E46 Windshield Washer Pump DIY

Think I figured it out.

Originally Posted by WAM

Procedure to change the windshield washer tank or pump on an E46.

Tools needed: 10mm spanner (in toolkit), small-medium flat blade screwdriver

Undo the 10mm nut, highlighted in the red circle. This is the only fastener holding down the washer tank. Lift the tank up about 4", allowing you to unclip the black plastic heatshield around the washer pump. This is where you need the screwdriver, to lift the securing tab from the washer tank (yellow circle). You can actually pull out the complete washer pump from the tank. Just gently pull up, it is a friction fit.

Now unclip the washer level sensor plug (green circle). This clip is a little difficult to figure out. I pulled it hard and it came off. Taking a closer look at it once it was off, I couldn't quite see how to unclip it from its securing catch.

At this point you have removed the washer tank. The two tabs at the bottom of the tank fit into recesses in the body work, in order to secure the tank. There is a filter screen in the tank, where the washer pump plugs into the tank (blue circle). Just pry this up with a screwdriver to remove it. I had bought a new one, just in case. You can see the fluid level sensor socket on the left side of the tank in this pic.

Now unclip the pump connector from the pump. Pinch the tab at the top of the connector. This will unclip the connector from the securing tab. Pull out the water hose from the nozzle on the pump

Replace the pump filter screen into the tank, if necessary. Plug in the new washer pump into the filter screen. Connect the water hose back onto the pump.

Position the washer tank into its approximate location and clip the sensor for the fluid level back into its socket on the tank.

Secure the heatshield back onto the tank.

Now position the washer tank into its secured position and fill with a little water, in order to test the pump out. Fasten the 10mm screw back into the plug.

Really pumped (pun intended!) just did this as my first DIY on daughters 02 330i. Ordered the Bavarian AutoSport for $29 and it took about 3 minutes total, only dropped about 8 oz of washer fluid on the driveway! Thanks for the excellent DIY, hope you are still around after 6 years!

I'm so happy I found this site and post. I bought the replacement washer pump from a local part dealer for $21 that fits exactly into the original bmw electrical wiring. I'd bought one from autozone with a modified wiring so didn't like it.

For those who need this info: my car didn't have any leak, the tank was full and I was able to recycle the fluid during the pump replacement process. I didn't have to change the grommet/filter thingy either.

I like to share my experience with Windshield Waterpump replacement

The fluid from my windshield tank was leaking. I tried looking under the hood, didn't find any obvious leaks. Seemed more like it just disappeared.

So, I searched through the forums and lot of them had succcess with replacement of either the grommet (little strainer) or the windshield pump or both. And many recommended Autozone. I picked a pump from Autozone for $22 (it had no strainer). I tried to install it but the electric plug socket did not match with the old one. The Car's electrical wiring had 2 parallel pins, while the autozone one has the pins at 90 degree angle. I was thinking of connecting the blue/red/black/brown from the main line, but felt that was too much of work. So, I returned it back to Autozone. This was kind of surprising since many of the folks here used the one from autozone. May be autozone changed their design. I asked them, and they carried only one for my 330i 2001.

I ordered one from PelicanParts.com site and the pump ($20) was an identical match to my original including the electrical plug section. The electrical plug-in was a piece of cake. Also ordered the OEM grommet for $4. Am a first time buyer at PelicanParts, which is an awesome site, highly recommend it. They literally shipped it within few hours of the order after I picked the slowest/cheapest possible shipping option :-)

After inspecting the old pump, I saw a hole at the edge of the bottom part. Saw signs of some leak. Maybe that was the culprit.

My car is happy now, can clean well after itself

Again, I love the Bimmerfest website. I learnt much, saved much. Great people very helpful. Awesome.

-Sravan

and ohh, forgot to mention. The spray was pretty powerful, unlike others' experience. The new $20 part could reach as far and strong as the original BMW part

-330i 2001 5-speed manual

heres a dumb question for you guys, How do I drain my resevoir? I know I need to change the pump, but with a full tank of fluid, what is the best course of action?

I just wanted to let everyone know that I've found one of the best OEM parts outlets, and right here in AZ where I live.

After doing some research, I decided to stay with the OEM plug and play washer pump, and was fully prepared to pay 50-70 dollars for the replacement. Then I found this site: http://www.autohausaz.com/

They have the pump for slightly over 20 bucks, and it's the OEM VDO one! I also bought the grommet/strainer for under 4 bucks. IMO, much better than cutting or splicing wires to repair the pump.

I also picked up the OEM wipers from these guys. In all, they will save you big bucks on parts!

well, surprise might be on your side when you get things finally delivered. with mine they sent wrong grommets. I got the refund but not for the shipping back.

Originally Posted by didymos

well, surprise might be on your side when you get things finally delivered. with mine they sent wrong grommets. I got the refund but not for the shipping back.

My order arrived yesterday, parts were perfect and I now have working windshield washers. Sorry you had a bad experience. Maybe they learned from their mistake. When I worked for a dealership as a mechanic, we always had parts confusion.

BTW, i would always recommend buying the rubber grommet, as mine disenagrated when removing it.

Originally Posted by almoula

connect the red and blue to the brown and the black to the white and blue. It should work fine. But i found it to be a weak stream and I would pay more for the strong Siemens VDO one. Your Choice.

the autozone pump comes with 'clamshell' splice connection. I would leave the OEM connector in place and splice into the wires prior to the connector. If you choose to return to OEM pump it would be simply be 'plug & play'...

Not really a 'dumb' question...just not too obvious. You could try to siphon it out with a small hose, making sure the catch container stays below the level of tank. This allows you to save most of the fluid. Or pull the hose off the pump, replace with another hose to drain it into a container (this will take a while). Another option might be to leave the tank full, remove the electrical connections, the mounting bolt and the heat shield, then remove the washer hose from the pump, cover the pump outlet with a finger and lift the tank, pump and all, out then dump the fluid into a container of your choice...

Esctuning has an aftermarket pump available for $4.95. The screen was about two bucks. For under $20, I had the parts to my house in two days. So far, works like a champ and no more wet garage floor!

Hey all!
Im in need of some quick advice, please!
I did exactly what was said above and ordered the recommended pump. I ordered the pump online at amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/2001-2005-330i...0777523&sr=8-2) and even the grommet for a couple extra pesos. The thing of it is Im not 100% sure that this actually did anything at all.

**QUICK NOTE** When I was disassembling I noticed that that my car has actually 2 different pumps and i cannot find a DYI in regards to the 2 pumps. When pulling the lever I can hear the one that I DID NOT replace running but the one that I DID fix is still not making any noises.

I went back and rechecked everything over again and Im all plugged in. The actual new part did not click in as smooth and I had force it in (if that makes a difference) I did however look at both sensor and pumps and noticed that they did look almost exactly alike before clipping them in.

Initially, I did have a leaking problem and no water was being jetted from the tank onto my windows. My sensor in my car kept going off and hopefully now it will not leak anymore after replacing the grommet. I just changed it a little while ago and added some water to it so lets see if the leaking stops, I should know by tomorrow.



What is this extra pump? and Why is my new pump not making any noise? Could it be the actual sensor plug? Any advice would be more than helpful Help this lady out! lol

Sounds like you have a headlight washer pump, and "may" have replaced the wrong pump?

Originally Posted by brittsiana

Hey all!
Im in need of some quick advice, please!
I did exactly what was said above and ordered the recommended pump. I ordered the pump online at amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/2001-2005-330i...0777523&sr=8-2) and even the grommet for a couple extra pesos. The thing of it is Im not 100% sure that this actually did anything at all.

**QUICK NOTE** When I was disassembling I noticed that that my car has actually 2 different pumps and i cannot find a DYI in regards to the 2 pumps. When pulling the lever I can hear the one that I DID NOT replace running but the one that I DID fix is still not making any noises.

I went back and rechecked everything over again and Im all plugged in. The actual new part did not click in as smooth and I had force it in (if that makes a difference) I did however look at both sensor and pumps and noticed that they did look almost exactly alike before clipping them in.

Initially, I did have a leaking problem and no water was being jetted from the tank onto my windows. My sensor in my car kept going off and hopefully now it will not leak anymore after replacing the grommet. I just changed it a little while ago and added some water to it so lets see if the leaking stops, I should know by tomorrow.



What is this extra pump? and Why is my new pump not making any noise? Could it be the actual sensor plug? Any advice would be more than helpful Help this lady out! lol

Originally Posted by smnasr

Sounds like you have a headlight washer pump, and "may" have replaced the wrong pump?

Nope no headlight washer. I mean not one working on my car that I have seen. Its actually a lot larger than on the other pump (grommet and all) Ive never used it in any case and have never witnessed it working, even when pulling lever though that motor still operates but no watery results.

I am almost tempted to purchase another pump from another site and see if that does the trick

Does your pumps motor actually make a noise?

That's exactly why I went with the OEM part from www.autohausaz.com. It was an exact match for the one I took off.

There is an audible sound when I pull the lever. It will spray over the top of the windshield with the top down...

The windshield pump was 22 and change, plus shipping.

I would check the hoses for clogging (calcium, etc) and the fuses also. Hope it's not the switch itself, as I think that entails removing the steering wheel and a lot of wiring to be careful of.

Good luck.

P.S. Since I live in AZ, when they ship to me, I always get the parts the next day...

Originally Posted by brittsiana

Nope no headlight washer. I mean not one working on my car that I have seen. Its actually a lot larger than on the other pump (grommet and all) Ive never used it in any case and have never witnessed it working, even when pulling lever though that motor still operates but no watery results.

I am almost tempted to purchase another pump from another site and see if that does the trick

Does your pumps motor actually make a noise?

Originally Posted by smnasr

That's exactly why I went with the OEM part from www.autohausaz.com. It was an exact match for the one I took off.

There is an audible sound when I pull the lever. It will spray over the top of the windshield with the top down...

The windshield pump was 22 and change, plus shipping.

I would check the hoses for clogging (calcium, etc) and the fuses also. Hope it's not the switch itself, as I think that entails removing the steering wheel and a lot of wiring to be careful of.

Good luck.

P.S. Since I live in AZ, when they ship to me, I always get the parts the next day...

Super excited! So after some thought and a good nights rest I figured Id get up and try it again. I know that I do not have headlight blades, nor the actual spritz nob in front, so I knew that a pump would not be the culprit. Turns out my special little car (with factory MODS) did come equipped with a lot of gadgets made for my model but are not actually in working condition. Im assuming that if this is something that I considered installing that it would be there and ready for use.

ANYHOW, I had this funny feeling that it was odd when I did pull the lever that only one of my pumps was actually operating and it wasnt my new one! So, today was a beautiful day out and even though I just painted my nails I was determined to get to the bottom of this. hahaha
Took out the tank and started taking apart the sensor from that and then I unplugged the sensor and tested them at one at a time on the pumps. Turns out that the actual sensor that goes into the pump is not working! Considering that I do not need a headlight sensor I said frigg it and just plugged it into the window washer pump. Took the tank plugged it all back together and voilà !! the fluid was being dispensed onto my windows.

Finally no more lights on my dashboard! (knock on wood) & oh yeah the grommet took car of that leak problem. Did all this without even chipping the paint on my nails! Thanks smnasr for your insight!

Good work! Glad you figured it out...

Originally Posted by brittsiana

Super excited! So after some thought and a good nights rest I figured Id get up and try it again. I know that I do not have headlight blades, nor the actual spritz nob in front, so I knew that a pump would not be the culprit. Turns out my special little car (with factory MODS) did come equipped with a lot of gadgets made for my model but are not actually in working condition. Im assuming that if this is something that I considered installing that it would be there and ready for use.

ANYHOW, I had this funny feeling that it was odd when I did pull the lever that only one of my pumps was actually operating and it wasnt my new one! So, today was a beautiful day out and even though I just painted my nails I was determined to get to the bottom of this. hahaha
Took out the tank and started taking apart the sensor from that and then I unplugged the sensor and tested them at one at a time on the pumps. Turns out that the actual sensor that goes into the pump is not working! Considering that I do not need a headlight sensor I said frigg it and just plugged it into the window washer pump. Took the tank plugged it all back together and voilà !! the fluid was being dispensed onto my windows.

Finally no more lights on my dashboard! (knock on wood) & oh yeah the grommet took car of that leak problem. Did all this without even chipping the paint on my nails! Thanks smnasr for your insight!

Hey All,
A big heads up - my 2003 330xi has two washer pumps. Even though my car DOES NOT have headlight washers it does have the bigger headlight washer pump installed anyway!!

I didn't know this, thinking here's the pump - so I pulled it and replaced it - and it still didn't work. I should've done this first but I put a volt meter to the connection and nothing. Why would BMW install a headlight washer pump if there's not one? Easier to upgrade or add an option I suspect...

I thought maybe a fuse was out but couldn't find a broken one. Scratching my head for a few days and I took a closer look and found the other smaller pump hidden behind the reservoir!!!

So beware, I even bought the autozone one recommended and took it back because it was way too small.

So heads up on me being a bone head, hope it dosen't happen to you!

By the way here's a link for the exact fit one on ebay for $9.99 including shipping!!!!


http://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-3-M-X-Z-...item5195fff2d9

Cheers,
jeff
2003 330xi 90k miles

Awesome to hear that I wasnt the only one running into this same complication. I suppose this is just an added feature so if you ever decided you wanted to upgrade it was already there.

We must of ran into literally the same exact problem and figured it out on our own

I, unfortunately, didnt have a voltage tester so I just played around with it haha. I am almost positive thats my problem and the same thing with the fuses. THEY ARE ALL GOOD. The actually sensor itself must be bad. But who cares cause we arent using it!


Glad it work out. Have a great holiday!

I just did mine today. I just wanted to share some things :

- I didn't have to remove the reservoir. Just removing the bolt gave me access to the pump and I was able to remove it without any problem.

- In my case, even if I changed the pump and the washer, just changing the washer would have fix my problem. My pump was still working perfectly but the problem was it was always leaking and I didn't know where was the leak.

Took me 5 minutes because I didn't remove the reservoir.

I just paid $87 at the dealer for the pump and grommet. It took less than 5 mins to swap out the old one.

Originally Posted by clee11

For those of who have leaking issues, not the pump, you can simply replace the gasket (grommet) and you are good to go!
I just got mine replaced and it took less than 5 min; part number 61667006063, $2.02 @ Tischer BMW

I'm going to try this out later today.

Thanks Wam for pictures. EZ 1 brew job. Used Autozone and it was fine for the price. Clean out your washer jets at windshield with a pin to improve flow. The Driver side jet never squirted that well with either pump.

Just a note that a mechanic doing a state inspection just prior to me noticing a blue puddle on my garage floor from the leaking pump indicated that I had a "seeping rack and pinion boot" and that the boot would need replaced on the passenger side front. Didn't rush into fixing it and 2 days later started having the blue puddle on garage floor from the leaking washer pump. Noticed when looking under car that the washer fluid was leaking right over the rack and pinion boot and dripping off it. HMMMMM...... Don't think I am going to rush into replacing that boot right now as it was just the washer fluid starting to leak and make it look wet.

Sweet!!!...
Thanks for the post!