NZ BMW 368 Report post Posted August 8, 2012 Hi Team, Anyone here have the classic E39 vapor barrier issue? I've got water on the door sills (not inside the car, yet) and when I open the door after hard rain I get a bout a cup full of water which splashes out from somewhere onto the ground. The water seems to drip fairly fast from the door thereafter. Some of the people based in the US have used silicone and 3M tape sealer to fix it. I have two questions: 1. Anyone have a locally available product which would be good to use? 2. Anyone done this before and knows/has DIY/can show me how? Thanks, Nathan. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
str8_6 270 Report post Posted August 8, 2012 When I first bought my M5, the right rear passenger door dropped a large puddle of water when I opened it say after I washed the car. I found this DIY pretty useful: LINK. I can't remember exactly what I used as the glue/sealant, but picked it up from Mitre 10 from memory. Been fine for the last two years now. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NZ BMW 368 Report post Posted August 8, 2012 Thanks for the info - I actually had this thread bookmarked - both my doors have developed the wet door sill with no water inside the car as of yet so I plan to tackle it this weekend. Looks like it will be a trip to Bunnings/Mitre 10 for me too. My other question is - do you have to remove and re-install the entire barrier? If possible I would just like to seal the lower areas where it comes away from the door, but I'm conscious the rest of the barrier may fail also if I do that. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
str8_6 270 Report post Posted August 11, 2012 Thanks for the info - I actually had this thread bookmarked - both my doors have developed the wet door sill with no water inside the car as of yet so I plan to tackle it this weekend. Looks like it will be a trip to Bunnings/Mitre 10 for me too. My other question is - do you have to remove and re-install the entire barrier? If possible I would just like to seal the lower areas where it comes away from the door, but I'm conscious the rest of the barrier may fail also if I do that. I didn't remove the entire vapor barrier. I simply pulled back the lower half and re-sealed it. Mine wasn't in bad condition. Car is NZ new and has been garaged for the majority of it's life. Another common cause for them failing is due to a previous repair of something in the actual door. Say a window regulator or airbag fault. If the barrier is not resealed correctly after mechanical work, it will come unstuck and leak. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NZ BMW 368 Report post Posted August 11, 2012 I didn't remove the entire vapor barrier. I simply pulled back the lower half and re-sealed it. Mine wasn't in bad condition. Car is NZ new and has been garaged for the majority of it's life. Another common cause for them failing is due to a previous repair of something in the actual door. Say a window regulator or airbag fault. If the barrier is not resealed correctly after mechanical work, it will come unstuck and leak. So you didn't have to clean off the old seal that had degraded? I went to Bunnings today and purchased a sealer/adhesive so I will get onto it tomorrow. The plan at this stage is to simply apply the sealer over the existing stuff and stick it back down. If I ever need to get back in there I can cut away the area(s) I sealed with a razor and replace with a new barrier. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hotwire 352 Report post Posted August 11, 2012 So you didn't have to clean off the old seal that had degraded? I went to Bunnings today and purchased a sealer/adhesive so I will get onto it tomorrow. The plan at this stage is to simply apply the sealer over the existing stuff and stick it back down. If I ever need to get back in there I can cut away the area(s) I sealed with a razor and replace with a new barrier. You can get the genuine product from BMW for a very reasonable price. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NZ BMW 368 Report post Posted August 12, 2012 You can get the genuine product from BMW for a very reasonable price. But it seems, at least from my readings that the OEM product is inferior. Lots of people seem to fix it only to have it fail again quite quickly. Regardless of who does it, DIY or the workshop. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
arros 0 Report post Posted August 12, 2012 I resealed my E39 vapour barriers with window sealant from Repco. Would have been probably 6 months after resealing it before I sold the car- not problems after sealing. Black semi hardening rubberised sealant. About $25. Comes in a caulking gun tube. Ring them. I should have a tube around somewhere if you need the name of it Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NZ BMW 368 Report post Posted August 12, 2012 I resealed my E39 vapour barriers with window sealant from Repco. Would have been probably 6 months after resealing it before I sold the car- not problems after sealing. Black semi hardening rubberised sealant. About $25. Comes in a caulking gun tube. Ring them. I should have a tube around somewhere if you need the name of it Thanks for the offer - I got some stuff and a gun which I think will do the job. I didn't get to it this weekend via general procrastination Looks like it will be next weekend. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jochen 4 Report post Posted August 13, 2012 (edited) Anyone here have the classic E39 vapor barrier issue? I've got water on the door sills (not inside the car, yet) and when I open the door after hard rain I get a bout a cup full of water which splashes out from somewhere onto the ground. The water seems to drip fairly fast from the door thereafter. Some of the people based in the US have used silicone and 3M tape sealer to fix it. I have two questions: 1. Anyone have a locally available product which would be good to use? 2. Anyone done this before and knows/has DIY/can show me how? Yes, I had this on my E39 540i Very easy to fix. Arm yourself with the original BMW butyl rubber sealant strip - cheap from BM Workshop. So cheap that you wouldn't even think of using anything else but the original high quality butyl rubber. Don't use silicon sealant, that makes future door maintenance impossible. You'l need about 2.5m per door. Do all 4 doors at the same time, because if the butyl has failled in one door, all other doors are the same age and will also likely fail shortly as well. Remove door trim Carefully pry up moisture seal plastic sheeting, without breaking it! Lift a bit at a time and use a sharp Stanley knife to cut any butyl rubber sealant that is still sticking. Remove all old butyl rubber Fit new butyl rubber in place, in one length. TIP: make the joint at the TOP of the door, not the bottom. You want the bottom half to be totally watertight Press plastic moisture seal back on, making sure that you seal ALL the way around with no gpas whatsoever Refit door trim. Edited August 13, 2012 by jochen Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rusteee 52 Report post Posted August 14, 2012 Might end up doing this too my E39 aswell. Sorry to hijack a bit, but does anyone know anywhere else water can get into in these areas? Side skirts maybe? I seem to have a slush of water sound everytime I brake, as if there is a puddle of water sitting somewhere in there doors or something, but im not too sure where, I've checked the door drains etc wondering if this is another common occurance? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
