F10 530d: New wiper-blades - Bosch Aerotwin

Replacement wiper blades for modern cars are not cheap. Euro Car Parts wanted £45 for a set and that was with a discount, other high-street stockists wanted over £60... for two wiper blades. Ah well, you can't fight progress I suppose, these new fangled blades wipe the screen so much better than the old ones did... don't they??

I found a super-cheap budget set for just £11 on eBay, but these turned out to be for a left-hand drive car and are the exact opposite profile of the ones I need here in UK so would not fit. They were from a UK stockist too, who didn't seem to know the blades were wrong, this was obviously the first set they sold for F10 or maybe mine were a fluke one off LHD pair... we will never know.

In the end I plumped for a set of Bosch Aerotwin from eBay, as they came in at £23, far off the 40+ from ECP so worth waiting for delivery. Have to say, you can see the quality of the Bosch is better than that of the budget blades, so you get what pay for, but I still think £23 is expensive for two wiper blades!

BMW F10/F11: Clogged/blocked Washer Pump Filter - EASY FIX / FILTER REMOVAL! [E90/E92/F07/F30 etc.]

Windscreen washer jets not working, but the pump can still be heard OK? Then you have a very common case of clogged filter. Due to the supposed inaccessibility of the bottle on later model BMWs I have read stories of high dealer bills, daunting inner-wing removal and even back-feeding the washer-hose with bleach to gradually unblock the gunged up filter... but before you try this read on, as it is an easy fix after all.

GUIDE:

1. Fully turn the steering to the right to give access behind the driver's front wheel to work. [Removing the wheel will give more access but is not necessary.]

2. Remove the 6 screws holding securing the rear half of the felt wheel-arch liner in place using an 8mm socket. This will allow access without removing the arch-liner completely. Four of the screws are located in the wheel well itself and two are located underneath next to the sill.

3. Remove the plastic 'mud-guard' trim on the outside of the wheel-arch that adjoins the felt arch-liner. This is done by pressing the centre-pin of the 3 plastic clips through the clip and then removing the clips with a panel-popper tool. [It may be possible to do the job without removing this trim piece, as the clips are very hard to get out and prone to breaking, but visibility and access are certainly improved].

4. Peel the felt wheel-arch liner out from the rear lip of the wheel-arch and if possible tuck it behind the wheel. The washer-bottle should now be visible to the rear of the front wheel. It sits in a tight gap between the outer and inner wings of the car body itself and access is very limited. [This is unlike E39, E60 etc. where the bottle sits left-to-right across the rear of the wheel-arch and access if much easier!]

5. Remove the windscreen washer hose from where it enters the pump and move it out of the way.

6. Slide a long flat-screwdriver in between the washer-bottle and the outer wing and prize the pump upwards until the spout is clear of the bottle and the pump can wedged up and out of the way.

7. The clogged filter should now be sitting in the washer-bottle where the spout of the pump fits. Use the flat-screwdriver to prize the filter up and out of the bottle. It should now be removable by hand or using long-nose pliers / tweezers.

8. Clean the gauze filter using water and lightly brush it with a sponge-scourer or stiff brush. [I find an old toothbrush works perfectly.] It is likely clogged with a 'gel' like substance that builds up supposedly due to the use of incorrect washer-fluid as well as dirt from the bottom of the tank if the washer has been run without fluid in for a while, but should clean up pretty easily.

9. Carefully slot the filter back into the washer-bottle and press it back into place using long-nose pliers / flat screwdriver or both, making sure it is fully seated.

10. Slide the pump spout back into the filter / washer-bottle, making sure it is fully seated and rotated to the correct position with the spout for the windscreen-hose pointing to the side of the car.

11. Refit the washer-hose, trim, wheel-arch liner and wheel. [Reverse steps 1-5.]


www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=930107
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=737416
http://forum.bmw5.co.uk/topic/120732-f10-windscreen-washer-not-working/
http://forum.bmw5.co.uk/topic/124943-f10-washer-problems/

E60: Blocked Washer-Pump - Quick Fix.

No water from windscreen washer-jets? Chances are it's a blockage in the pump filter. This is not a difficult job, rather a very easy one, so avoid unnecessary cost and fix it quickly yourself.

Check Fuse: 
Fuse 18 is the corresponding fuse. If the washer pump is dead and making no noise then this is the first thing to check. If it is still making a whining noise, then you have a blocked pump-filter.

** The headlamp washer system only functions when the headlights / sidelights are turned on. **

FIX:

Windscreen Washer System:

** The washer bottle is located just in front of the N/S (passenger) wheel-arch liner. The filler-neck is just behind the N/S headlamp and you can see the hose go down into the bodywork and rise up to where the tank is. The tank CANNOT be accessed from above, even when the headlamp is removed. It is much easier to peel the arch-liner back and work from inside the wheel-arch. **

** Obviously water will spill out of the washer bottle so just allow it to drain. **

1. Remove the 3 screws from the N/S/F plastic wheel-arch liner circled in the photo so that it can be peeled back out of the arch rim, one on the near edge, one along the bottom and one by the brake air-duct. It helps to turn the wheel full-lock one way or the other to give more room.

2. Gently pull the washer-jet hose connector off the spout on the side of the windscreen washer-pump. [It's the smaller grey one, furthest away in photo].

3. Reach in and grip the windscreen washer-pump, then gently turn it from side to side while lifting it upwards until the spout on the pump is free of the tank [it may need tilting towards the wheel to get out].

4. Unplug the wire-connector from the pump by depressing the clip on either side and sliding it upwards. The pump can now be removed from inspection if necessary. [Alternatively, leave the wiring connected and place the pump somewhere out of the way].

5. Gently prise the rubber base the pump sits in upwards out of it's collar in the tank, being careful not to detach the plastic-filter from below it and have it drop into the tank.

6. Remove the white plastic filter from the rubber piece and give it a good clean. [It's usually congealed screen-wash clogging it as in the photo, rather than detritus].

7. Refit the plastic filter to the bottom of the rubber base and carefully lower it vertically back into the tank.

8. Refit the pump as a reversal of steps 4 to 1.

Sticky residue wrapped right around the filter-gauze
had stopped flow into the pump completely.

Headlamp Washer System:
The process is the same for the larger headlamp washer pump, though the hose-connector at the bottom in the second photo is sturdier and needs the clip pushing up from undernath to slide the hose off.

Headlamp washer has a much bigger filter, I guess to get more
water into the bigger pump and higher pressure spray.

E21 316: Re-Spray Strip-Down 3 - Wipers + Washer Nozzle Removal.

A. Washer-Jet Nozzles:

1. Twist and pull the hose off from below the washer-nozzles.

2. The nozzles have a plastic at the base that spreads when they're pushed into the body, so working them out is pretty easy by pressing the flaps in with your finger one at a time.

B. Windscreen Wiper-Arms + Bases:

1. Lift the cap at each wiper-arm base and, using an adjustable-spanner, remove the top-nut and washer.

2. Raise the wiper-arm to an upright position and wiggle it off the spline.

3. Remove the large diameter nut and washer from the base-mount and remove the mount. *The rubber seal will likely be perished and hard to find a replacement, but you can just cut a new one out of sheet-rubber as I did, or I will supply a set for £1.99 inc. postage to mainland UK - see here.