Help! Water getting in, a lot! Now solved...I think.

[craig3.2]

I had this on mine,when it was recently in at the bmw bodyshop....
like me,they thought it was either the pass.door membrane/which was ok,so wasnt that(but if this is loose at all,anywr,then will let in water when doors shut over...so they checked (and renewed) the pass door seals;which wasnt the issue either...
Finally they checked everywhere else,finding out the HOUSING(not hose) for the Pollen filter hadnt been refitted properly at sometime,i.e one of 4 of the clips in the housing/casing was leaving a gap,allowing water into the cabin,as this housing/pollen-filter is located underneath the bulkhead,in the pass footwell area(quite high up/far back from what i can gather)...so look there,with a torch,and make sure that all is as it should be;or get a dealer to check,if u cant locate it ok.

Hope this helps

 

[Phil-E30]

Thanks Craig, that sounds like a real possibility in my case as the door seals etc all seem fine and where the water is getting in simply couldn't be coming from a door.

I know how to access the pollen filter to change it, but will that access all me to check the hose etc or do I have to go at it from a different angle/location to do this?

Thanks for the help guys

 

[craig3.2]

I was told by the dealer/bodyshop that the water can get in if the plastic HOUSING for the Pollen filter isnt re-fitted properly. they told me that sometimes even dealers dont refit this correctly,leaving one or 2 of the clips off can allow water to get in/not sure about the hose though?

 

[Phil-E30]

Cheers Craig, I am wondering if I can get at enough of the pollen filter housing to check if all clips etc are back in place properly. Someone yesterday mentioned about the hose but never explained further how I get at this hose or where it comes from.

 

[craig3.2]

Hope u find it,but sounds like what the bodyshop found with mine(after mine was sadly vandalised)...now back to normal/more or less,thankfully

 

[Phil-E30]

I hope I do too mate! Just need a little bit more help from the guys on here that know their way around the car in order to know where exactly I need to be going to check all these things!

Glad your car is sorted mate.

 

[Bing]

Hopefully it is the filter housing and you manage to identify / fix it Phil. If it turns out that it's fine and fitted correctly then there is another possibility (though not one I have read on here, to date)... My wife's Honda had serious electrical issues, and eventually everything died. Took it into my local Indy and they found a bucketful of water under the drivers side carpet (though the carpet wasn't wet). They dismantled the dash and found that water had been getting down onto one of the main ECUs and it was really badly corroded. They took the ECU apart and totally reconditioned it, but couldn't find a leak anywhere. The only thing they could think of - which they had seen before - was a poorly fitted replacement windscreen. Even a pinhole in the sealant can let drips of water in over time. So we had the windscreen replaced and so far (touch wood) everything has been fine since. At least my wife has not noticed the slightly wet carpet that she had before but never mentioned :headbang:

 

[Phil-E30]

Thanks Bing, I am considering all possibilities at the minute. Just hoping that this is something to do with a blocked drain in and around the passenger side or the pollen filter housing/hose.

Any help from anyone on how best to access the pollen filter housing running out of the car would be awesome.

 

[Lance]

Mr P

Sorry to hear about your troubles.

First this, if the water is coming in front to rear, then it's not your roof drains.

Have a good check to make sure the area under where the wipers are, are not blocked with leaves. There are drains on the bulkhead, these should be clear. If these are blocked, over time water will back up and find elsewhere to drain. Lean over the the engine block and both drains are clearly visible as little black flaps, lift and check. I used an old unwound metal coat hanger to clear mine.

Changing/removing the pollen filter takes 5 mins, have a go at this and see if wet up and behind there, have another filter ready is case the current one is knackered (mine was and was completely blocked with leaves, flies and stuff.

Good luck

 

[bcworkz]

The pollen filter cover is not exactly a water tight assembly. It does need to be properly fitted, but I'm not convinced water belongs behind the cover in the first place. Otherwise we would all be pulling out waterlogged filters. I'm guessing for water to get that far, one of the scuttle drains would have to be blocked. Everyone finds the obvious drain, but there's another shorter drain near the centre of the car that's less obvious. Blocked drains will also result in wiper motor issues eventually, BTW.

Not sure about the filter housing hose, it's removal is not required to change the filter, so I hadn't noticed it. My thinking of the filter cover applies to the hose as well. It may be an entry path, but water doesn't belong there to begin with.

If it's not the scuttle drains, it's probably as Bing said, a windscreen leak. All IMHO of course.

 

[Phil-E30]

After removing the scuttle panel and door seals I have a few findings.

First, the scuttle panel is terribly designed the cheap plastic clips and screws are horrible, not to mention that when BMW changed the wiper motor they broke a lot of the clips that retain the scuttle panel just below the windscreen, only 3 of the 8 aren't broken!

Second, the drains under the scuttle panel are now clear, they were slightly blocked but nothing severe, either way I hope I won't have any further issues there now that I have cleared them.

Finally, perhaps the door was the culprit all along? Tell me what you think. I took the seal off the door, there is a tube running through the seal that leads to drainage holes in the seal (correct me or point out if any of this seems wrong). This tube had a huge kink in it which I would think seriously restricted the capacity for any water to flow through, I think this could be the culprit? What do you guys reckon. I also noticed that where the seal runs along the bottom of the door there is a slight distortion in the seal, would this also cause a water issue?

Thanks for the continuing help chaps!

 

[andysat]

Sounds like you are solving this from all angles

 

[Phil-E30]

Ordered a new seal, part number 51727125651 today guys. Is that a common culprit with these stupid leaks? I think that's where the water is getting in, if not the problem could be even worse than I feared as I can't see any other possible problem.

 

[Phil-E30]

Fitted my new door seal today and after having someone hose the outside of the car with the new seal fitted the water no longer seems to be getting in where it was before

I think I may have this sorted, I just hope that when I have the seat, carpet, glovebox etc all back in place things don't start getting wet again!!

Thanks for all the help sorting it guys!

 

[andysat]

My fingers are crossed for you mate!

 

[Phil-E30]

Thanks mate! I'll keep you posted

 

[bandit12]

Ordered a new seal, part number 51727125651 today guys. Is that a common culprit with these stupid leaks? I think that's where the water is getting in, if not the problem could be even worse than I feared as I can't see any other possible problem.

i checked my car again today and the passenger footwell is soaked, i can see where it's coming in and it might be the door seal, how much was the seal, if you don't mind me asking?