leak.

[QuickSilver 0]

I have searched, I have found, and I have even pm'd. Im still at a loss, I have now, taken out all the carpet, (completely intact thank god...) , taken out seats, removed centre console, removed front console, and found where the water is coming.. YAY... or is it??? This just furthers my problem, as i can clearly, clearly see where the water is happily dripping in, but its to far up for me to get at, and I dont even think removing the whole dash will solve this problem, now i have a suspicion that this may be more common than i think, I found two problems, both on the drivers side, near the rear of the dash by the floor, was a bit of rubber tubing which wasnt connecting to its other end, water was freely flowing from this tube, so I connected the two, and came to the conclusion that this was a drainage pipe of sorts. Then i proceed to hose car once more, and it starts raining on my feet again, I can only tell you exactly where it enters, and exactly where it exits today, as my camera is at work, once thats back ill take photos... PLEASE can someone help me.

Ok, i started hosing the car testing for leaks, sun roof was ok, much to my suprise it was bone dry, despite some rust, but it was the driver front that was the problem, I sprayed the hose into those vents by the window wipers, and sure enough, thats where the leak is, but, this poses a problem to me, HOW THE F!%CK DO I GET INTO THEM!? I have no idea if its rust, or anything else thats causing the leak, i assume, in rain fall its not as bad as a hose on full blast poouring into the one spot, but I really want to fix it, ANY ideas??? If the dash HAS to be removed, is there a topic somewhere how exactly to do it?? cos I really dont wanna start breaking things, if not, can someone give me an idea of how to do it, im still a new comer to beamers, and any help would be greaaattly appreciated,

Cheers, Alex.

Edited April 2, 2007 by QuickSilver

[ED1RTY 2]

Check under your battery, if in the engine bay, the back of the tray under the rubbery heat sheild.. sometimes rusts through there...

There are some other threads about dash removal on here

Also there is a thread on a UK site, not to sure which one though.

Edited April 2, 2007 by ED1RTY

[Silver Fox 43]

First thing is to open the bonnet and check and clean the outlet for this area. This is a rubber fitting next to the battery tray, on the firewall. Pull it off and clean it and the hole behind it, make sure when you spray water in the vents that it flows freely out. Then take out the vent on the drivers side, take the wiper blade off and the vent unclips. You should get a good look at the area behind now and see any sign of rust or holes. It may be coming in from the fan area as well, you can get at this by unscrewing the panel with the wiring on the firewall and looking in behind. The other area you need to look at is the battery tray, the recess at the back bottom on the firewall again can be prone to rust holes, remove the battery and sound deadening behind and have a look. Good luck.

[QuickSilver 0]

and dare i say if its not any of those ( i havent looked in some of those places yet ) what else could it be... is dash removal overly complicated?

[ED1RTY 2]

Nah not really, done it twice, just make sure you plug sh*t back in etc in the right place. Labelling is your friend if you dont have a Bently manual or anything

[bravo 35]

It is most commonly a blocked drain outlet as described by Silver Fox. What happens is the drain doesn't work so the vent area fills up to the point where it spills into the passenger compartment through the heating vents.

When you are parked on the flat with a hose on the vents by the wipers, water should be pouring out the drain hole in the firewall near where the battery sits. If not this is you're likely problem.

[nz320i 0]

mine filled up through the wiring loom, around the rubber seal had rusted, $160 to fix, the water would come done the loom and through the firewall on passenger side

[ducatiss 1]

Nah not really, done it twice, just make sure you plug sh*t back in etc in the right place. Labelling is your friend if you dont have a Bently manual or anything

Make that labeling is your friend regardless of whether you have a Bently manual!!

No, dash removal isn't as hard as it first seems. You will need some instructions or a manual, and a methodical approach. Lable wiring plugs and looms as you remove them and you should be fine. I removed mine by myself but an extra pair of hands can be useful when removing and replacing.

I wouldn't remove the dash though unless you have checked out some of the other possibilities mentioned by others first.

Edited April 2, 2007 by ducatiss

[QuickSilver 0]

Ill check all those out tomorrow morning, however no water what so ever gets to the passenger side, it all ends up drivers side, passenger is completely bone dry and it dusnt leak there one bit, it all trickles into drivers side.

[QuickSilver 0]

It is most commonly a blocked drain outlet as described by Silver Fox. What happens is the drain doesn't work so the vent area fills up to the point where it spills into the passenger compartment through the heating vents.

When you are parked on the flat with a hose on the vents by the wipers, water should be pouring out the drain hole in the firewall near where the battery sits. If not this is you're likely problem.

also, i think the drain MAY be blocked, as when I checked it last it was only letting a small flow of water out, not enough to let it all drain, so that could be a possibility,

[OLLIE 26]

that drainage pipe is seriously stupid, could they not foresee that it might get clogged when the built the cars?

[QuickSilver 0]

lol completely agree, but i just found the problem.. YUSSSS!!! and tested it with hose, its like a foot shower, it was near the drain pipe, infact its in the path of the pipe, which explains why it was only partly draining, cos all the water was escaping through the hole(s) theres one where the corner bit of metal connects, dont know if u know wat i mean, but its in such an awkward place i cant manuvre a camera in there, but the good news is i found it.. thanks for ur help, we should travel in time and slap the person who thought "WE NEED A DRAINAGE PIPE THERE!"

[QuickSilver 0]

So everyone in auckland would know the terrential rainfall were having, I keep checking for leaks etc, and it was alll good, but 24 hrs of rain, has slowly got water in, I fixed all the leakage from the front, and everywhere is dry, except for the rear right passenger seat, on the floor, where could it be coming from?! this is driving me nuts!

[Guest Denny Crane]

So everyone in auckland would know the terrential rainfall were having, I keep checking for leaks etc, and it was alll good, but 24 hrs of rain, has slowly got water in, I fixed all the leakage from the front, and everywhere is dry, except for the rear right passenger seat, on the floor, where could it be coming from?! this is driving me nuts!

Sunroof drains have rusted through. Its leaking down the c pillar under the rear seat.

[QuickSilver 0]

could it be caused by ahole in the flloor which i just discoverd??? its a very small hole, i plugged it up and sealed it over, I dont think its coming from the piller, as I couldnt find any moisture ANYWHERE except in the cetnre, no trails going to it or anything, I wonder if the hole is the probem tho???

[ducatiss 1]

So everyone in auckland would know the terrential rainfall were having, I keep checking for leaks etc, and it was alll good, but 24 hrs of rain, has slowly got water in, I fixed all the leakage from the front, and everywhere is dry, except for the rear right passenger seat, on the floor, where could it be coming from?! this is driving me nuts!

Don't forget checking the drainage channel that runs along the right side of the boot - specifically by the rear window - as thats where mine was leaking into the right hand rear footwell. The water pools there and can run up underneath the rear window if the seal is bad as there is nowhere else for it to go.