Water under passenger seat – its not always blocked drain holes

I discovered a significant amount of water under the passenger seat of my recently acquired Z4 (2009 SE Auto) having read a number of posts on this forum and the internet I was concerned it might be a roof off job to unblock the drains particularly the rear drains. Having examined the car thoroughly (with the roof on), cleaned the rear drain holes from below, checked the front drain channels/ holes and water tested these drains I was reasonably satisfied they were not blocked.

So I then got the hose out and tested all the seals around the passenger door after a while I discovered water coming in from underneath the door area. I concluded that the membrane that seals the inside of the door must have come loose so I removed the door trim follow this link for more details https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Djgcv-VpCW8

Upon doing so it was apparent that the grey soft foam like membrane had come loose from a reasonable section of the inside of the door so I resealed this with a waterproof sealant allowed it to cure then refitted the door trim. I am now having to spend a considerable amount of time and effort (wet vac, sponges, heating whilst maintaining airflow) drying out the carpet on the passenger side which incidentally is a whole piece that goes under the centre console so isn’t easily removed from the car. The carpet and the backing foam is very thick and has retained a lot of water. The carpet in the footwell directly under the glove compartment has a very thick and stiff piece of foam backing and is quite difficult to remove as it is not very flexible.

Hopefully the fix has worked and should you encounter this problem you know where to look. :driving:
 
This is a known issue with the Zed's.....if they have had door trims off,to renew window mechs,etc(a known issue is worn/noisy window regulators),then if the membrane is not re fitted properly, water runs into the footwells .
Best practice is to fit New door membranes after getting this issue,or having any work done...they are not too expensive. :thumbsup:
 
ben g said:
Yeah, mine was exactly the same issue.

I used butyl tape and a new membrane. Nice and dry now.


Ben, did you put a post on your door fix.... I seem to be having a similar problem.. rear passenger seat carpet soaking....

EDIT.....

found the post, link in case anybody has similar problems....

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=71222&p=1045404&hilit=door+membrane#p1045404

Cheers
 
I have just been drying mine out for the last two weeks for exactly this. I took the passenger seat out, propped the carpet up a bit and left a couple of mini dehumidifiers in there. I will take the door panel off this weekend to check the membrane seal. The foam was sopping wet.
 
Yes - well known cause of wet carpets. Usually caused by poor maintenance inside doors when folks just tear the membrane or don't reseal it.

I would not try to move or lift to dry the carpet. Natural evaporation will sort it in a week or so in Spring. It probably took 6 months to get wet and before noticed.

I'd say there are 4 causes:
Blocked rear or front drains, damaged membrane and water going over the front corner of the door/sill rubber seal.
 
I think that I must have this problem also because when I park my car on the drive nose down then I seem to get some water in towards the front bottom seal, I'm guessing door membrane failure too :(
 
Jollyjoiner said:
I think that I must have this problem also because when I park my car on the drive nose down then I seem to get some water in towards the front bottom seal, I'm guessing door membrane failure too :(

Rear drain, membrane or door sill seal
 
cj10jeeper said:
Jollyjoiner said:
I think that I must have this problem also because when I park my car on the drive nose down then I seem to get some water in towards the front bottom seal, I'm guessing door membrane failure too :(

Rear drain, membrane or door sill seal

Oh the joys of Z ownership :P
 
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