Hi all,


Has anyone fixed this issue before? I don't think any of the seals are bad, but the past two rains have made my floor pretty wet. I don't have a sunroof either, so don't think it could be the drain from that. Any help is greatly appreciated


-Max

 

There has been report of the roof top antenna seal being the problem.

 

Moving you to the Stock Problems/Issue area.

Have you checked the rubber stops around the door for tears? Also double check the plastic trim that mates the top to the valance above the windows.

 

Alright I'll take a look, thank you.


Thanks for that. I didn't see any tears on the seal around the door. I see a small crack on the plastic trim on the edge of the windshield...is that the piece you are talking about? Also, do you know where the drains are from the windshield? Maybe they are clogged

 

Look at where Part # 15 (far left side) in first link, spans over Part # 4 in the second link (next post). Opposite side is similar. I am wondering if something is getting via the A-Pillar

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=51_5982

 

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=51_4275

 

I would not want to start messing with the rain gutter unless there had been proven source of leak. I had no idea how they are attached up until your post so I appreciate it.

Pulling them will cause a lot of damage and you better make sure you have the parts on hand, as well as the parts are not EOL. From what I see in the video, I see very little chance they are the source of leak unless the putty are badly deteriorated. They are not exposed to UV. I can see a botched job from windshield replacement though.


I would mention another possibility of water ingress. If the cowls drainage are badly clogged, it may be possible the water comes in via the air blower/ventilation.

 

Unless the headliner is showing water stains, I don't know how a leak in the antenna at the rear end would make it to the front driver well. Madmax, how many miles on the car? Driven in winter weather? Are there any cracks in the rubber around the windshield?

 

How would I clean out the cowl drainage? I took of the black covers and it doesn't seem like anything is in there.

Headliner isn't showing any water stains so probably not that. Car has about 128k on it and I've owned it for around 3 years. Never had this problem until last week. Driven a few times in winter when I was in California, but since I've been back in Hawaii for 2 years, just some heavy rain. Didn't see any cracks but it looks like the rubber on the inside of the door is loose. Also, a few gaps in the plastic around that side. See attached pictures

 

I am not taking a position one way or the other, as I have no personal history of your car. Find the source of water can be difficult and will require some care and insight. It is very similar to finding a leak from the ceiling of your house. Most important is water runs where gravity pulls. The location of the drip is often very far from the location of the ingress. Outdoor storage tends to deteriorate rubber seals so that is the biggest clue. Poor workmanship with windshield install can be another.

 

Try : 1.) Unhinge the the gray plastic portion below the steering wheel to gain better access to the area above the brake/clutch pedal. There are two clips that hold this in place, both are at opposite ends. I like to take an allen head wrench and clamp a visegrip on the long end. Put the allen head into the gap between the removable portion and dash at the outside clip, rotate the allen/vise grip so the short section of the "L" is pointing down and then pull toward you. Repeat on other side/end. 2.) Open truck, disconnect the negative terminal or ground strap from the battery. Do not close the trunk. 3.) Open the hood and put a good bright light in the the brake reservoir well, close but do not latch the hood. 3.) Go back inside the car and see if you can see any light coming through the firewall.

Best to do at night or dusk. If there are holes you will see the light coming through them.

 

Is this a common problem? I've never heard of this issue before but I guess it couldn't hurt to look at. Definitely trying to avoid a moldy car

 

I didn't have this issue until last week so I'm stumped. Is the door seal supposed to be a little loose where it starts going up the A-pillar? Also, do you know what drain could be clogged?

 

With no sunroof it is not normally an issue but you have something. Cars have joints where pieces fit together and sealants are used. With age the sealant get brittle and you many have cracked a joint. Where, god only knows. If the light test reveals nothing, then I would pull up the carpet away from the exterior edges. Let the exposed area dry, place some paper towel on it, close the door and put water on small areas at the time. Work bottom to top, wait 5 minutes between areas and then start again until the towel gets wet.

 

Since you never had issue before, I would not start tearing things out. When I posted the antenna you had only like 2 sentences describing your problem. There has been documented case with tired outdoors stored Mini with water entering from the deteriorated seal. The headliner in the Mini is a one piece dome, and the water will run to the pillars, and there may be no stains on the headliner until the problem becomes so obvious. This does not seem likely your problem now more info you provided.

I will throw this out. It is possible that in that event one of the windows ~1/2" closing movement didn't happen, when the door was last closed. If you don't know what I am mean, go open the door of the Mini and watch carefully the movement of the window as you open and close the door.

 

Have you had the windshield replaced at any time...

 

Gray raven helped me with this too. I just went through this on my r52 this year. The car never had a water issue and one rain my floor was flooded. The floor mats can hold about 2 gallons of water, so I strongly suggest you remove the seat and start drying it out to avoid rot/smell.

My problem was the gray foam liner behind the window plastic trim pieces (the large shiny ones either side of the window). The window was replaced and the parts were never put back correctly - they are supposed to be replaced during a new window install. The plastic piece was lifted out of its snaps somehow and that let the gray foam not seat properly and water was allowed to come in through the various holes under there.

Go ahead and take off that plastic trim piece and look behind. Proactively buy a new gray seal - they are cheap. Trim it slightly if it does not seat flush against the a pillar body or the windshield. In my case some of the sealant from the window job was bulging out, and this was keeping the foam from laying flat, so I trimmed/undercut it a bit too (was plenty there still). I've seen many hard rain storms since and no water. I was so paranoid after the first rain!

BTW a good way to check if you have water DEEP into the carpets is to remove the carpet velcro stay and stick your finger down in there (hard). If it comes up wet, you have a lot of water down there. water will end up in the rear seat footwell too so its easy to lift that carpet and feel down the back side sans tools.

If you remove the seats for lifting and drying the carpet DISCONNECT THE BATTERY for ten minutes FIRST and be careful with the airbag cables underneath. If you turn the car on while the airbag is disconnected you're going to be visiting the dealer to get rid of the permanent light.

You can lift up the rear seat and lower door sill piece easily and pull the carpet up towards the passenger side. I propped mine up and used rags to soak up what I could, then left a fan on it for three days. It took that long to get it completely dry.

Hope that helps! Good luck.