Windscreen wash doesnt work - BMW X3

[RugbyBimmer]

Hi all,

Recently when I hit the windscreen was it started to smell. So I used the lever inside to empty the tank from both nozzelles (windscreen & rear window). When I got the "Washer fluid low" alert, I stopped and topped the tank with new windscreen wash.

The minute I did that, when i pull the lever, nothing comes out (front & rear). I hear the motor runs when I pull it.

Any advice?

Thanks guys.

[Martyn76]

Not sure about the smell but if you can hear the pump but the washers aren't spraying it usually means the washer filter has got gunked up, needs to be taken out and cleaned.

[parabolica]

What screen wash did you use? If a different brand to what was in there before, the cross-contamination can cause gunk to form and it clogs up the filters.

Only perm solution is to empty the tank, pull the filters and clean them, then give the inside of the tank a proper clean out with pressurized water as the gunk will have attached itself to the surface and will react to whatever you put in there next.

[d_a_n1979]

RugbyBimmer said:

Hi all,

Recently when I hit the windscreen was it started to smell. So I used the lever inside to empty the tank from both nozzelles (windscreen & rear window). When I got the "Washer fluid low" alert, I stopped and topped the tank with new windscreen wash.

The minute I did that, when i pull the lever, nothing comes out (front & rear). I hear the motor runs when I pull it.

Any advice?

Thanks guys.

Filters are gummed up

Time to remove them, clean them (best to remove the tank too, which IIRC is cartridge style inside the drivers front wing, so wheel off/wheel arch liner out job - faffy but doable) and then reinstall

Once done; stick with one brand of washer fluid ONLY to stop the gunk build up; BMWs own is decent enough and cheap to buy via BMW eBay in 5l bottles

[Earthdweller]

Very hot water on the nozzles and then hot water in the tank and pull it through

Then ONLY use BMW approved screen wash

Worked for me when my darling dearest used a Tesco forecourt one which gummed up my X3

[Mr Tidy]

I've had the same problem on 3 of my BMWs.

Each time I cleaned the pump filters with an old toothbrush and flushed the reservoir thoroughly then only ever used one brand of screenwash, albeit cheap Prestone from Tesco but I never had a problem since doing that. I don't think the brand matters, it's mixing brands that seems to cause the algea on the filters.

Some people have used water purifying tablets or denture tablets, but I've no idea how successful they are!

[d_a_n1979]

Mr Tidy said:

I've had the same problem on 3 of my BMWs.

Each time I cleaned the pump filters with an old toothbrush and flushed the reservoir thoroughly then only ever used one brand of screenwash, albeit cheap Prestone from Tesco but I never had a problem since doing that. I don't think the brand matters, it's mixing brands that seems to cause the algea on the filters.

Some people have used water purifying tablets or denture tablets, but I've no idea how successful they are!

The tablets work well to begin with as they break up the cack... But they don't rid in no matter what you do to pull it through it...

The only way to sort it properly is a full clean like you've said

[Zarco]

Earthdweller said:

Very hot water on the nozzles and then hot water in the tank and pull it through

Then ONLY use BMW approved screen wash

Worked for me when my darling dearest used a Tesco forecourt one which gummed up my X3

I'm slightly worried about this on my OH's X3, so I read the manual to see what BMW recommend. No mention of it.

I've just kept on topping it up with whatever brand of screen wash I have, just like any other car. Yet to have an issue but maybe it's a useful experiment!

[Mr Tidy]

Zarco said:

I'm slightly worried about this on my OH's X3, so I read the manual to see what BMW recommend. No mention of it.

I've just kept on topping it up with whatever brand of screen wash I have, just like any other car. Yet to have an issue but maybe it's a useful experiment!

Good luck with that if the reservoir is inside the wheel-arch liner!

Thankfully on the 3 I've had to do it was in the engine bay so much easier to get to.

[d_a_n1979]

Zarco said:

Earthdweller said:

Very hot water on the nozzles and then hot water in the tank and pull it through

Then ONLY use BMW approved screen wash

Worked for me when my darling dearest used a Tesco forecourt one which gummed up my X3

I'm slightly worried about this on my OH's X3, so I read the manual to see what BMW recommend. No mention of it.

I've just kept on topping it up with whatever brand of screen wash I have, just like any other car. Yet to have an issue but maybe it's a useful experiment!

There won't be

It's a wheel off / wheel arch liner out job to get the cartridge style bottle out from behind the wing with one bolt holding it in place

Had to do it on both my Dad's 1st 2 X3s and then his X3M and on my previous F01 730D

But; if I can do it, anyone can and I've shovel like hands and not small forearms!

It's very easy to see what needs to be done to get it out once the wheel arch liner is removed; it's just faffy...

[Zarco]

d_a_n1979 said:

Zarco said:

Earthdweller said:

Very hot water on the nozzles and then hot water in the tank and pull it through

Then ONLY use BMW approved screen wash

Worked for me when my darling dearest used a Tesco forecourt one which gummed up my X3

I'm slightly worried about this on my OH's X3, so I read the manual to see what BMW recommend. No mention of it.

I've just kept on topping it up with whatever brand of screen wash I have, just like any other car. Yet to have an issue but maybe it's a useful experiment!

There won't be

It's a wheel off / wheel arch liner out job to get the cartridge style bottle out from behind the wing with one bolt holding it in place

Had to do it on both my Dad's 1st 2 X3s and then his X3M and on my previous F01 730D

But; if I can do it, anyone can and I've shovel like hands and not small forearms!

It's very easy to see what needs to be done to get it out once the wheel arch liner is removed; it's just faffy...

Seems a bit odd to me if it's such a issue, and BMW approve a particular type of wash, that they don't spell it out in the manual. Like engine oil and coolant etc.

End of the day it's a company car, so I'm not too worried.

[Gin and Ultrasonic]

Welcome to the world of BMW screenwash. A screenwash seemingly designed to react with any other brand.

I took my car in for a dealer service after using my own screenwash for a couple of years, and they topped it up with the BMW stuff, which seems to react with any other screenwash in the world to gunk up the system requiring it to be cleaned out. I just used BMW screenwash from then on. It is great stuff, and you can get it quite cheaply in bulk, but as above, if they know it reacts with other screenwash they should recommend only using that.

I guess then that they wouldn't have people into their garages to clean out the screenwash system.

[Pica-Pica]

They do spell it out in the owner’s manual. I have only ever used BMW screen wash and (separate) BMW screen antifreeze.By having two separate liquids, you can get the dilution you want from each liquid. I have never had a screen washer system blockage. See the on-line handbook comments for F30, as an example, the same as the paper manual says.

[Zarco]

Pica-Pica said:

They do spell it out in the owner’s manual. I have only ever used BMW screen wash and (separate) BMW screen antifreeze.By having two separate liquids, you can get the dilution you want from each liquid. I have never had a screen washer system blockage. See the on-line handbook comments for F30, as an example, the same as the paper manual says.

Thanks. I was more looking for a particular brand/type of 'BMW Approved' wash fluid.

The silicone stuff does ring a bell, and I think I checked the spec of what I was using against this.

I never known separate wash and separate anti-freeze in a washer reservoir. Just mix the concentrate wash to the appropriate seasonal temp range ratio. Separate bottles seems a right faff.

[Pica-Pica]

Zarco said:

Pica-Pica said:

They do spell it out in the owner’s manual. I have only ever used BMW screen wash and (separate) BMW screen antifreeze.By having two separate liquids, you can get the dilution you want from each liquid. I have never had a screen washer system blockage. See the on-line handbook comments for F30, as an example, the same as the paper manual says.

Thanks. I was more looking for a particular brand/type of 'BMW Approved' wash fluid.

The silicone stuff does ring a bell, and I think I checked the spec of what I was using against this.

I never known separate wash and separate anti-freeze in a washer reservoir. Just mix the concentrate wash to the appropriate seasonal temp range ratio. Separate bottles seems a right faff.

It’s not a faff. It allows you to increase the concentrate of antifreeze as the winter deepens, but keep the washing fluid to your own desired concentration.
I use BMW own brand. I batch buy it. The antifreeze is a one litre bottle, the washer fluid used to be in small 50ml bottles, but is now in tablet form.

[indigochim]

I had the same in my F31 just after lockdown and a long period of not using the car much. The reservoir was a PITA to clean as it has baffles and no means of directing any pressure washer inside.

I ended up using neat white vinegar to clean inside the bottle and as others cleaned the filters with an old toothbrush. I found getting the tank in and out of the wing a faf with the length of the cables to the pumps but doable.