1series - Best ScreenWash to break down residue/gunk

[HannsG]

Hi,

My 1 series is having issues with its windscreen washers. Due to the poor design of the bottle and previous owners using water only probably.

I'm constantly unplugging the piping under the bonnet and blowing to clear the residue. Once the liquid hits the windscreen cleared its kind of a clear coagulated goo. The cold snap seems to have made the problem worse.

Short of me removing wheel, taking bottle out and faffing about. Is there anything out there which will break the stuff down and get the thing working more efficiently?

Neat washer fluid should be better than what's already been in there surely?

Thanks.

[carguy143]

A previous car of mine had a similar issue. I added a couple of cap fulls of bleach to the bottle and ran it down as low as possible before repeating a couple more times. It soon cleared the gunk.

[DailyHack]

My hack - drop in a couple of sterilizing tablets (ones that fizz in water) leave for a while, maybe overnight, worked a treat in dislodging the gunk on my previous 1series.

Had same issue on my 3 series, this solved that problem aswell.

[littleredrooster]

Be careful if you're using your mouth to blow any pipes clear - the sludge can be a mix of algae & bacteria which you don't want in your body.

Your washers may not squirt, but you could!

[Ninja59]

Classic BMW issue which is usually original BMW screenwash mixing with other formulas.

Personally take the bottle out clean it all out and stick fresh BMW screenwash through until it runs cleanly.

[HannsG]

DailyHack said:

My hack - drop in a couple of sterilizing tablets (ones that fizz in water) leave for a while, maybe overnight, worked a treat in dislodging the gunk on my previous 1series.

Had same issue on my 3 series, this solved that problem aswell.

Thanks. Will try this.

How do you get past the filter towards the bottle cap entry point?

[Shaw Tarse]

Maybe try Milton fluid?

[derin100]

What about gunk that may be in the pipes as well? Any way to get rid of that?

[TwistingMyMelon]

Watch out when clearing my pipes out I flattened the battery, now I leave engine running! Schoolboy error!

[Matt_N]

It’ll be gunk in the tank and it’ll be clogging the micro filters on the pump inlets.

I had to clear the ones on my E91 as there was a layer of green gunk completely blocking them. Bit of a job as the bottle is in the wing.

Could try the tablets and bleach suggestions above first.

[Mr Tidy]

Yes, it's a common problem on BMWs - the OEM screenwash just doesn't mix with any other brand.

I'd had to clean out the fluid reservoir and the filters on an E46 and E86, but they're easy as they are under the bonnet.

I'm just dreading my E91 getting gooed up as it's inside the wheel-arch! But as it had full BMW Service History I invested in some genuine BMW screen-wash - much cheaper on Amazon than at BMW!

[finlo]

Having spent hours dismantling the front of a Mondeo to clean the washer bottle out i've since found a hose down the filler neck running quite hard does the same job in seconds!

[HannsG]

Tried the Milton tablets, seems to have fixed it...... Will know better in the morning.

Also paid for 4 litres of Prestone Super Concentrate to be used neat on a constant basis.

This stuff has had rave reviews given how much value it represents.

[rayny]

Just to balance the thread - I had that problem when I bought a Skoda - My local garage (Autopoint) sorted it out quickly and cheaply.

[mekondelta]

You can buy genuine BMW screen wash from eBay:- https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2... which is reasonably priced.

[2Btoo]

Mr Tidy said:

OEM screenwash just doesn't mix with any other brand.

Gosh - I've never heard of BMW-specific screenwash nor the idea that it won't mix with other types!

What's special about it other than the price?

Genuinely amazed by this.

[Evercross]

FYI Milton fluid, tablets and generic sterilising tablets contain the same active ingredient as weak bleach.

PS. This doesn't seem to be as great a problem up here with our soft water!

[CO2000]

Pretty sure the thickening happened on an X5 I had when I was lazy and poured in neat screen wash which should have been diluted before hand.

[opieoilman]

This happened to a mate of mine after he bought a 120D. He told me it was a known issue with BMWs and you can't mix screenwash. I have never paid much attention to what screenwash I've used and have always mixed them, so didn't believe him, but from this thread, it seems to make sense.

[blueg33]

I used to have the problem on my 5 series even with the BMW screenwash. After cleaning it out the BMW dealer recommended VW screenwash and it was faultless with that .

I now use the VW stuff in all our cars and have no problems.