Leak in trunk

[moonman]

Just bought a 318is with minor rear end damage. Opened the trunk today and after acouple of days of hard raining I found a swimming pool in the left trunk compartment storage area. The trunk lid sits a little higher on this side and I am betting on the seal not being met with the lid but just wanted to see if anyone else had any other leakage in the trunk from another source. Also is the lid adjustable? Seal looks fine.

Thanks in advance.

[StereoInstaller1]

Antenna grommet
Tail light gaskets
Lid pivot mount (spot weld rips if trunk is shut overfull)

and


Shitty alignment

GL!
Luke

[MikeDE]

+1...I had to replace, or rather install, new taillight gaskets 3 days after I bought my seta. The jackass prevoius owners' bodyshop left the old nasty, degraded units in when they fixed the rear corner(after the PO let it roll into a truck 2 DAYS before I was to take delivery, after waiting 4 months.)

[Massive Lee]

I suspect the rubber around each taillamp.

[BigSam]

Climb into the trunk with a flashlight and have a friend spray the trunk area with a hose. You will be able to look for the leak, they are usually pretty easy to spot from inside.

[jlevie]

Another way of finding leaks in a trunk to remove all of the interior trim panels and chalk a line below every place that you could have a leak. The check after a rain or after driving in the rain to see where the chalk has washed off.

[joonsup]

i had/have that same problem. After it rained for a few days straight i found a pool of water on the left side where the car jack is secured. I initially thought it was coming from an opening near the tailight from the inside because there's an existing hole but after stuffing a rubber glove there temporarily, it didn't do anything.

Then i realized that it may have been coming through the sunroof as the rubber seals surrounding the sunroof was not there due to the bodyshop removing them before painting the car. After heavy rain I thought that my seats would be wet whenever I opened up the car but I didnt know where the water led to.

It's rained a few days where I live and I have not checked to see if my guess is correct. Last week I temporarily blue taped my sunroof until I figure out how to take apart the actual sunroof lid so I can slide in the rubber moldings.

I'll check my trunk today after work to see if the water still built up

[moonman]

Yeah keep us updated.

[NC325iC]

the rubber seal on the sunroof isnt meant to keep out 100% of the water, thats why there are 4 drains that lead the water out from that opening.

i guess its possible that with so much water going through the drains the plastic piece where the water comes out in the rear is overflowing.

[PorkandBeans]

After it rained for a few days straight i found a pool of water on the left side where the car jack is secured.

This happened to me too. Oddly enough, the culprit was a small rust hole in the recessed bodywork (drain channel) up by the hinge. Water was flowing to the jack storage area and I never noticed because it beads up on the trunk carpet and always looked like just a small leak. Suprised me because my car has very little rust anywhere. Easy fix though.

edit: hole caused by spot weld of trunk hinge breaking away.

[elmercc]

where is this spot weld of the trunk hinge located?