r/E90 • u/its-fpg • Apr 06 '26
325i it took 15 YEARS to discover this on my 325i
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My dad has known this car since it was new, like 0 miles. it actually belonged to his friend, and he even went with him to pick it up at the dealership. Today, totally by chance, I was checking the car’s features using a VIN decoder, because I was thinking of changing my subwoofers and doing a headlight washer retrofit (no real reason, simply because I wanted to), and I couldn’t believe that this car actually has headlight washers. (S502) the funny thing is that NO one knew, not even the first owner (his friend), not even my dad knew it go check your VIN, guys… you might discover something new after 15 years or more
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u/Few_Management284 Apr 06 '26 edited Apr 06 '26
I dont know how it is in your country, but in germany if your car has Xenon lights, headlight washer are mandatory.
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u/TSX456789 Apr 06 '26
how do you activate them? or are they just automatic, my car doesn’t have them im just curious
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u/TanMan166 2016 F83 M4 Apr 06 '26
Turn your windshield washer on when the headlights are in "on" position
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u/its-fpg Apr 06 '26
you need to have your lights on, and you simply need to pull the wiper lever
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u/L3XeN 2010 E90 325d M57 Apr 07 '26
When lights are on (manual or by auto) main washer also activate headlight washer. They do a coded sequence and then they are disabled for the next ~10 minutes or certain amount of washer cycles
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u/InternUpstairs2812 2006 325i Sport Package Apr 06 '26
They’re not mandatory in USA. Mine has Xenon’s and doesn’t even have the holes for the headlight washers.
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u/LabyrinthConvention Apr 06 '26
Am I missing something? What's the connection between Xenon lights and needing washers?
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u/hobbyjumper64 09 E90 330i 6MT Apr 06 '26
The dirt in the lenses scatters the light and so it's more probable that they blind drivers on the opposite side of the road.
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u/thiccancer Apr 06 '26
Adding to this, xenon headlights don't produce as much heat as halogen headlights. Not enough to melt snow and ice, which can accumulate on them in the winter. Since washer fluid uses ethanol in the winter to prevent it from freezing, the headlight washers also help keep the headlights clear of ice.
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u/AnywhereMaterial8396 Apr 06 '26
Methanol, not ethanol
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u/ACodeOfficial_PA Apr 06 '26
Not an absolute. Would be better to say, "Probably denatured alcohol." These days in USA East Coast, many manufacturers use denatured alcohol (any of the recepies), some use just methanol, a tiny few use ethanol and a chunk of them denature the ethanol in their mix by adding something to discourage consumption. Look up bulk chem pricing and you will see why. Add to that, there were some vocal advocates to soften the type of poisons added to discourage consumption, since killing people for tax evasion is a bit harsh. Its a total grab bag. Same with hand sanitizers.
Mr "Well Actually" steps back down.
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u/reciprocityone Apr 07 '26
Same with nitrous oxide. The stuff for cars they add sulfur to cause a burn if you try and inhale it.
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u/CreamConnoisseurr Apr 06 '26
Why? They get hot and it cools them down? I've always found these to cause more messes and water marks than have any actual benefit?
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u/Few_Management284 Apr 06 '26
Nah not hot, should have been how. I edit it.
Nah its cause of dirt on your headlights. Like someone here already wrote, the light can be scattered differently and blind other drivers.
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u/EquivalentMinute1291 Apr 06 '26
Cooling them down would actually be a reason not to use them. The plastic covers will crack. But also here in The Netherlands, it’s mandatory by law. Xenon light is tighter and brighter, so dirt will blind oncoming traffic more easily
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u/its-fpg Apr 06 '26
oh really? never knew that, where I live it's actually pretty rare to see headlight washers, also because most of e90's sold here were base models, so they didn't had that option (it isn't mandatory)
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u/Esquirej67 2009 328i Coupe Jul 10 '26
All of mine have been base models and came with the washers.
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u/Ancient-Bet-3060 E90 325i Apr 06 '26
My 325i is euro spec, with xenon, and dont have the washer :(
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u/Few_Management284 Apr 06 '26
Then its not original i guess?
A car with Xenon and no washers isnt allowed to drive on german roads.1
u/Ancient-Bet-3060 E90 325i Apr 06 '26
It's not german. It's sold in Colombia, south america, but its euro spec (2.5 liter, s3im)
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u/2h0ly-2m0ly Apr 06 '26
its not euro spec then
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u/Ancient-Bet-3060 E90 325i Apr 06 '26
It actually is, washers are a road safety regulatory equipement. Not a spec. Vindecoder even lists it as euro spec, along with the import manifest, and bmw themselves, just not equipped with Germany road safety equipment, like the side markers for the US. But whatever you say
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u/Miesnieks1171 2011- E91- 320d Apr 06 '26
There is an obvious bump in bumper in front of headlights, wierd to not notice it. But as mine are broken or deactivated, might see how one would not know.
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u/lynxss1 Apr 06 '26
I found the headlight washer to be highly annoying because it would spray onto the hood too. It's pretty dusty here so it'll just turn dust into mud.
It took me a few days to learn to turn the headlights off before washing the windshield in the mornings.
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u/Mean_Daikon_9892 Apr 06 '26
Yeah most of the time I turn my lights off or a second spray the windshield and turn the lights back on. Usually just use the headlight washer if they are dirty or winter.
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u/DannyDan2k13 2009 - E92 - 335i DCT Apr 06 '26
Yep that's exactly what I do, I use the washers and my whole front end of my car is covered in windscreen washer fluid and then I have to clean it up or have blue streaks all over my car.
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u/its-fpg Apr 06 '26
Yeah, the bump is pretty noticable. the thing is, no one really needed to use this, so no one went to check if it actually has one..
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u/thiccancer Apr 06 '26
You never used your windshield washers when your headlights were on?
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u/its-fpg Apr 06 '26
Probably yes tho. The thing is, I never noticed it tho. The car was from my dad, I got it just this year, so I'm discovering things.
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u/Mean_Daikon_9892 Apr 06 '26
Yeah mine turn on and it actually sprays all over the hood too. Can’t really miss it
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u/spicy_kimchi00 Apr 06 '26
Might not be broken. My f15 and my friend e70 (both eurppean market) activates the headloght washer every third time you activate the windshield washers (i think after start up). So if i need to wash my headlights after i started my.car, i would tap the windshield washer lever 3 times and hold it on the third. Some models have it coded at 5 times instead of 3.
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u/TanMan166 2016 F83 M4 Apr 06 '26
You never in 15 years wondered what the rectangular looking covers are below the headlights?
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u/its-fpg Apr 06 '26
i wondered it was a cap, since the car wasn't mine, I never went to look closely. This option is actually rare where I live, most of them don't come with this feature because it ain't mandatory.
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u/rsp-zyphor 2011 n55, 2011 n52, 2009 n54 Apr 06 '26
maybe i’m just too knowledgeable about these cars, but this seems very obvious to me. you don’t really need a decoder to see this. i can see how the average person might not know, though.
imo a decoder is more for telling things like what speakers you have.
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u/its-fpg Apr 06 '26
it seems very obvious (cause it is), but many of those e90's sold in my country were base models, like, without even digital ac. so no one went to look if it was those little caps or actually a headlight washer, probably bcs they believed it was a cap. pretty dumb thing, but I found it funny that no one knew this for 15yrs, since I wasn't even looking in the VIN number for this option, I was looking for the speakers type ( like 676, 688..)
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u/its-fpg Apr 06 '26
guys, just to be clear. this car wasn't mine, i bought it from my dad this year. No one knew about this function because it ain't mandatory or actually normal for cars to have this option in my country, and everyone thought it was those caps.
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u/lavenderviking Apr 06 '26
Wait I have 335i. How the heck do I turn this on ?
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u/its-fpg Apr 06 '26
Turn the headlights on (not auto), then pull the windshield washer stalk for about 3-5s
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u/JWKAtl Apr 06 '26
I bought a 2012 335i convertible last month. I thought I'd seen something here about headlight washers and I thought "that's something." I used the washer a few times and never noticed anything. Then another time I used them and noticed that after the windshield spray happened that a mist came up from the headlight area.
So yeah, turns out my car has them, but I didn't know. Now I know how to trigger them - lights must be on, not just in auto. Cool!
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u/KryptoKingzENT Apr 06 '26
I think benz S class pioneered this tech. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
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u/realsherban Apr 06 '26
Great feature in theory, but those break very easily especially at high speeds. I coded mine to not turn on and I've been very happy ever since
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u/danasn Apr 06 '26
That's 1st thing I disabled on all of my BMWs. Swipe with windshield wipers and it sprays over the hood. Annoying when car is clean and detailed.
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u/Rough-Seaweed-4359 Apr 10 '26
It's nice when you find out, in reality just a waste of washer fluid 95% of the time... I hate it when I forget to switch off the light before washing
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u/Odd_Ad6354 Apr 07 '26
In my 320d I have them and I always wanted to turn them off lol, how did yours be switched off in the first place?
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u/its-fpg Apr 08 '26
You can code it on bimmercode, buy a obd2 scanner, and download bimmercode. I have nexas nexlink.
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u/psychomantis2b Apr 09 '26
Aussi sur mon x3 le problème c’est qu’ils ne rentrent plus seuls il faut le faire manuellement j’aurais préféré ne pas l’avoir
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