Fixing Disintegrated Windshield Washer Hoses in Engine Bay

[peter540]

My windshield washer hoses on my '03 540 are very brittle and finally broke in the section under the hood.

Question: what do most of you do to repair this problem? Do you buy the entire replacement hose setup, or do you just splice in tubing where it seems worst (i.e. in the engine bay)?

I was thinking of doing the latter, but I'm hearing it's a pain to remove and replace the tubing where it runs through the hood, so now I'm contemplating just buying the whole setup and doing it once, to OEM standards.

Thoughts?

--Peter

[ChrisMelnyk]

I say buy the assembly. It's surprisingly reasonable ($50) for BMW standards.

The body shop that painted my hood broke the hoses (and grill....) and I'm just waiting until the weather is better to tackle this. I do have some hose that I bought (don't remember the spec or where I bought it) that is on there now as a temporary fix. It's held up fine, but I want to do it properly.

[StephenVA]

Buy the entire hose system for under hood (there are two upper ones and one lower set of hoses if your). Note If you have intensive washer system (small bucket under the hood) you need the corresponding hoses. If your nozzles are original, I would recommend replacing them at the same time as they fail in one of two ways: Check valve breaks and the leak or back flow into the intensive bucket or the heater dies one cold morning and you SOL in the salt spray drive to or from work.

Some will post that all you nee are 20' of fish tank hoses and you can built your own systems to meet your own needs. True if you like the spaghetti under the hood.

Helpful?

[djb2]

You can use irrigation tubing, which almost indistinguishable from the original hose.

[peter540]

Thanks, guys! All very helpful. I think I'm going to buy the assembly. Best source? So far, I've checked trusty FCP/Euro but nowhere else yet.

--P

[sienayr]

I replaced only the broken section under the hood by splicing in a few inches of aquarium tubing that I had on hand. The rest was still pliable on mine. Didn’t seem worth it to me to replace all of it when only a small section had dried out and cracked. Took about 20 minutes.

[ViolinARC]

I replaced only the broken section under the hood by splicing in a few inches of aquarium tubing that I had on hand. The rest was still pliable on mine. Didn’t seem worth it to me to replace all of it when only a small section had dried out and cracked. Took about 20 minutes.

+1...UNLESS the hose is uber brittle and keeps crumbling every time you touch it. I was able to reuse the old silicon vacuum tubing that I had just replaced to patch the parts of the hose that weren't totally disintegrating...works perfectly!

[Dave Sal]

Thanks, guys! All very helpful. I think I'm going to buy the assembly. Best source? So far, I've checked trusty FCP/Euro but nowhere else yet.

--P

Hoping you can take some pics during your DIY and post them up. I've never come across this topic with any pics.

[peter540]

Hoping you can take some pics during your DIY and post them up. I've never come across this topic with any pics.

Check out e39 Source's YouTube video on this very topic. These guys have put together a number of pretty good DIYs. https://youtu.be/f71k8Zf1xHI

--P

- - - Updated - - -

Hoping you can take some pics during your DIY and post them up. I've never come across this topic with any pics.

Check out e39 Source's YouTube video on this very topic. These guys have put together a number of pretty good DIYs. https://youtu.be/f71k8Zf1xHI

--P

[jmc1590]

Thanks, guys! All very helpful. I think I'm going to buy the assembly. Best source? So far, I've checked trusty FCP/Euro but nowhere else yet.

--P

I replaced the entire hose assembly about a year ago. I seem to remember that one of the online BMW houses had the best price. (Husker - BMWDirectparts.com or Tisher - GetBMWParts.com) A quick look this morning shows Part #61608364200 at ~$40. FCP has it on sale for ~$30. That's where I'd go if I were doing this again.

[RyansBMW]

I replaced mine last winter. Bought the assembly from FCP. Lifetime warranty if it ever breaks again (which I doubt it will- original hoses lasted 15 years)

[peter540]

I replaced the entire hose assembly about a year ago. I seem to remember that one of the online BMW houses had the best price. (Husker - BMWDirectparts.com or Tisher - GetBMWParts.com) A quick look this morning shows Part #61608364200 at ~$40. FCP has it on sale for ~$30. That's where I'd go if I were doing this again.

Thanks! Mine has the CWP, which was $40 at FCP/Euro. Ordered this morning. I'll be glad to get this fixed. Non-critical problem, but it's surprising how often I mindlessly use the windshield washers. Now I have to restrain myself, since all I'm doing at the moment is dousing the engine bay.

--P

[Dave Sal]

Check out e39 Source's YouTube video on this very topic. These guys have put together a number of pretty good DIYs. https://youtu.be/f71k8Zf1xHI
--P
- - - Updated - -

Thanks!

[peter540]

Just replaced the washer hose assembly. It ended up being harder than I expected. A couple of key takeaways:

* The e39 Source video failed to mention that the length of hose running down to the reservoir/pump needs to be re-used. At least in my case, the new assembly didn't include this piece. Without it, the harness isn't long enough to wind up and around to the far (driver side) nozzle.

* It was harder than expected to route the hose to the driver side nozzle INSIDE the hood panel. In my car's case, clearly the hood had been replaced at some point long ago, and when that work was done, they ran the hoses OUTSIDE the hood panel. At least it's nice to know it's done right.

--Peter

[computiNATEor]

I used a stiff wire to run the hoses in the hood panel.

That last remaining hose is like $7, but is a bit annoying to install.

[geargrinder]

Surprised no plug for "go to E60 nozzzelzerz while yer at it!" in this thread... Of course that's more complicated hassles if you got intensive warsh...

[sienayr]

K.i.s.s.

[crazy4trains]

Surprised no plug for "go to E60 nozzzelzerz while yer at it!" in this thread... Of course that's more complicated hassles if you got intensive warsh...

Not a plug, just information. I put the E60 nozzles in some time ago. Was not nearly the "upgrade" I was expecting. I was hoping for a fan spray pattern but that's not what I got.

Original E39 nozzles:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAVYeoaVrc0

E60 nozzles:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tBKkTCQxQ0

[peter540]

Yeah, and I have the CWP (Cold Weather Package) with the intensive wash, so harder to do the e60 upgrade. Honestly, didn't even know about it, anyway, and I've not had cause to complain about the current setup.

--P

[StephenVA]

Ok, that mod does not appear to offer any real time improvements.....

[philly98540]

It's an improvement over the E39 nozzles, but it's not perfect. At speed it makes a better difference than while parked.

[crazy4trains]

It's an improvement over the E39 nozzles, but it's not perfect. At speed it makes a better difference than while parked.

I would agree. My nozzles were essentially siezed and couldn't be redirected which is what instigated the upgrade to the E60 nozzles.

[computiNATEor]

It's an improvement over the E39 nozzles, but it's not perfect. At speed it makes a better difference than while parked.

+1. It's a much bigger deal when moving.