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View Full Version : Heated Washer Nozzles--Wiring Loom?



MsRN
09-27-2013, 09:36 AM
Those of you who've been around this forum awhile know that I bought an '04 ZHP coupe with an ESS TS supercharger a few years back. Minor hiccups aside, she's a great car, and I plan to keep her awhile longer. She does have her faults, though...

It's my impression that heated washer nozzles are standard on all E46s, and that they're activated by a thermosensor in front of the right wheel well. After my washer nozzles froze up a few times last year, I decided to put investigating that on my 'to-do' list for this summer. Sure enough, I was missing the 'hockey puck' thermosensor, so I picked it up yesterday at my local stealership, along with a new headlight level sensor to replace my broken one. The headlight sensor went in with a few minor hitches (plus I found the 10mm socket I'd lost--yay!). I pushed out the sensor knockout on the plastic panel, dropped the panel to access the unused connector, and found--NO CONNECTOR. I pulled out the washer reservoir to trace every wire I could see, and haven't found a spare pair of wires or connector anywhere. Hence, my questions:

1) Did BMW conceivably make two different wiring looms, one of them without the sensor connector? This seems a stretch to me, as other e46 fans seem to have spare thermosensor connectors coming out their ears. (Plus, heated nozzles are supposed to be standard).

2) If the answer to Q #1 is 'no', where on earth should the dongle I'm searching for be hiding? I'm hoping it didn't get ripped out or cut off at some point, but stranger things have happened.

Thanks,

Michele
8=)

Avetiso
09-29-2013, 11:58 AM
Bump. I can't really help you, but hoping someone else knows this.

MsRN
05-24-2014, 09:11 PM
Alright...I spoke with one of the gurus at the local dealership (he drives an E46 M), who says that the wiring looms are custom-built for each car. In support of this claim, I found that there is no wiring to the back of the fuse that supplies the heated washer nozzles.

Sooo, has anybody mapped out this circuit? I think I'm going to be doing a custom wiring job this summer to get the washer heaters working.

MrMaico
06-21-2014, 11:22 AM
If worse comes to worse just make sure you are buying washer fluid with the lowest freeze temp you can find. Also you can add some alcohol to the fluid to help lower the freeze point even lower.