F30 330d windscreen washer help!

[george123]

Hi. Have a 330d estate and the front screen washers have stopped squirting fluid and yes the reservoir is full ! I can hear the sprays working but apart from a split second squirt from each jet nothing more comes out , doesn’t seem they are blocked. Rear works fine and so do the headlamp washers.

Had a look under the bonnet but hard to see anything but the water pipe to the jets is fine and can’t see a leak , at least around the immediate area.

Any ideas ? Loath to take it to the local dealer as it’s just out of warranty. Would it need to be plugged into a diagnostic to see the fault?

Thanks all.

[george123]

thanks for all the replies. I have read about BMW's special brew washer being the only one you should use but couldnt believe thats actually true!
will take another look under the bonnet & also try squirting with the bonnet up , but couldnt see anything being pinched last time .

Luckily, I have a good local garage so will have to get him to look at it if no joy. He isnt a specialist but sure he can figure it out for a fraction of what Snow's would charge.

[george123]

got this sorted, blocked filter so as said previously it meant wheel and liner off!

Luckily my great local garage only charged me 1/2hr labour to fix it!

Thanks all for the comments.

[george123]

£27 to sort it , they had to take the wheel liner off to get to it then 5 mins to clean the filter. Don’t go near a BMW dealer ... sure they’d charge 5x that. My sister took her z4 in to Snows as the pop up screen wouldn’t come up , charged her £99 just to take a look!

[george123]

Speed 3 said:

I've just bought a 335D F30 and have this problem. I think its blocked filters as the symptoms are exactly as others have had and I've seen on YouTube. Problem is all the local indies are booked out for a month so I can't get it sorted by them. I ordered some tube to try the syphon method but I can't get it down the pipe (suspect BMW have changed the bloody design looking at earlier models on YT). That means my only option is trying to get the bottle out. Wheel off is easy but I can't find any specific guide to removing the liner and knowing its fixed with plastic rivets, I'm wary of not being able to get it back on.

I'm currently doing a 120 mile commute on cruddy roads and would normally be consuming half a tank of screenwash per day. Can anyone guide me on getting that liner off and on safely ?

sorry dont have experience of getting one of a BMW but I know from experience of taking them off a 20 year old Alfa that its fiddly and a real knuckle skin scraper! You may need to heat it up to soften the plastic so it doesnt crack and tear, depends how tight they are in the wheel well (v tight in my GTV). maybe hunt around for another local indie? its no more than an hrs work on a lift with correct tools....would save you a load of swearing...!

Also, I had to get it cleared out again in May this year....thats after only using BMW approved screen wash since the 1st time it was cleared out back in 2018 when I 1st posted! Best to use a very weak dilution of BMW screen wash in future.

Edited by george123 on Friday 13th November 13:50

Edited by george123 on Friday 13th November 13:51

[george123]

the guy that sorted mine said the gunk was at the base of the waterbottle where it connects to the pipe to the washers. Hence need to get the bottle out in my case, sounds like the same for you unfortunately.

[george123]

4rephill said:

You won't have to do the job again any time soon providing you use the same washer fluid every time.

Mixing different washer fluids (BMW's own/other brand green/other brand pink) causes a chemical reaction, which results in congealing and clogging in the washer system.

Don't mix - No need to fix!

Not true I'm afraid! I was told the same by BMW. After cleaning the system once 2 years ago, Ive only ever used BMW fluid and water mix. Had to have the system cleaned out a few weeks ago since it was blocked again with the same gunk.

[george123]

ukpolak said:

I have read in other forums that putting 2 x baby bottle steriliser tablets (Milton etc) in there also solves this, although best to flush it out once the steriliser has done its thing via the dash stork.

Def worth trying ahead of taking it anywhere.

I had this on my 2009 Z4 a few years ago and it’s a shame nothing has changed to stop this. I didn’t know if the steriliser trick and spent £200 at an Indy for a fix.

I wouldnt go near a BMW dealer to fix this, as mentioned earlier in the thread my local garage charged me £27 to take off the liner and flush it out. Snows BMW near me wanted £99 just to take a look !!

[george123]

[quote=Speed 3]Mine's been fine since I did it, only using BMW fluid for now.

mine gunked up again after a couple years of only using BMW fluid!