My e30 caught on fire :(

[Zaun]

Well i was driving down the interstate to see my g/f when out of no where i started to hear what sounded like and exhaust leak or something really loud...next thing i know i see flames in my passenger seat floorboard.. within 2 secs of seeing flames the car filled with smoke. I wiped the car over and tried to beat the fire out..Burnt the shit out of my hand but got the fire out. Dont have a picture at the moment. Got a good size hole in the passenger side floor board. where it happen there are a good bit of wiring running through there. Its hard to tell what caused it...If it was the exhaust or the wiring....Called insurance to start a claim there already calling it a loss without looking at it. I fear this is going to be a battle :(




ps does anyone know off there top of the head what wires run in that location?

[Hick]

pics!

[Massive Lee]

Nice 323i. Have you found the source of the problem? Rusted out floorpan allowing the exhaust to ignite the carpet's foam maybe?

I don't get the part with the insurance though. Your car has a major mechanical failure and you call the insurance for that?

[Dj Buttchug]

demand pics. at least you saved it. it can probably be fixed

[Stevie30]

My offer still stands.

[M-technik-3]

Some early cars used a fuel line that went over the firewall to give the AC unit additional cooling on the liquid line. One of those might have ruptured, I don't remember if you mentioned it was air conditioned or not.

Sorry to hear of misfortune.

[bimmer_E30]

Do you have heated seats?

My heated seats almost caused a fire in my car, i caught it quickly. cut the wiring for the heated seat.

[Zaun]

My offer still stands.

Actually stevie30 i will take you up on that offer. Any chance you will be free later tonight? Just got out of church but down in Ga with g/f

Some early cars used a fuel line that went over the firewall to give the AC unit additional cooling on the liquid line. One of those might have ruptured, I don't remember if you mentioned it was air conditioned or not.

Sorry to hear of misfortune.

the car did have ac and i did have it running when this happened. But still not sure what exactly was the cause so far.

Do you have heated seats?

My heated seats almost caused a fire in my car, i caught it quickly. cut the wiring for the heated seat.

Does have heated m3 seats

[325ix]

I'm really sorry to hear this. That is a beautifal car!

[bimmer_E30]

Look under the passenger seat and check the wiring.

[Deutschland über alles]

wow, that sucks

[TexasTerp]

sounds like the seat wiring. there isn't too much that runs along that side. pics would be a big help

[Zaun]

Well there has to be more wiring there then just seat wiring. Only reason i say that is because there was a good bit of wiring that got burned in that area...Also the fuel gauge was reading full and the fuel light was on. The inside door light was staying on and a some other electrical issues. I will try and get some pics as soon as i can but towed it to my dads work so that he could take a look today. He agrees with me its fixeable. Just gonna need new floor pan welded in....heat shielding/ new wiring/ new carpet. but we will see what the adjuster says

[Zaun]

Btw on another note i just find it really odd. I had a cat put on because i couldnt pass emissions, like just the past week. And the first trip i go more then 30 mins worth of driving it caught on fire lol. The new cat is about a foot behind where the fire started tho.

[MoparJ]

There is definitely more than seat wiring under the passenger side seat; here is a pic of my car when I removed the interior for rewiring...



Most of that bundle is stereo and central locking wiring for the pass side door IIRC, and a few of those wires are "hot" when the ignition is on. That being said, it sounds like something happened below the car first, from your description. Either way, it looks like a shitty situation...:(