Touring also, they are fab cars.

Edited by mr sagman on Saturday 7th June 21:47

Good luck with the purchase of yours, they are a phenomenal piece of machinery

Thank you, I'm over the moon with it, it's got everything I could need for a daily motorway mile muncher, when looking I knew I wanted pan roof, HK audio, pro nav & heated wheel, everything else would've been a bonus, I even found out half way home it had wireless carplay! the only thing missing is the reverse cam, it's a bit longer than my TT!

The drive home was dull as ditch water, driving the Devon link road and then the M5 all the way to Birmingham was boring but the journey home in my TT from the viewing averaged 34mpg, this got me 50mpg which is 90% of the reason for buying one

for those that use the 12v plug do you leave it plugged in or disconnect it each time?

Connected; they switch off when the car goes to sleep, c16mins after being fully locked

[M4rk-h242754]

Nice car. I have had the 330d equivalent for the last 10 years. My wash wipe eventually stopped working 2 months ago after 10 years of using whatever cheap screen wash was available in the supermarket. Cost £30 at independent garage to get the system flushed and all back to normal. I really wouldn’t worry about it.

[rottenegg]

M4rk-h242754 said:

Nice car. I have had the 330d equivalent for the last 10 years. My wash wipe eventually stopped working 2 months ago after 10 years of using whatever cheap screen wash was available in the supermarket. Cost £30 at independent garage to get the system flushed and all back to normal. I really wouldn t worry about it.

Exactly. It's got nothing to do with the screenwash fluids themselves, but rather the stupidly narrow resevoir BMW used, which has numerous corners and other small areas for crud and limescale to build up in.