Bosch washing machine fault codes
Bosch washing machines show faults as an E or an F followed by two digits, and the prefix does not change the meaning — Bosch state plainly that E18 and F18 are the same fault, and their own article titles run all four renderings together as E17 / E00-17 / F17 / F00-17, so whichever of the four your display shows, it is one code. The thing worth knowing before you look anything up is how little of this Bosch put on their own website. Bosch UK publish exactly five washing machine codes: E16, E18, E23, E32 and E33. Their parent company BSH holds fifty for the same machines, in Bosch-branded form, on their own document servers, and the other forty-five are simply not linked from bosch-home.co.uk. Everything on this hub beyond those five is drawn from that set, and we say so on each page, because a reader who checks the Bosch site and finds nothing should know why. It also means most of the Bosch "master tables" circulating online are inventions: E01, E02, E03, E04, E09, E11 and E35 are published by no BSH brand we could find. E34 appears only on Bosch’s US error index, where it is grouped with E16 as the same door fault, and the E:10 family is the i-DOS dosing pump on newer displays rather than a communications fault.
Where the code shows on a Bosch
Which form you see depends on the display, not the fault. Three-digit displays show E18 or F18, and Bosch’s own documentation treats E18, E00-18, F18 and F00-18 as one article. Five-digit displays on newer Home Connect machines use a two-part code such as E:30/-10, where the first part is the subsystem and the second narrows the cause — E:30/-10 is low water pressure, E:30/-20 is too much detergent or a failed solenoid, E:30/-80 is a drain restriction. If your machine shows a code in that format, do not look up just the first half. Several things people arrive here looking for are not codes at all. A key symbol or the letters CL mean the child lock is on, and Bosch call that one of the most common problems on their machines. Bosch UK publish three ways off it, by model: hold Start for three to five seconds until it beeps and the key disappears; hold "rpm" and "finished in" together for about three seconds; or on touch-screen models hold the square key button marked "3 sec" for three seconds. Bosch’s own instruction manual gives the same combination as Spin speed and Ready in held for about three seconds, and adds that a flashing key means the lock is on and the selector has been moved — turn it back to the original programme. A tap symbol means the tap is not fully open, the supply hose is kinked or trapped, or the water pressure is too low and the inlet filter wants cleaning. A foam symbol means too much foam was detected and an extra rinse has been added — use less detergent next time with the same load. A flashing "end" is not a fault: Bosch publish that under E32 and say so in terms — the balance check abandoned the spin.
How to reset a Bosch
Bosch publish one general reset and it is short. For any indicator or symbol not listed in the fault table, their instruction manual says to switch the appliance off, wait for 5 seconds, then switch it back on, and to call after-sales service if it appears again. Neff’s UK pages for the same platform say the same thing in fewer words for E18 and E20 — "carry out a reset by turning the machine on and off". For anything that persists, switch off at the socket and pull the plug rather than relying on the front panel. Where Bosch publish an owner procedure instead — cleaning the drain pump, clearing the outlet hose, cleaning the inlet and AquaStop filters — the procedure is the remedy and a reset will not substitute for it. Their drain pump procedure ends with a step worth copying on any machine you have had the pump cover off: pour a litre of water into the detergent drawer and run the drain or pumping programme, so you find a badly seated cover on your kitchen floor rather than behind the machine.
Most common Bosch faults
The Bosch codes people look up most.
- E18Get it checkedThe machine could not pump out in the time allowed. Bosch point at the filter and the drain hose, and warn that the water you are about to release may be scalding.
- E17Get it checkedProblems with the water connection: tap, kinked hose, blocked inlet filter or low pressure. Bosch’s AquaStop hose has a filter at the tap end most owners do not know about.
- E23Stop — call an engineerWater has been detected in the base of the machine and the AquaStop system has cut in. Bosch say to turn the tap off immediately and stop using it until it is repaired.
- E32Usually simple to fixAn unbalanced load, and Bosch headline it as the machine flashing "end" at the end of the programme. They state outright that this is not a fault.
Every Bosch fault code
14 published codes. Filtering happens in the page — every one is in the HTML.
Showing 14 of 14 codes
Bosch models
Codes can differ between generations. Check yours.
Guides that help with Bosch faults
How to reset a washing machine, and what it will not fix
What each manufacturer says about resetting, how long to wait, the codes where a reset is the wrong move, and the displays that only look like faults.Read the guideWashing machine repairs you can do yourself — where to stop
No law stops you repairing your own washing machine, so the line is drawn by what is inside the cabinet. Where it falls, and the recall to check first.Read the guideHow to find your washing machine’s model and serial number
The rating plate is in one of three places, and the brand decides which. Where each manufacturer says to look, and which of the numbers on it you need.Read the guide
Looking for Bosch’s own support? www.bosch-home.co.uk. We are not affiliated with Bosch.