And Another Case of Wet Feet !
Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2018 7:39 pm
This morning a young lady called to my house to show me her newly aquired E70 (2008) and to ask for some advice on a " little " problem she had encountered. When I asked what this was she told me her windscreen washer wasn't working despite having put nearly 5 gals in the reservoir . She couldn't see a leak anywhere but noticed her feet were getting a little wet.
OMG ! Here we go again. Do I tell her what has happened , send her on her merry way to Mr BMW where she will get the biggest ride of her life or do the good samaritain and help her. Having seen this problem numerous times before and having said numerous things under my breath about what I would do the little pri.k that decided it was good practise to route the water pipe for the rear window through the interior of the cabin amongst all the cables where there are numerous electronic modules and to then put a push on connector joint half way back under the carpet just beggars belief.
Anyway, decided to help her out as I'd done it 4 times in the past and know my way around in there. Any of you fellow E70 owners that have suffered the wet footwell will know what a royal pain in the ar.e it is to fix.
For anyone who doesn't know the hose in question begins it's journey at the reservoir behind the front right wheel. It then goes through the sidewall and then through the bulkhead behind the pedals. It then travels towards the pass side behind the centre console and then down the pass side under the seat and into the rear left pass compartment where the push in connector is located. Out of the 4 I've encountered only once had the connector popped. Normally it's where the hose enters the bulkhead that the problem is.
Anyhow she left the x5 and went home. First job is to remove the passenger seat in order to move the carpet out of the way for inspection ( the drivers seat also needs to be removed to facilitate drying out the under carpet). Next remove the door rubber and trim and voila first thing to see was her 5 gals of washer fluid. At least an inch deep throughout the cabin. After lifting the carpet you will find several bungs in the floor and remove as many as possible to drain all the fluid .
Lift the carpet next in the rear pass footwell and locate more bungs and inspect the hose where its joined here. If the joint is ok don't even bother looking for the broken hose ! Just order a new one ( part no. 61687300356 ) this is a new hose section from this joint to the connector at the reservoir.
At this stage with new hose in hand I usually route it across the rear of the engine bay and not through the drivers footwell as originally routed. Next remove the pollen filters and down on the right you will find a cable entry through the bulkhead where you can make a small hole in the plastic to shove the hose through followed by a dab of Tech 7 to seal it.
Now you can run the new hose along with the old hose and clip it with small cable ties. I usually fish the hose along in the door channel so if it let's go again at least the cabin won't flood. When connected to the push in connector I tape it up and shove it down through one of the bung holes just to be sure.
Unfortunately you still have a soaked under carpet and unless you want to remove the centre console leave it be. Loads of old newspapers and a blow dryer will dry up most of the remaining water followed by a dehumidifier when everything is back together.
End of rant.
OMG ! Here we go again. Do I tell her what has happened , send her on her merry way to Mr BMW where she will get the biggest ride of her life or do the good samaritain and help her. Having seen this problem numerous times before and having said numerous things under my breath about what I would do the little pri.k that decided it was good practise to route the water pipe for the rear window through the interior of the cabin amongst all the cables where there are numerous electronic modules and to then put a push on connector joint half way back under the carpet just beggars belief.
Anyway, decided to help her out as I'd done it 4 times in the past and know my way around in there. Any of you fellow E70 owners that have suffered the wet footwell will know what a royal pain in the ar.e it is to fix.
For anyone who doesn't know the hose in question begins it's journey at the reservoir behind the front right wheel. It then goes through the sidewall and then through the bulkhead behind the pedals. It then travels towards the pass side behind the centre console and then down the pass side under the seat and into the rear left pass compartment where the push in connector is located. Out of the 4 I've encountered only once had the connector popped. Normally it's where the hose enters the bulkhead that the problem is.
Anyhow she left the x5 and went home. First job is to remove the passenger seat in order to move the carpet out of the way for inspection ( the drivers seat also needs to be removed to facilitate drying out the under carpet). Next remove the door rubber and trim and voila first thing to see was her 5 gals of washer fluid. At least an inch deep throughout the cabin. After lifting the carpet you will find several bungs in the floor and remove as many as possible to drain all the fluid .
Lift the carpet next in the rear pass footwell and locate more bungs and inspect the hose where its joined here. If the joint is ok don't even bother looking for the broken hose ! Just order a new one ( part no. 61687300356 ) this is a new hose section from this joint to the connector at the reservoir.
At this stage with new hose in hand I usually route it across the rear of the engine bay and not through the drivers footwell as originally routed. Next remove the pollen filters and down on the right you will find a cable entry through the bulkhead where you can make a small hole in the plastic to shove the hose through followed by a dab of Tech 7 to seal it.
Now you can run the new hose along with the old hose and clip it with small cable ties. I usually fish the hose along in the door channel so if it let's go again at least the cabin won't flood. When connected to the push in connector I tape it up and shove it down through one of the bung holes just to be sure.
Unfortunately you still have a soaked under carpet and unless you want to remove the centre console leave it be. Loads of old newspapers and a blow dryer will dry up most of the remaining water followed by a dehumidifier when everything is back together.
End of rant.
