How can I clean the screen washer jet filters on a BMW 3 series?

I have a 320D Sport 2012 and my water bottle is hidden under the drivers side wheel arch. Need to take the wheel and panel off to get at the bottle - NIGHTMARE!

Steve
April 2022

Read Mabbster's reply, it worked for me. Take the filter panel off in front of the washer jets to access the feed pipe to the jets, and go from there.

Stevie D
February 2021

Faulty screen washer on 2002 BMW 32I. Just read about The Mule and Chris in 2013, did exactly as they suggested and the job was done in less than half an hour.
Thank you all

Grumps
December 2016

Just got mine going again. BMW 318d tourer E91.My washer bottle is hidden inside the wheel arch under the trim covers and it's quite a job to jack up the car,remove front offside wheel and protection trims. ,then unbolt the bottle and remove the pumps and clean sludge from pump filters. This cleared problem for mot. Unfortunately 6 month later it's blocked again. This time I found rubber output hose under bonnet feeding the two jets push on. I pulled off the hose and pumped air with an air bed pump down the hose back towards the bottle and blew the sludge off the pump. It now blows water about 6 foot. Put hose back on works great. First time repair took half a day. This time ten minutes.Now I'll try the dissolving recommendations

Mabbster
January 2016

All the above are good......BUT..... its filter at the bottom that
gets the gunk. All the gunk is STILL in the tank/bottle. Take the tank off. Take care with the attachments. Do it in daylight or strong light. The attachments are still connected to the car! Clean tank using bleach. detergent etc. Reconnect etc, and MAKE sure the pump is seated correctly otherwise it will not pump the water! And don't run the washer pump for long without water coming through it, it may burn out?

the Mule
March 2014

These answers are really helpful! I am not much of a do-it-yourselfer and usually leave everything on my ageing 3 saloon to my garage, so felt at a loss when they suggested something about steam cleaning the reservoir to get my jets spurting again. However, following the advice here about how to get at the filter by unbolting the reservoir and removing the motor was easy to do. It was very satisfying finding the filter clogged up and cleaning it with an old toothbrush. I also siphoned the washer fluid out and ran a little water through to clean out the gunk at the bottom of the tank before replacing the fluid.

Easy job, thanks to all who posted how to do it!

Chris
July 2013

I've just had the same problem on my 2003 320i Convertible. Thanks to the info on this forum, I've fixed myself in less than 15 mins. Dead easy job as previously mentioned. Undo one 10mm bolt at the top of the water tank. Unclip the pump from the bracket (careful) and pull it out of the rubber bung in the base of the tank. Pull the bung out and the filter is attached to it. The water will then come rushing out of the bottom of the tank together with all the grunge that's in there. Clean the filter with a small brush. Unclip the electrical connector at the base of the tank and pull the tank out - it comes out easily. Swill the tank and put it all back together in reverse order. Fill the tank with clean water and test. Worked perfectly. I was surprised at how easy and accessible it all was.

Reggie
April 2013

It's so easy,it will take you about 5 minutes.Firstly open the bonnet,with the washer bottle on your left hand side as you look at it,there is a bolt attaching washer bottle to the body,remove this,it will give you room to get to the washer motor situated on the left side of the bottle,twist the motor anti-clockwise and pull as you twist,it will then free itself from the bottle.lift the washer bottle out of the compartment but be careful because there is one connector you need to twist and remove.Once the bottle is free flush it clean.On the bottle where you removed the motor from there is a rubber bung pull this out and you will see a small filter,i guarantee this is bunged up,clean and refit everything.PROBLEM SOLVED and no big bill from BMW.... thx STEVE.....

STEVE ADAMS FROM KENILWORTH
February 2013

Just fixed the problem and cleaned the filter and tank which was full of algae.

If the long plastic cover at the front is taken off the job is even quicker. Just pull up the two plastic clips near the front of the grill, lift out cover and you get easier access to the pump and cables.

Manilvajl
May 2012

hi lesley hope this helps u, i had same problem with blocked jets. heres wat i did: open bonnet locate water bottle. on side of bottle near bottom theres a pump, over the pump is a plastic case simply pull case off now lift the pump out of its hole. then u should have a black rubber stopper.pull that out too. water should pump out by gravity. mine didnt hence blockage.i had lots of slime slowly coming out. keep pulling slime out till water pours out by itself, then i used garden hose gave inside of bottle good long blast. put everything back together. pull washer stalk back for a few mins then jets were working great. may take a few mins for slime left in little hose to flush out just keep pumping water through. hope it helps

dave r
April 2012

hi...i have a bmw 320 d o4...same problem,the washers stop working..i fixed it it 10 minutes...first undo the bolt holding the bottle to the car....then unplug the wire at the bottom left of the bottle...then remove the black pump..it just unclicks...then the rubber hose on the pump you will see the filter.. remove the filter...remove the bottle...mine was full of algae ...drain the bottle...then wash out with a high pressure hose...if the filter is blocked clean under a tap with a toothbrush...put everything back...hope it works

fencer50
July 2010

use milton in the screen wash resovoir .
but clean out with clean water ,as milten can damage metal surfaces

jimbob
August 2009

I just sorted this problem on my bmw325i sport 2002 IN THE DARK. EMPTY WASHER BOTTLE BEFORE TRYING THIS. firstly find the pump on the left front corner, (im looking side on from drivers side front wheel) it will have a plug and tube attatched. Pull out plug then twist and pull off tube. now you need to pull up on the pump, it might be stiff but it will come off. dont loose this what ever you do!!! next take out the bolt on the top next to the lid. dont loose the washer. the whole washer container should now lift out. now unplug the little plug on the right hand side. now your container should be free to take away from car. clean this out with simple boiling water from kettle, dont forget water will be hot. there will be a filter in the bottom on the outside where you removed the pump. pull this out and clean this. This is what is slowing down your jets. mine was full of brown dirt, use a toothbrush and hot water. it works really well. once everything is clean reverse these instructions and refill your washer bottle. you should notice jets have more force now. good luck!!

Daniel
July 2009

I just fixed the same problem on my BMW 325 washer. I 1st took the hose off the pump output (at the bottom of the washer reservoir and ran the washers and saw that no water came out of the pump. So I then unclipped the pump cover and that allowed me to rotate the pump and then pulled it out. Where the pump inserts into the bottom of the reservoir there is a rubber seal with a fliter attached (inserted into the base of the reservoir. This black rubber seal and filter then pulls out. Note water will flow out of the reservoir now - so either drain it or do this where you don't mind the water draining. I then used running water and an old tooth brush to clean the fine holes in the filter as it was gunked up with sludge from the washing additive. This was really easy to do. Make sure you remember how to put it all back together again! :)

Chris S
April 2009

I saw a suggestion to add a bottle of white vingegar to the water and leave for a few days. The acidity dissolves the gunge and then it seems to work. Makes the car smell a bit though so flush it through a few times once its working again.

BMW Bob
March 2009

I had the same problem with my M3. I just took the rubber hose off the t piece on the drivers side window and i used an airline to blow the gunk out. NOTE make sur your washer bottle is empty first!

Tricky
February 2009

the wires are for the electrical heating that some bmws have.

topcat
December 2008

Same thing has just happened to me; more than likely there is a build up of gunge at the bottom of the washer bottle due to the wrong screen wash being used. Im afraid the only way to fix it is to clean the whole washer system inc bottle - prob best done by BMW engineer. I initially thought that any old screen was will do, but obviously not!

Adsstar
May 2008

I have the same problem with my 2000 model 320D - I took it apart, there are a couple of wires attached, for what I don't know yet! There is a small red seal of some sort blocking the water from getting through. I removed this and the water now hits the window but unfortunately the unit leaks a bit now. I suppose they are not designed to be taken apart.

RGM
February 2008