[Wrightski]

I've used this forum a number of times and found it very helpful, so I thought it was about time I tried to help others.
Over the cold snap my washers stopped working. I found out that if the water is frozen in the washer tank then the washers and wipers won't work, they have a thermal cut out to prevent the motor from burning out.
However, the wipers do work when using them without the washers.
After finally being able to thaw out the water and add a 50/50 mix of screenwash they worked fine, for a few days. Then they started to dribble out. With a quick burst of the washer stalk they worked, but not if you held the stalk back. I tried to clear any sediment in the bottle by pushing a clean piece of flexi pipe into the bottle and blowing hard. This only worked for the trip home and they dribbled out again ! So, I had no alternative than to check the pump/filter.
It's easy, but fiddley. First, jack the car up and remove the front o/s wheel.
remove the bolts fixing the wheel arch liner, (note there are 2 bolts underneath, which attach to the undertray) and the 3 plastic rivets on the bottom left of the wheel arch fixing to the wing. to remove the rivets, push the centre of the rivet gently and it will release, remember to keep the centre piece. You only need to remove the left liner.
You can see the bottle tucked inside the wing on the left hand side. remove the retaining bolt/screw and slide it out. The pump sits at the bottom of the bottle and is removed by twisting and pulling up gently. Any fluid left in the bottle will obviously drain out when you remove the pump. The filter is attached to the bottom of the pump. I was happy to see a brown soggy algae all around the filter. Clean it with a toothbrush, put it all back together and away you go. The washers are back to normal. I checked the bottle at the same time, it was clean and you could see the screen washer mixture was good. I suspect the frozen water removed the dirt/algae which has built up over the years from the bottom of the bottle and clogged up the filter.
Good luck !

[simples]

Originally Posted by Wrightski

I've used this forum a number of times and found it very helpful, so I thought it was about time I tried to help others.
Over the cold snap my washers stopped working. I found out that if the water is frozen in the washer tank then the washers and wipers won't work, they have a thermal cut out to prevent the motor from burning out.
However, the wipers do work when using them without the washers.
After finally being able to thaw out the water and add a 50/50 mix of screenwash they worked fine, for a few days. Then they started to dribble out. With a quick burst of the washer stalk they worked, but not if you held the stalk back. I tried to clear any sediment in the bottle by pushing a clean piece of flexi pipe into the bottle and blowing hard. This only worked for the trip home and they dribbled out again ! So, I had no alternative than to check the pump/filter.
It's easy, but fiddley. First, jack the car up and remove the front o/s wheel.
remove the bolts fixing the wheel arch liner, (note there are 2 bolts underneath, which attach to the undertray) and the 3 plastic rivets on the bottom left of the wheel arch fixing to the wing. to remove the rivets, push the centre of the rivet gently and it will release, remember to keep the centre piece. You only need to remove the left liner.
You can see the bottle tucked inside the wing on the left hand side. remove the retaining bolt/screw and slide it out. The pump sits at the bottom of the bottle and is removed by twisting and pulling up gently. Any fluid left in the bottle will obviously drain out when you remove the pump. The filter is attached to the bottom of the pump. I was happy to see a brown soggy algae all around the filter. Clean it with a toothbrush, put it all back together and away you go. The washers are back to normal. I checked the bottle at the same time, it was clean and you could see the screen washer mixture was good. I suspect the frozen water removed the dirt/algae which has built up over the years from the bottom of the bottle and clogged up the filter.
Good luck !

or if you need to see this in pictures.......

[zltm089]

damn it!!!!...i thought it was because the screenwash was frozen, but even now when all the snow and ice has gone, my screenwash jets don't work!!!!!!.....so annoyed....Will have to send it to the dealership to get it sorted.....as it looks really complicated to sort it out myself!!!!.....

[Blue Streak]

Wow, thanks OP! I was a dummy and decided it would be good to mix a little bit of Simple Green with water in my washer fluid tank. That wasn't too smart... It turned the fluid a white color and made a mess of my car. It really cleaned the bug guts and junk off my windshield really good though. I think if I left it in there for more than a week, it might start to make a mess of things and possibly ruin the motors or clog up the lines. I used your instructions and the photos in the PDF file and was able to remove just enough of the lining in the wheel well without the need to remove the wheel. I just turned the wheel all the way to the left and managed to work with enough room. I was able to pull back enough of the plastic in the wheel well to get to the hose that connects to the washer fluid reservoir and disconnect it. Fluid gushed out, but I knew that wouldn't be enough so I got my garden hose out and sprayed water into the tank from that lower connection. It probably took me 10 to 15 high pressure sprays into the tank to finally get it from super soap sudsy water coming out to just pure water. When it looked clear, I reconnected the filler hose and buttoned everything back up. I refilled my tank (halfway) with just pure filtered water this time. I'll just buy the washer fluid from the BMW parts department from now on. Thanks so much for the help!