We had a cold morning today in the UK (please, no comments from people in proper countries where you get REALLLLY cold weather, everything is relative!!). It was -6.0 oC, so I started the car running for a good 15 minutes to defrost everything before I had to leave. Most things were fairly decently defrosted, so off I went. After about 10 minutes of driving the windscreen was quite mucky from all the spray off the road, so i tried to clean it - no water! The water jets were frozen. I thought they should have been heated and would have defrosted along with the mirrors and rear window, so I pushed that button again. 10 minutes later, still no water. Pushed the button for a third time after it clicked off. After a fairly long commute due to a detour, I got to work after about 50 minutes of driving and the windscreen jets were STILL frozen. Just a dribble of water coming out.

I am sure that my previous E60 would squirt water just after a few minutes. So;

1) Should the E60 have heated windscreen jets?
2) If so, when should they heat, all the time or only when the rear window/mirror defroster is on?

Before I go off to the dealer to have this looked at, I'd appreciate any input ... any of you guys in -6.0 oC or colder having the same problem as me?

I have the previous model and they are heated. I would think that the LCI is at least of the same standard. Have a quick look under the bonnet and see if there are wires in the area of the spray units. If there are a visit to dealer is on the cards.

Do they sell the anti-freeze filling in the UK ? I bet they do.

Found this topic about the same thing here

http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showtopic=...mp;#entry201368

It's cold(er) here in Scandinavia this week (I had to shoot at least three ice bears just to get my morning paper, and I won't tell you how difficult it was to find my car, buried in the frozen tundra deep underneath my small igloo) so I'll give it a try to see if it works for me.

Otherwise I always try to avoid using the washer jets in the cold, not because of the jets, but the windscreen wipers doesn't like the treatment, not to mention the windscreen's reaction when small gravel get smeared all over the place. :blink:

Thanks, and for the link to the other thread - seems that nobody really came up with a difinitive answer. Still, I have phoned my dealer, they said it's not working properly, so I'm taking the car in tomorrow.

There is only one thing worse than using your wipers and spraying water on them when the windscreen is covered in grit. And that is using your wipers and having NO WATER SPRAY, and hearing the wipers going "scrape / crunch" as they smear and grind the grit in to your dry windscreen !!

Just a quick thought (talking to myself here...). In the morning when it is cold, I use the "start engine, switch off, remove key, start engine without key" trick, so i can go in the house and leave the car running whilst being able to lock it and take the keys back in the house with me. When I get back to the car, I put the key in the slot but it is still running in "key not in slot" mode. I wonder whether that could make any difference... maybe not all systems power on when starting the car without the key?

Our washer jets is heated, and work just fine in freezing tempratures, but our is not a LCI...

BTW: Your start-engine procedure -6C, is NOT good for your car and the enviroment. Letting the engine idle for 15 min in -6C is no good... Pre heat, start it, and drive !

I've an electric heater installed, and use it every morning.. It's connected for 2 hours, and when I start the car, i reach operating temprature quite fast :) If you don't have an electric socket close to your car, consider a Webasto diesel heater - better for you, the car and the enviroment :)

Actually I expect running the car on idle for 15 minutes before driving is considerably better for it than just getting in when it's so cold and shooting down the motorway before everything can "lube up!". My car is outside on the driveway, hence the reason it's so cold. In the UK, our plug sockets tend to be on the inside of the house. I spend half of my morning driving in stop-start traffic, in essence "idling" for 30 minutes, so the extra 15 minutes before I set off really isn't a big deal.

And, technically, because I am contributing to global warming, this will mean that in a few years it won't be -6.0 oC in the morning, meaning I will no longer have to pre-heat my car, so it will all balance out in the end. And not only will we not need to preheat our cars once global warming kicks in nicely, but we will use less central heating, thus even further reducing pollution. So actually by preheating my car I am doing my bit for future generations. If my parents had been more considerate and polluted more, I would be waking up to 25oC sunshine, not -6.0oC ice.

Russ, this may be a silly question but did you happen to refill the resevoir with plain water at any time throughout the year?

I get through a lot of washer fluid ... it gets topped up probably once every 2 weeks. But the car is only a few months old. However, we _always_ use proper fluid (with built in anti freeze), dilluted to the correct proportion.

The pipes weren't frozen as water was dribbling out the end. The nozzles themselves were quite clearly covered in visible ice.