Water inside. AGAIN!

E

Evotz

Member
 Portland OR
Last year following a torrential down pour my 2003 Z4 filled the passenger side interior behind the seat with about an inch of standing water. I had all of the electrical issues associated with the flooded air bag control module (turn signals not working correctly, radio not working, dash lights staying on, etc) The problem was as you guessed ...clogged top drains. I cleaned them and dried the car out and everything was just fine.
This week again after a very long and hard rain the passenger side again filled up! BUT the drains are clear!!! Both the front (under the passenger feet) and the area behind the seat (much worse) are saturated with about an inch or so of standing water. I have looked everywhere I can think to find the source but no luck.
The only thing that I have done historically is I had BMW replace the front wind shield following a close encounter with a huge rock a couple of years ago.
Any ‘typical’ or usual areas, besides the roof drains, to look at?
Thanks for any suggestions.
 
I would get someone to hose the car down while you sit inside to locate the entry point


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:o Sorry to hear this. Have you looked at the door seal, more so the right hand half, if you are sat in the passenger seat, looking square at the door. I've noticed water seeps in from somewhere around here (others have mentioned in other posts). GummiFledge applied to the seal fixes it, but I was quite mystified at first, when a bit of my floor mat got wet. Yours might not have anything to do with this.
 
Check the windscreen corners for any gaps in the seal. There's one at the top where plastic meets rubber. Mine had a slight leak when raining during the winter - ONLY when I had my hardtop fitted. I guess the hardtop meant that water was draining differently and making it cross the bad join and get inside the car. Anyways, for me, a little black silicone filled the gap, and it hasn't leaked since.

I like ranksi's idea too
 
ranski said:
I would get someone to hose the car down while you sit inside to locate the entry point


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Click to expand...
Preferably with the roof up............ :wink:
 
I will keep the 'roof up' recommendation in mind! :rofl:

I think the only way to really check, and to get it dry, is to pull 100% of the carpeting out and hose her down.

Thanks for the help, will let you know what I find.
 
any gaps around the door seal. if the rain blows side ways it can force itself around the seal fairly easy. can normally feel gaps when going 60mph with cold air blowing in slightly
 
Just got home. Pouring rain again. Looked at the door frame and found no evidence of water penitration, all is dry and door seal appears to be correctly seated. Gut hunch is the water is coming from the front firewall and running back. Trunk area is dry. Top drain is open and working.
Question: There must be drains in the front for the crowl. Anyone have these clog up?
Either way I think I have to pull the entire side out to get it to dry. To date: 22 full size beach towels fully saturated have been pulled out! Still more there. :cry: Whatever the leak is, it is significant.
 
Follow the instructions for 'sticking windscreen wipers' as this will show how to remove the windscreen cowl - maybe leaves have bunged the drainage holes up?


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you say the water is behind the seat which is a long way away from the front bulk head. have you remover the storage box/speaker cover to see if its wet directly bellow the soft top??
 
Thanks for the ideas.
What I have found:
- Was able to remove/get access to the carpet at the front...Upper half is dry, lower front floorboards completely soaked.
- No moisture in the foam along the door frame from the front to the back
- Pulled the subwoofer grill off and all that I can see and feel is absolutely dry and dusty. No evidence of water. Thx chrisj900
- Carpet in the back of the seat in the upper half is dry. Lower half is saturated.
- Just for fun checked the top drains and they are wide open. No resistant to out flow.

Soaked up two more beach towels of water and still going....

Whatever is leaking there is a lot getting in! :headbang:
 
Given the previous history I have had with Christine (the cars name from previous posts), it is VERY likely to be true. :o
 
OK I've had my window regulator done recently and ended up with a wet passenger footwell, my Indy couldn't find a leak but I know whats probably happening. I put a waffleweave cloth along the passenger door on the sill, best to just close the door and place the cloth from inside. When it rains it will show you where the water is most likely to be entering the car.

I dont know why but its best doing this when its raining not with a hose it just seems to work better. Mine was/is going to be the foam backing on the door I know they will not sealed it as good as I will obviously have to now. So thats my next job when it stops snowing and raining :(

If its not coming in through the door then you will have to carry on investigating. Good luck :thumbsup:
 
off of scousefly's point. if the door pannel has been removed at any point and the foam bulkhead stuff cut, its possible the water is getting through the window seal and passing through to door the inside of the car. im pretty sure the doors designed for some water penetration from the outside but not so much for it to pass through
 
chrisj900 said:
off of scousefly's point. if the door pannel has been removed at any point and the foam bulkhead stuff cut, its possible the water is getting through the window seal and passing through to door the inside of the car. im pretty sure the doors designed for some water penetration from the outside but not so much for it to pass through
Click to expand...

This is exactly what my Z3 did. It was coming in through the window seal. It only happened when we had a good downpour. I know it's a different car but same principle, maybe worth checking.
 
haha my cars only ever had water in the boot so we could have a select group party for smaller members!! :D
 
Thanks for the ideas.
While I have not found evidence of 'new' water, it currently is not raining as hard as we have been getting for the last two months. However, towel is in place! Forecast shows more rain on the way! :x

The only other thing that I can think of that was done anywhere near the drains is; last summer I had all four struts refurbished (K&M V3) and new heavy duty upper strut mounts installed. While I cannot think of what they could have done, they did have to tear apart the rear trunk surround and did not reassemble it 100% correctly.
 
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