Headlight washer nozzle

[Toddie]

One of my n/s headlight washer nozzles has just popped out of it’s socket when I was testing them pre MOT test. The spray head pops up etc but one of the nozzles has popped out. It was sat on the drive, it is like a ball with a white nylon hole @ the bottom, does this push back into the socket or is it a new assembly @ lots of dosh?

Any advice would be welcome. Thanks in advance.

[½cwt]

It might push back in, but from experience once they've gone.  They spray more on the surrounding countryside than the lights.  Only long term fix is a whole new washer unit from Porsche ☹️  About £160 each...

Good news is it is a fairly easy fix, once you have the front bumper cover off...

Edited September 21, 2022 by ½cwt

[K.I.T.T.]

The part that you need isn't available separately from Porsche, who'll sell you a whole assembly for £££.

It is available from BMW though - part number 61674290868. £20ish.

[Toddie]

@K.I.T.T., thanks for your reply, is the BMW part that you mention just the spray head ball? If so then I still have the Porsche one that popped out.

@1/2CWT thanks for your reply, I will ring my indie this morning & see what his take on it is. 

[½cwt]

32 minutes ago, Toddie said:

@K.I.T.T., thanks for your reply, is the BMW part that you mention just the spray head ball? If so then I still have the Porsche one that popped out.

@1/2CWT thanks for your reply, I will ring my indie this morning & see what his take on it is. 

His take should be:  'After 20 odd years of UV exposure the plastic goes brittle and combined with frost the ball sockets can split.  Porsche only offer the complete units to replace.' 

Mine had all the jet balls in place but were spraying out around their sockets and also syphoned out the washer tank overnight leaving me without even screen washers.  You can replace some of the bits with the BMW part above given by @K.I.T.T. which I did research doing for mine, but as I could find no specific person who had done it successfully at the time (late 2018), I had to pony up £300 at my OPC for two new units, which as I bought direct from them, I got 10% off, and fitted them myself.  Since then, I have not given them a second thought.  100% reliable on the very rare occasions they get used and passed every MOT without question!

[K.I.T.T.]

*Sigh*

[½cwt]

47 minutes ago, K.I.T.T. said:

*Sigh*

I take it you have had success with the BMW option...? How much of the Porsche part does it replace and how easy is it to do?

[BBB]

5 hours ago, Toddie said:

@K.I.T.T., thanks for your reply, is the BMW part that you mention just the spray head ball? If so then I still have the Porsche one that popped out.

@1/2CWT thanks for your reply, I will ring my indie this morning & see what his take on it is. 

The part @K.I.T.T. mentions is here

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165353747546

 

[map]

16 hours ago, K.I.T.T. said:

The part that you need isn't available separately from Porsche, who'll sell you a whole assembly for £££.

It is available from BMW though - part number 61674290868. £20ish.

31 minutes ago, BBB said:

The part @K.I.T.T. mentions is here

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165353747546

Thanks both - ordered - am fed up of running out of water for the windscreen when the lamp washers drain the tank.

Got a list of niggly jobs to sort on the 986 and this one will get a line drawn through it in the next few weeks.

👍

[K.I.T.T.]

The BMW part number refers to the component on the left, below.

 

It's the exact same part on the 986.

The various how-to threads on BMW forums contain the relevant bits that can be applied to the 986, eg:

https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?1757442-DIY-E46-Headlamp-Washer-Replacement

Edited September 22, 2022 by K.I.T.T.

[½cwt]

Shame, could have saved me a few ££ back in 2018...  The only problem is that twin nozzle part look nothing like the washer jet assembly on a 986.  The balls may be the same part, but the moulded plastic they assemble into is all wrong.  If the plastic assembly has cracked this BWM part won't help, and the 986 assembly seems prety well put together that there is a high risk of breaking it if trying to take it apart.

 

[Toddie]

Thanks to @1/2CWT & @K.I.T.T. For your replies, here is an update. We tried to refit ball nozzle into the existing part but it blew out again, so my indie where the car was being serviced & MOT tested fitted a new one from Porsche. He fitted it without taking the front bumper cover off, all done by taking the headlamp out. The cost of the new part from Indie was £120-06 plus vat. 

[TROOPER88]

8 minutes ago, Toddie said:

Thanks to @1/2CWT & @K.I.T.T. For your replies, here is an update. We tried to refit ball nozzle into the existing part but it blew out again, so my indie where the car was being serviced & MOT tested fitted a new one from Porsche. He fitted it without taking the front bumper cover off, all done by taking the headlamp out. The cost of the new part from Indie was £120-06 plus vat. 

Once they have popped off once, they rarely stay in position. 

Yes, all easily accessible with the headlight assembly out. Tbh, they are very problematic for leaks, as such, I sometimes get asked to cap the feed hose.

Glad you have sorted yours. 

[½cwt]

28 minutes ago, Toddie said:

Thanks to @1/2CWT & @K.I.T.T. For your replies, here is an update. We tried to refit ball nozzle into the existing part but it blew out again, so my indie where the car was being serviced & MOT tested fitted a new one from Porsche. He fitted it without taking the front bumper cover off, all done by taking the headlamp out. The cost of the new part from Indie was £120-06 plus vat. 

Good, fair price.  I mis-led with the bumper off as I now recall I was doing my condensers at the same time as I did my washers, it was an expensive weekend!

Gald it is sorted.