Rear swimming pool option

[wild_weston 0]

With the lovely Welly weather at the weekend, I decided that it was sensible to stay in the warmth of home rather than venture out. Left my car standing for around 36 hours hours (angled up on the steep driveway).

Got to it this morning and decided to check the rear footwells, as I know I have to put new weather shields in the doors as they have been damp before. However, I wasn't expecting to put my hand into an inch of rain water!

Got a bit of a shock as you can expect.

Done a quick bit of DIY analysis and , even though the ripped weathershields may have compounded the water seepage, the problem is due to a perforation of the sealant around the rear door part (where it is attached to the body of the car).

Couple of small holes were visible and because the water has been coursing over the car, and following the channels over the roof, it then ran down this channel across the rear door. Tiny hole means that a lot of it ran inside and then went down the door frame and pooled at the bottom. Only a matter of time until it started getting into the rear footwell.

Bit of a bugger. Just popped it down to the dealers to get fixed.

Just raising this for other E46 saloon owners (and maybe coupes) to have a check of the seals. Especially if you park your car at an upwards angle, before it rains heavily again.

Cheers

Edited June 29, 2008 by wild_weston

[Carl 3]

That's a bugger mate

[simke 0]

I've noticed the same thing (although not as bad as yours) on my rear window - water leaks through top seal and the housing for the brake light gets soaked with water, which then starts dripping onto the rear seats. The seal around rear window itself looks fine, but obviously its not, otherwise the water wouldn't be coming through

[ED1RTY 2]

sh*t... I expect that from a 24 y.o E30 but i'd never have thought an E46 would have that problem!

Bad luck dude. Drill some holes in the floor

[wild_weston 0]

sh*t... I expect that from a 24 y.o E30 but i'd never have thought an E46 would have that problem!

Bad luck dude. Drill some holes in the floor

Yeah, thought about getting some bloke from Botswana to just shoot a hole through the floor (as in Top Gear episode) - That'd fix it.

[ED1RTY 2]

Yeah, thought about getting some bloke from Botswana to just shoot a hole through the floor (as in Top Gear episode) - That'd fix it.

haha f**k yea! that episode was so awesome!

Hammy so won!!

[jochen 4]

Done a quick bit of DIY analysis and , even though the ripped weathershields may have compounded the water seepage, the problem is due to a perforation of the sealant around the rear door part (where it is attached to the body of the car).

Happened on my E39 as well. Depending on the angle of the car, the rear footwell got wet.

The inner door sound/weather seal is stuck on with butyl rubber

The butyl rubber 'stickyness' fades over time and comes loose, and water dribbling (sorry, pouring) down the inner door trim can then make its way into the car.

Had this problem on both rear doors of my E39

Solution: bought some genuine BMW butyl rubber (it's cheap but good) and replaced the whole stripe of sealant around the inner door seal, paying particular attention that the bottom section was perfect

Doors are now watertight.

Easy fix and worth every penny of the $20 worth of butyl rubber.

[elmarco 56]

Bummer wild_weston. The only water I would want in the back is a jaczuzzi with bikini team installed.

I've not noticed any water in mine, but have felt the seatbelts a little damp after sitting in the rain all day (no different to the last golf I had).

[wild_weston 0]

Happened on my E39 as well. Depending on the angle of the car, the rear footwell got wet.

The inner door sound/weather seal is stuck on with butyl rubber

The butyl rubber 'stickyness' fades over time and comes loose, and water dribbling (sorry, pouring) down the inner door trim can then make its way into the car.

Had this problem on both rear doors of my E39

Solution: bought some genuine BMW butyl rubber (it's cheap but good) and replaced the whole stripe of sealant around the inner door seal, paying particular attention that the bottom section was perfect

Doors are now watertight.

Easy fix and worth every penny of the $20 worth of butyl rubber.

Ta for that. Am getting all my weather seals replaced to make sure this doesn't happen again. Am also replacing the plastic seal around the doors as the mechanic noticed a crack.

I have read a few strings on E46 fantics about damp getting into the car. Seems like a pretty common problem but is only really noticable for people who park on hills.

How did you go about drying everything out? They recommended taking the carpets out but this is a bit of a big job. I am planning to use a hand dryer and then leave a pot iof the chemical dehumidifyer in the car.

Cheers

[wild_weston 0]

Bummer wild_weston. The only water I would want in the back is a jaczuzzi with bikini team installed.

I've not noticed any water in mine, but have felt the seatbelts a little damp after sitting in the rain all day (no different to the last golf I had).

Yeah, wouldn't have been so bad if I had found the swedish bikini team in there. Oh well, the girlfriend would have made them leave anyway.

Seatbelts are all good in mine. I had soggy seatbelt in a car years ago. I think it was being caused by water collecting in the seatbelt winder space. It was getting in from a space under the car (when driving in the wet).