sunroof leak!!

[OLLIE 26]

OK my sunroof leaking is the f**king story of my life.

i have tried everything and still i end up with an inch of water in my rear footwells and a completely soaked rear seat, i can't figure it out, please help me in all possible ways.

would a new sunroof seal simply solve all my problems? does anyone have one in good nic?

Cheers

Ollie

[petone 0]

happened to me last week as well, first time its happened so it could have been a door ajar or something but don't think i'll be that lucky.

Have you priced up a sunroof seal from the $tealer yet? Its f**king outrageous.

[M3 Cab 0]

I asked the same question when i replaced the panel in my roof. I was told that none of the sunroofs completely seal and thats why there are drain holes at the front and rear of the openning. Was please as new seals ex BMW are $450. Maybe it would be worth checking the drain holes as mine were blocked.

[ED1RTY 2]

Maybe it would be worth checking the drain holes as mine were blocked.

Yea shove a hose in the drain holes and see if they are blocked, the water is probably building up in those and flooding into the car.

[BMWQT 0]

maintenance forum

Check out the above forum link. Follow the link from Nic352i, the E30 Zone website helped me with my water leaks. Very interesting reading.

I've also been told that the seal on a sunroof doesn't prevent water getting in. I used an air compressor to blow out any gunk.

Good luck!

[Carl 3]

Hehe, suckers with sunrooves...have you considered that it's not the sunroof leaking?

[325GRANT 0]

have you considered that it's not the sunroof leaking?

there are 2 drain holes in each of your sills (sp?) about a foot from the front and a foot from the back. if either of these are blocked your sill will fill up with water and over flow through holes on the inside onto your floor. mine block all the time mostly drivers side rear. because my driveway has a slight rise in it water fills up rear d/s sill and soaks carpet behind drivers seat.

jack up your car and stick a screwdriver up your hole, see what happens.

[bumpstop325 0]

there are 4 holes from drains. one n each corner

[Gus 5]

and one either side in the middle, so six

[wms 1]

After youve fixed the roof and find your footwells still fill up check all around battery tray and firewall for rust holes - Ive never been able to stop mine from leaking

[petone 0]

I've pulled out my carpet in an attempt to find where my water came from. Sat inside the car and had water poured all over it, no luck. No rust or water marks anywhere on the floor.

Anyway as for sunroof drains...

The front holes drain down to the sills, one by the front wheel and one by the back wheel (on each side). Water will come out one or the other depending on which way the car is sitting. Rear holes drain out on each side under the boot. All of mine flowing freely

Firewall drains...

These come out next to the front sunroof drains and there is also the "elephant trunk" that they talk about on e30zone. I checked mine and it was completly blocked. Cleaned it all out stuck it back in and so far no more water.

So either the the blocked elephant trunk was causing water to back up and flow into the car, which is strange as there are no water marks. Or I left a window open, or I haven't found the leak and it wasn't been raining hard enough for the water to come back.

Had any luck with yours Ollie?

[OLLIE 26]

i park my car facing up a hill and when it rains i get a puddle in my back seat (under the foam bit that you sit on) when i drive onto the flat all that water flows forward and into the rear footwells.

Now my theory was that the sills are over flowing at the back and into the back seat because of the angle the car is on, but surely when the car is facing up a hill no water will drain out the front drainage holes, hence there should be no water filling up the sills, but water coming out the back drainage points.

your thoughts?

[petone 0]

Your theory makes sense, maybe your rear sunroof drains are rusted and water is getting in through them?

Are all your drains flowing properly? pour water down rear sunroof holes, front, sunroof holes, and down the vents under the windscreen (should come out under car and out through firewall by clutch master cylinder..

[ducatiss 1]

Try sitting in your car with the car facing uphill and downhill and spray it with water. With all the carpet out you should see where its coming from. In mine it was a boot seal. With the car facing downhill, the water had nowhere to go and pooled in the channel at the back of the boot by the rear screen. It would then run into the car beside the rear seat, underneath the trim and flood the rear footwell. It may be worth checking this as I too blamed my sunroof for this.