BMW owners - Which Washer Fluid?

Pyscho_Si

Pyscho_Si

Pyscho_Si

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Joined
30 Nov 2002
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Bolton
Hi guys,

What washer fluid are the BMW owners in here using?

My front screen jets have just stopped working and been told it may be down to algae in the tank. Because I haven't been using BMW branded fluid it is not covered by the warrenty and going to cost me 80 quid! Not too happy about this. I've always used Holt (costco), Halfords Premium etc.

Was told the stuff which colours the other fluids causes tank to fill with gunk.

SW
 
:p:p:p

Either i am just Ancient & out of touch so far that my whole life has become a Comedy of how things used to be or he is the Best saleman in the world :p
 
I must admit I am a little shocked... i thought washer fluid was washer fluid. I think once it has been fixed I will have to look at the manual and if it doesn't mention this then I'm going to be shouting at BMW UK.
 
I would first phone BMW UK and ask them about this. I must admit when I first got my 530d I used BMW's own brand think it was £2 a bottle but smelt nice but once I used that up I to just used the cheap stuff you get at halfords and garages and never had a problem.

If you pay to get it fixed ask them for the broken parts IE the tubes and see if there is any algae in there...
 
Are they joking? I've used the stuff from Costco since buying my car and haven't had any problems! I do use BMW intensive wash fluid in my intensive wash tank though, because normal washer fluid is too thick for it undiluted. And it uses so little that it's not really expensive.
 
Thank **** for that :p
I really thought it was time to get my walking stick out & lay claim to my Park bench. (Not chosen yet but its shortlisted to one of two benches :D)
 
A similar thing happened to my 325ci, the system became gunked up. I just got my air line and blew through the tubes and it cleared. :)

However had it been under warranty and I didn't have a compressor then I'd have expected it to be fixed by my local dealer.
 
I suppose though at the end of the day, should for whatever reason, algae build up and block your windscreen washers, is this a 'warranty' issue?

When the missus's Astra had that issue, it was definitely down to her using predominantly water with just the odd fill up using washer fluid (i.e. when I topped it up)...
 
I dont use 'BMW fluid' (never heard of it bar the intensive wash stuff) but I also see no reason why dirty algea in the fluid is a warranty issue. If you cant see out of your screen becuase its filthy thats not a warranty issue either.
 
[TW]Fox;11218576 said:
I dont use 'BMW fluid' (never heard of it bar the intensive wash stuff) but I also see no reason why dirty algea in the fluid is a warranty issue. If you cant see out of your screen becuase its filthy thats not a warranty issue either.
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I guess it's a bit of a grey area, but where would you draw the line? If corrosion occurs between a connector and the ECU and the car doesn't start I'd expect that to be repaired. When the washer jets on the 325ci failed it wasn't like you could see any dirt or algae, just lovely pink clean fluid so it wasn't as if it was caused by user error, it was just something that occured naturally like corrosion on a connector.
 
[TW]Fox;11218576 said:
but I also see no reason why dirty algea in the fluid is a warranty issue.
Click to expand...
What is it was a mechanical or manufacturing problem that caused the algae to grow/accumulate?
 
It will simply be a case of your pump has crud in it. About a 10 minute job to fix tops. Then, carry on using whatever fluid you like.
 
If I had used BWM Washer fluid it would have been covered by warrenty.

I've just checked my owners manual and it doesn't mention it anywhere so it is time to call BMW.
 
clv101 said:
What is it was a mechanical or manufacturing problem that caused the algae to grow/accumulate?
Click to expand...

I was told the colouring used in Halfords etc screen wash causes the algae to grow which blocks up the pump... i thought BS ... otherwise you would have a big label on the filler cap
 
I usually get the conc. stuff from Halfords and dilute it myself, or if i truly CBA, i just buy the regular pre-mixed stuff.
 
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