[mecheng77]

I went to clean my windshield this morning and there was no spray, to confirm tank isn't empty and sensor is bad, when i got to my destination I added 1L of water and still nothing happened. I don't hear the pump.

Would it be safe to say the pump is blown? Anything else I should change while I am in the area? Can I get to the filter? Thanks

[PichaDis11]

Originally Posted by mecheng77

I went to clean my windshield this morning and there was no spray, to confirm tank isn't empty and sensor is bad, when i got to my destination I added 1L of water and still nothing happened. I don't hear the pump.

Would it be safe to say the pump is blown? Anything else I should change while I am in the area? Can I get to the filter? Thanks

I'd say check fuse first then move on to changing Out pump and filter.. filter goes into tank and pump goes into filter. As a while your are in there; remove the tank and give it a good rinse to get rid of all the sediments that have settled at the bottom inside.

[K9Leader]

It is possible that it is just clogged. For some reason I cannot fathom, using non-BMW washer fluid tends to leave sediment/gunk that clogs things up. However, I have an E91 with the headlight washers so I have three pumps in the tank and decided to just replace them all. Agree that you want to thoroughly clean out the tank to get rid of all gunk. Not too difficult a job - should take a couple of hours even taking your time.

K9Leader

[drawz]

The plain blue washer fluid is fine. The problem is with the orange RainX garbage.

[roadkillrob]

The pumps fail pretty regularly and are cheap - just did one and was 8 bucks on amazon.

[Fritzer]

Nothing will really keep the window washer sensor happy except a properly mixed solution of BMW's fluid. I think it's $5 for the concentrate. Anything else and the sensor will tell you it's empty.

[flgfish]

Check the hose connection. Mine came off at the connection by the windshield. I changed the pump for nothing. Learn from my stupidity!

[AllBlackBimmer]

I can almost guarantee your pump is clogged.
... while possible the pump is bad, I would bet it's clogged.

Pop the hood, take some air and blow it backwards back down into the tank.

This is a super common problem... Mine clogs every year, and I unclog every year before I take it to get inspected.
I hardly ever use my washer fluid, so it builds up algae and other crap in the tank.

... if this doesnt work, then you probably need a new pump. But 5 years ago the BMW dealer wanted 300-400 to replace the pump and tank, etc.... I few shots of compressed air has saved me this money.
YMMV.

[drawz]

Originally Posted by Fritzer

Nothing will really keep the window washer sensor happy except a properly mixed solution of BMW's fluid. I think it's $5 for the concentrate. Anything else and the sensor will tell you it's empty.

False. The plain cheap blue stuff found everywhere is fine. It's pretty much methanol, water, and blue dye. RainX washer fluid, especially the orange stuff, has been reported to cause problems with the sensor on other cars (well known in the VW/Audi world, not sure if it's actually a problem for BMWs).

[drawz]

Originally Posted by AllBlackBimmer

I can almost guarantee your pump is clogged.
... while possible the pump is bad, I would bet it's clogged.

Pop the hood, take some air and blow it backwards back down into the tank.

This is a super common problem... Mine clogs every year, and I unclog every year before I take it to get inspected.
I hardly ever use my washer fluid, so it builds up algae and other crap in the tank.

... if this doesnt work, then you probably need a new pump. But 5 years ago the BMW dealer wanted 300-400 to replace the pump and tank, etc.... I few shots of compressed air has saved me this money.
YMMV.

You're probably not getting it thoroughly clean if you have to do it yearly. Replacing the pump and filter is easy and cheap. The tank a bit more difficult, but not terrible. Never pay stealership prices!

[Fritzer]

Originally Posted by drawz

False. The plain cheap blue stuff found everywhere is fine. It's pretty much methanol, water, and blue dye. RainX washer fluid, especially the orange stuff, has been reported to cause problems with the sensor on other cars (well known in the VW/Audi world, not sure if it's actually a problem for BMWs).

Only washer fluid that does not trigger the sensor is BMW OE. I have filled mine to the brim with the cheap blue stuff and it still thinks it's empty. BMW OE washer mix, all is good. Not sure why, but that it my experience.

RainX is more clogging the jets/lines from what I've heard.

[drawz]

Originally Posted by Fritzer

Only washer fluid that does not trigger the sensor is BMW OE. I have filled mine to the brim with the cheap blue stuff and it still thinks it's empty. BMW OE washer mix, all is good. Not sure why, but that it my experience.

RainX is more clogging the jets/lines from what I've heard.

There's something wrong with your sensor then. I've never used the BMW stuff except when the dealer tops off for free.

[mecheng77]

Turned out to be the pump, luckily a Febi was only $22. I checked the old pump with a 9v battery and it's completely dead.

The tank had some unknown sediment. It took me an hour to get the filter from the tank, it separated from the rubber gromet. After trying strategically and failing,random violent shaking worked ! 🙈🤬🤙 The filter wasn't clogged and only slightly dirty.

If you do this job, rinse the tank, filter and sensor. I cleaned the sensor with map sensor cleaner and put a very small amount of silicone grease on the rubber seals. The tank is on a pin so it requires a pull towards the front of the car to remove. Make sure you test it, I had to remove the hose from the nozzles for the pump to prime, that took a while to figure out and is a bit surprising but maybe this pump is weaker than OEM.

[AllBlackBimmer]

Originally Posted by drawz

You're probably not getting it thoroughly clean if you have to do it yearly. Replacing the pump and filter is easy and cheap. The tank a bit more difficult, but not terrible. Never pay stealership prices!

You are right... but I dont care that I'm not really getting it clean ha.

My washer tank has been empty for.... 8 or 9 months at least.
Actually, the last time, I did run some CLR through the tank and nozzles, and then sucked the dirty water out of the washer tank. I think it got some stuff out, but my washer tank has been bone dry since I did that.

I agree its not "hard" but it is a total PITA to get to the pump. Have to go in through the wheel well... when it first clogged - i thought it did fail - I was going to rip it apart and replace/clean it.... well, some compressed air a few times has saved me money, a bunch of swearing, and cut of hands.

One day I'll refill my washer tank. One day.

[mainbearing]

Just changed my pump over the weekend. I thought the plastic body of the pump cracked as in some threads, but no, the pump looks fine. I did not bother to test it, as I have a $6 Uro and $2 filter.

Looks like the tip of the old pump (the 2 round "steps" just above the filter) acted as the primary seal. The hard plastic just was not doing its job. This and the flimsy, brittle filler pipe that was falling apart just made me shake my head. Sh1itty engineering.

The new Uro seal has a thicker rubbery gasket that gets compressed between the tank and the pump. Good thing I bought both, as the old filter would not have fit the new pump. BTW, I should have rinsed the tank, too late.

@mecheng77, did your new pump look like the original one in the picture below? And that the old shorter filter fit?

The original design was just sh1tty. Old BMW pump and filter:


New Uro filter with the thicker rubbery integral gasket. The 2 rubbery "steps" replaced the hard plastic in the original pump and provided a much better seal.

[oVeRdOsE.]

thanks for the thread, mine just stop working this morning.

[flgfish]

I replaced my pump with a Trico pump I got from O'Reilly's. It's a weak, loud piece of shit. Avoid the Trico pump. I was going to order from FCP (since these things break occasionally) but didn't want to wait on the shipping... c'est la vie.

[mecheng77]

Originally Posted by mainbearing

Just changed my pump over the weekend. I thought the plastic body of the pump cracked as in some threads, but no, the pump looks fine. I did not bother to test it, as I have a $6 Uro and $2 filter.

Looks like the tip of the old pump (the 2 round "steps" just above the filter) acted as the primary seal. The hard plastic just was not doing its job. This and the flimsy, brittle filler pipe that was falling apart just made me shake my head. Sh1itty engineering.

The new Uro seal has a thicker rubbery gasket that gets compressed between the tank and the pump. Good thing I bought both, as the old filter would not have fit the new pump. BTW, I should have rinsed the tank, too late.

@mecheng77, did your new pump look like the original one in the picture below? And that the old shorter filter fit?

The original design was just sh1tty. Old BMW pump and filter:


New Uro filter with the thicker rubbery integral gasket. The 2 rubbery "steps" replaced the hard plastic in the original pump and provided a much better seal.

The new pump looked identical except for the Febi symbol, it had the same grey color and is shown in the pics. I did not change the filter, the new pump did not come with one, it is shown in the pics.

[mecheng77]

Now I'm confused, when I tried my old pump with a proper power supply it works perfectly. I tried it on 3 separate days to make sure, it pumps perfectly. The 9v I used previously was weak.

[mainbearing]

Maybe the electrical connector at the pump just needed a wiggle? Or the ECU has some sort of protection that cut off the power? I am just guessing here.

My $6 Uro pump was about as quiet and strong as the BMW one. Primed itself fine and sprayed out immediately nice and strong (residual fluid in the lines maybe?).

RM European has a picture of the BMW pump filter. The BMW filter looks just like the Uro one, except the filter section is attached to a black grommet instead of the white silicone one.

Therefore, I think your BMW filter BROKE where the filter and the grommet were glued together, and that might explain the weaker spary (pump is sucking air).

I originally thought the first "step" of grommet was integral to the pump, maybe not. I will have to check to see if it can be pried off the old pump. Did you have to move the grommet over to the new pump?

I would recommend getting the Uro pump along with a NEW Uro filter doing this fix.

Originally Posted by mecheng77

Now I'm confused, when I tried my old pump with a proper power supply it works perfectly. I tried it on 3 separate days to make sure, it pumps perfectly. The 9v I used previously was weak.

[mecheng77]

Originally Posted by mainbearing

Maybe the electrical connector at the pump just needed a wiggle? Or the ECU has some sort of protection that cut off the power? I am just guessing here.

My $6 Uro pump was about as quiet and strong as the BMW one. Primed itself fine and sprayed out immediately nice and strong (residual fluid in the lines maybe?).

RM European has a picture of the BMW pump filter. The BMW filter looks just like the Uro one, except the filter section is attached to a black grommet instead of the white silicone one.

Therefore, I think your BMW filter BROKE where the filter and the grommet were glued together, and that might explain the weaker spary (pump is sucking air).

I originally thought the first "step" of grommet was integral to the pump, maybe not. I will have to check to see if it can be pried off the old pump. Did you have to move the grommet over to the new pump?

I would recommend getting the Uro pump along with a NEW Uro filter doing this fix.

Originally Posted by mainbearing

Maybe the electrical connector at the pump just needed a wiggle? Or the ECU has some sort of protection that cut off the power? I am just guessing here.

My $6 Uro pump was about as quiet and strong as the BMW one. Primed itself fine and sprayed out immediately nice and strong (residual fluid in the lines maybe?).

RM European has a picture of the BMW pump filter. The BMW filter looks just like the Uro one, except the filter section is attached to a black grommet instead of the white silicone one.

Therefore, I think your BMW filter BROKE where the filter and the grommet were glued together, and that might explain the weaker spary (pump is sucking air).

I originally thought the first "step" of grommet was integral to the pump, maybe not. I will have to check to see if it can be pried off the old pump. Did you have to move the grommet over to the new pump?

I would recommend getting the Uro pump along with a NEW Uro filter doing this fix.

Yes the filter separated from the grommet but I just re attached it, it felt snug when I put it back together. In retrospect I should have also used glue but I was afraid it might contaminate Bmw notorious finicky level sensor. Maybe it was the connector or the pump is intermittent and is suddenly working again. The filter was easy to clean and you don't need to change it. As per TIS I just lubricated it with a small amount of silicone grease, same with the fill tube o ring

[mainbearing]

Went back and looked at the old BMW pump again. What I thought was part of the pump was actually a rubber grommet (the Uro one is white and I thought it was one-piece). The filter just clicks onto the grommet, and that part should be fine, without drawing air, as long as it is submerged in washer fluid.

Since my old BMW pump did not have a crack on the pump housing, it may be what looks like a weep hole that is leaking as in one YT video then.

Anyway, here is a picture of the original setup: