[ZachO]

Hey all,

How often do you have to refill your windshield washer fluid? I have a 2013 535i and I just topped it off last week and I only used it maybe 3-4 times this week and the headlight washers came on once and I feel like I should have to put a lot back in but I did today.
I haven’t seen any puddles the ground so maybe there’s a leak, or I’m crazy and not used to having headlight washers.

[Trian]

Had that problem with my 2015. Bought a new washer fluid reservoir cap for $10 from the dealer, and no more evaporation - problem solved.

[Surly73]

Originally Posted by ZachO

Hey all,

How often do you have to refill your windshield washer fluid?

I probably use two tanks in the winter, half a tank all summer.

[wcr3d]

The tank is about a gallon in size and not located where you would think it would be.
It is in the fender just before the door.
These have been known to crack and leak.
As mentioned above, evaporation may be your trouble too.
As for the headlight washers, they only cycle every fifth time if I remember correctly.
One tank lasts me all year. It's washed often. :-)

[lsturbointeg]

I always make sure my windshield washer reservoir is topped off. But more importantly you also have to make sure your blinker fluid is topped off as well! God forbid you can't make a right turn cause you're out of blinker fluid oh, don't forget to make you get amber fluid or else it won't flash the right color!

[Breach]

Hmmm... I go through a tank in a month or so - maybe I have a problem too. Btw, if I remember correctly, the headlights washer only activates if the low beams are on. If you want to conserve fluid, you may want to turn them off before hitting the stalk.

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by lsturbointeg

...But more importantly you also have to make sure your blinker fluid is topped off as well! God forbid you can't make a right turn cause you're out of blinker fluid oh, don't forget to make you get amber fluid or else it won't flash the right color!

ABSOLUTELY!!! You need this (my dealer has it):

[NGAAutoTV]

Originally Posted by Trian

Had that problem with my 2015. Bought a new washer fluid reservoir cap for $10 from the dealer, and no more evaporation - problem solved.

Agreed. I had the same issue and a new cap fixed it for about 1.5 years. It's slowly happening again. Seems the exhaust manifold heat is damaging the cap.

[cdmulders]

Originally Posted by ezaircon4jc

ABSOLUTELY!!! You need this (my dealer has it):

I was thinking the exact same thing. We need more of that around here too, 'cause many of the retired folk in my neighbourhood have empty blinker fluid reservoirs.

[Qsilver7]

To the OP...as mentioned by some forum members above...this is a "commonly" not so common issue with reservoir lids that are failing to prevent the washer fluid from evaporating from heat in the engine bay.

One way to tell is to raise the hood right after shut down and take a look around the washer reservoir and on the hood above the lid of the reservoir and look for condensation or wet spots or any type of wetness. You have to look immediately because if you wait...any tell tale signs of evaporation will have dried up...thus causing the mystery for owners that notice there reservoirs are emptying out faster than usage of washer fluid.

You can also do a simple google search using a term like "BMW washer fluid evaporating lid" to see results of other BMW owners and measure their experience to yours and a possible solution to your issue (like mentioned above...buy a new lid).

[AussieBob]

To answer your question, never, but only when the filler cap is new and doesn't vent the boiling away windshield washer fluid.

[Luky]

Had this issue on my e90. Turns out the gasket/seals used on the pump where it mounts to the bottle deteriorate and it seeps from there. Dealer replaced the pump under my cpo warranty. I noticed large usage of fluid on my f10 a few months ago as I constantly get low fluid light. I had added 1 gallon+ to top it off. Only used the washers 3 times in a few weeks and got a low fluid light. I filled it to the brim and closed the cap before a business trip. Came back after two weeks and it was down about 3". This is parked in my garage. Seems way to much just for evaporation....

[AussieBob]

Originally Posted by Luky

Had this issue on my e90. Turns out the gasket/seals used on the pump where it mounts to the bottle deteriorate and it seeps from there. Dealer replaced the pump under my cpo warranty. I noticed large usage of fluid on my f10 a few months ago as I constantly get low fluid light. I had added 1 gallon+ to top it off. Only used the washers 3 times in a few weeks and got a low fluid light. I filled it to the brim and closed the cap before a business trip. Came back after two weeks and it was down about 3". This is parked in my garage. Seems way to much just for evaporation....

The evaporation is constant once the temperature is over 100 deg.C, which is pretty quick with the modern cooling system thermostat controls. The evaporation process is the driving force of all distillation techniques for the manufacture of whisky. For the F10 windshield washer bottle and filler pipe design, the look of it and it's orientation looks very much like a Spirit Still. No matter where things are put, or what they are implemented with, you cannot change the laws and natural processes of science and nature.

I as well as many other BMW owners with disappearing washer fluid have noticed its stops disappearing as soon as you replace the filler cap with a new one that does it's job of sealing the filler pipe shut. My 25 year old E36 M3 has the bottle in the engine bay with no filler pipe arrangement, just a loose fitting cap on the top of the bottle, and guess what?, it never has washer fluid magically disappear, why?, because the bottle design is not a Spirit Still.

Bavarians drink beer, but if they drank whisky I guess they would be good at manufacturing it.