[slay2k]

Hey boys,

Had the yellow light come on, took it to my BMW indy shop, they replaced the water pump they suspected was leaking. I refilled (overfilled actually) the fluid. A few days later the light came back on.

My filler pipe is cracked and old (2007 335i). The BMW shop owner told me if he's going to take the wheel and panel off to inspect, I might as well order a new filler pipe they can replace. Those are $50 on Amazon, though, and I don't see how a leaky filler pipe would lead to the yellow light coming on.

Those lights come on only when the levels in the reservoir tank are low, correct? So how do I know I don't have a leak in the tank or the pump again? How would replacing the filler pipe, which just feeds the tank, help the situation?

Thanks!

[slay2k]

Any ideas?

[Bimmer Pleaser]

Pump, tubes or reservoir is leaking. Why don't you just remove the wheel and inspect all three and replace the faulty one(s)?

[slay2k]

Moved to PR, don't have any tools here. Which tubes can cause the light to go on? Certainly not the filler tube up top? If that leaks, it just means I can't easily refill, right?

In other words, the part the shop suggests I replace... the filler tube, can that cause a low-fluid light to come on ?

[jeddo45]

Originally Posted by slay2k

Moved to PR, don't have any tools here. Which tubes can cause the light to go on? Certainly not the filler tube up top? If that leaks, it just means I can't easily refill, right?

In other words, the part the shop suggests I replace... the filler tube, can that cause a low-fluid light to come on ?

More than likely it's the reservoir tank. Mine was leaking where the pump hose attaches to it. I just used water proof silicone and it fixed the issue. Took about 20 minutes.

[Zarrachan]

Originally Posted by jeddo45

More than likely it's the reservoir tank. Mine was leaking where the pump hose attaches to it. I just used water proof silicone and it fixed the issue. Took about 20 minutes.

Like

[nvturbo]

Didn't the shop refilled it for you after replacement? Sounds to me they're a bunch of incompetent idiots who can't even do simple work.

[e90yyc]

The fluid-level sensor goes into the side of the reservoir near the bottom (obviously), and is the only thing responsible for triggering the low fluid warning.

So you either have a leak which is (correctly) triggering the sensor to report a low-fluid condition; or you have an issue with your sensor. I'm sure it's the former.

The filler neck itself won't cause this issue, unless of course it's leaking... So as others have suggested, first check for leaks and then go from there.

If the leak is an SOB to track down (which it shouldn't be), then you could put UV dye in the tank and use one of those jizz-detector flashlights they use on CSI to figure out where your leak is coming from.

[officer140]

Same issue here. Since the washer fluid is blue, it's usually easy to track. Leaves a blue/white residue. The grommet where the pump attaches to the reservoir is sometimes no good. In my case, it was initially the pump (since it also failed). Replaced it and problem solved temporarily. Started leaking again and I noticed the pump likes to pop up from where it sits in the grommet. So that's my occasional new issue.

[vb7200]

Do you use the washers a lot, or not at all (like me, lol). If you do and you have headlight washers, I've read they can crack and gush out fluid everywhere when you use the washer jets.

[bailey5]

Originally Posted by vb7200

Do you use the washers a lot, or not at all (like me, lol). If you do and you have headlight washers, I've read they can crack and gush out fluid everywhere when you use the washer jets.

yup exactly what he said. I coded mine out and no more leak it's from the headlight washers that pressure the washer fluid to peak from the lines. once coded out never leaked again

[officer140]

Rarely use it myself also, lol. Maybe I’ll rip it apart one more time this week and after that, if it fails again, just code it out as well.