Windscreen washer problem Z4 e89

[acm]

I recently found my filters blocked again when I was checking the car out ready for the MoT. Even though there wasn't any major slime contamination in the washer fluid, some had been left behind in the underside of the top of the reservoir. So, I took the reservoir out and cleaned the blocked filters and reservoir again.

However, a few days later I noticed that the washer fluid level was dropping

It turned out to be the rubber seal for the screen wash pump filter wasn't sealing very well, possibly damaged by the repeated removal of the pump and aged rubber that has lost some of its flexibilty, so I collected replacements for both filters from the local BMW dealer.

While the reservoir was out I thought I'd have another go at getting the slime out completely. I threw some hot water into a large bucket and submerged the reservoir into it along with a few dishwasher tablets.

I left it in there for 24 hours and it came out completely clean with just a few remnants of the slime stuck to the inside. These were easily removed with a flexible bottle cleaner that could be bent to reach the entire inside of the reservoir.

I gave it another rinse in hot water to remove any last traces of dishwasher tablet and the reservoir is pristine. A much better result than steradent or hose pipe with the added bonus of cleaning the entire inside and outside of the reservoir for very little effort

Cheers!
Andy

[Christopher72]

Mine was so gummed up when I bought it, I ordered a new pump, filter, and reservoir bottle. Works like new now, and the bottle white is a nice clean look compared to the yellowed sludge original.

[acm]

Like you did, I was considering replacing the reservoir when I first noticed the fluid level had dropped. When I saw it was just the rubber seal, where the screen wash pump is pushed into that was leaking, I wondered if I could clean the reservoir to completely eliminate the slime and just replace the pump filter with the rubber seals.

Then I remembered being told that putting parts in a dishwasher is a great way to clear grime off them... just don't tell the other half about doing that

I didn't think it would help in cleaning the inside of the reservoir if put into a dishwasher, so I tried submerging it in the bucket of hot water with the dishwasher tablets to see if that would be effective. It worked better than I could have hoped for, so while the plastic looks a little off white it seems to be spotlessly clean.

Let's see if the new filters and seals do the trick for me, otherwise it's time to replace the entire reservoir, and possibly the pump too.

Cheers!
Andy