Leak?

[Anonymous]

Got into my car this morning and noticed some water drops on the passengers door, in the front corner near the wing-mirror.

That door hadn't been opened. It was raining last night, so it must be rainwater, but the roof was closed fully and the windws up fully.

Any ideas?

 

[jonnywells]

This is where mine is leaking, hasn't done it under normal weather but when ive washed it with just a hose and trying not to point it at that area its still leaked in a little.

Back with BMW a second time to try and stop it. First time try replaced all the side roof seals. Made abit better, wasnt going to bother any more but they called me up with a courtesy call. Said it was still doing it abit and that kinda insisted they would have it back in and fix it.

My warranty runs out on the 6th April so after that seals wont be covered.

I think they are replacing the front seal along with the seals around the wing mirrors.

 

[Anonymous]

But mine is only days old!!!!

I wiped it down so will see if it comes back, if it does, then I'll take it in.

I've NEVER had a car from BMW (AUC or new) that didn't have a problem or two! Thought this one was better...

 

[jonnywells]

I was surprised BMW still covered the seals after 3 years, exp as i didnt even buy my Z from a dealer.The original service advisor i talked with was a stunner so i did work on that abit :wink:

Most company's only cover seals for a year. I did try some gummi pflege on the seals but it didnt work.

 

[jonnywells]

booooo just had a call from styner, fixed the leak around the wing mirrors now its leaking somewhere else :x

Off to pick up a 1 series to potter around in

 

[Anonymous]

Told my dealer about it this morning whilst ripping his balls off for fecking me over on the gap insurance (and cancelling that at the same time). It didn't happen last night, so I will see what happens next time it rains, or I might do some hosepipe testing (no ban down here!!) over the weekend. If it still leaks they'll have it back to look at.

 

[Andrew*Debbie]

I've NEVER had a car from BMW (AUC or new) that didn't have a problem or two!

Me neither.

The MINI was trouble free, but I'm not sure if that counts.

PDC was never 100% on the X3 and the huge sunroof died a loud and painful death about 1 month before I moved to Wales. They had to replace the entire cassette. I'm sure that would have been $2000+ out of warranty.
The e46 needed a new radio and new side view mirrors in the first two months.
Our e36/5 318ti was not a good car.
My old e34 was probably the best of the lot, but it had several minor problems I ignored the entire time I owned it.


We've owned 6 convertibles between us. Up to now the only one that was watertight was a '86 Bertone (Fiat) X 1/9. Even my 2006 MX-5 turned into a bathtub.

 

[jonnywells]

Got a brand new 1 series F20 116d sport for a loaner this time.

TBH its quite a nice little car to drive, its got some eco-drive mode which i was getting 65mpg...........soon kicked it back into sports mode and nailed it :evil:

ALOT nicer than the mini countryman they have me last time!

 

[Anonymous]

I washed the batmobile last night and gave the seals on both sides a good testing with the hose (garden hose, not pressure washer).

I pointed it directly at the seals and even under the seals all around the door windows, and had it on quite a high pressure - way more than rain water.

To be fair, if it had got in, I wouldn't of been surprised as this was an extreme test, but pleased to say it didn't, and I havent seen any water since that 1st time either, so I have no idea what it was.

No other issues have arrison yet either, so far so good! (apart from fuel needle going down!).

 

[jonnywells]

Well got my Z4 back from the dealer on....wednesday and a quick test with the hose when i got home seems to have fixed it. Will give it a proper wash over the weekend.

The warranty report was funny though, 10 leak tests numerous seals replaced, windows adjusted

 

[Anonymous]

Glad they seem to have solved yours, lets hope it has done the trick.

I did think my passenger window wasn't closing as much as the drivers, by about a millimetre or two, but I was judging that by the position of the rubber seals, so could easily be wrong. Will keep an eye on it and hope its ok.

 

[Anonymous]

Well my leak is back.....

Was raining all Monday night and when I got in the car yesterday morning...it was dry. Parked at work all day, raining. Got in to drive home last night and it was leaking. No clear sign of entry, but the passenger door window switch had a bit of water in it and also other bits of plastic.

Wiped it down last night and all seals.

Rained last night, got in this morning and some drops again.

Gonna phone the dealer this morning and get it looked at, cos if its pooling in the window switch I'm sure that wont help, and it always seem to be around the speaker and tweeter covers...so I dont want them swimming!

 

[TitanTim]

Well my leak is back.....

Was raining all Monday night and when I got in the car yesterday morning...it was dry. Parked at work all day, raining. Goti n to drive home last night and it was leaking. No clear sign of entry, but the passenger door window switch had a bit of water in it and also other bits of plastic.

Wiped it down last night and all seals.

Rained last night, got in this morning and some drops again.

Gonna phone the dealer this morning and get it looked at, cos if its pooling in the window switch I'm sure that wont help, and it always seem to be around the speaker and tweeter covers...so I dont want them swimming!

Hi Kevin,

Dealer should hopefully sort it, it may just need the latches adjusting so it shuts tighter. I think on any retractable tops the tolerances are fairly fine to being water tight and getting a few drops leaking in. The Z3 leaked when I first got it but after lubricating the seals gummi phlenge a few times it never leaks now touch wood.

Tim.

 

[Anonymous]

Its booked in for a week Monday. They didn't have a courtesy car until the following Wednesday, so have arranged one from Sales....so hopefully it will be something nice and not the usual crummy Mini I normally get!

Time to make my laminated "DO NOT WASH" sign. Should I put it on the dash, or do it double sided and hang it from the rear-view mirror?

Knowing my luck, the monkey wont even try to find the leak if theres a sign saying not to wash! Duh!

 

[Andrew*Debbie]

Time to make my laminated "DO NOT WAH" sign.

You might want to rethink that.

 

[Anonymous]

Good point. they can use the pedal as much as they like!

 

[jonnywells]

Took 2 trips to get mine fixed, i think around 1k in seals and who knows how much labour LOL!!!!

Washed it at weekend, trying to make it leak this time and its still water tight. Last couple of days its been heavy rain and no sign but it never did leak under normal rain, just when washing.

They will get to the bottom of it. I know with mine once they stopped it leaking around the tweeter area they said it started leaking somewhere else so more seals replaced.

 

[Anonymous]

So my car went in last Monday and they were really puzzled...they said they thought the passenger window was slightly mis-aligned, so they re-set that and said to see how it went. This is the following day:

So back in it went last Thursday. In this time they'd contacted BMW who apparently have no other reports of this issue, so this time, the technician mirrored the exact settings from the drivers door onto the passenger door, I guess to make sure it was all seated correctly. No further leaks, so I thought he'd cracked it. Until this morning! Much less water, but still present, so its going back! Earliest they have is 3 weeks away, so they're gonna get back to me tomorrow to see if it can be sooner.

When I opened the door to wipe it down, I noticed water under the rubber seal ontop of the tweeter casing:

So I'm gonna point that out to them. Whats frustrating with this is, that its not replicated with a hose!

The only difference is that I had the roof down yesterday for the first time since it was last in (we went away at the weekend on the train, so didnt use the car). Still, that shouldn't make it leak (unless its raining with the roof down!).

So because its intermittent, no replicatable with a hose, they cant test it, to check they've fixed it. Next visit will be attempt 3 and they're gonna keep it a few days.

I appreciate its a bugger to sort, but how many attempts at fixing are reasonable? This could go on for ages!

They've not replaced any seals yet, and I know people suggest lubricating it, but my take is there is a definate fault as it only happens on the passenger side.

 

[MarkW]

That's a bugger! Seems strange though that they can't replicate it with a hose as this would be more pressure than rain.

Hope you get it sorted.

 

[Kev R]

Hi Kevin

Sorry to hear about your troubles...I am sure they will get it sorted for you.

Silly point to make and I am sure you have discounted it already, the thing that gets me when I look at the photos is the lack of drip trails even on sloped surfaces the droplets appear to be contained to where they have fallen...could it be from when you initially open the door? I noted some water drops around that area on mine but put it down to that.

On another subject, in your opening post you said the dealer tried to shaft you with the GAP insurance...can you elaborate on that?

cheers...