leaking trunk

[viali8]

Does any one have any experience with a leaking trunk. The passed two times it has rained there has been a puddle of water in my jack well. The carpets are not wet and the antenna seal is new. Any suggestions?

Regards

[Cabriolet]

is your antenna housing broken?
also rust can build up in the top left corner of the trunk and cause some holes right below the gasket.

[Holland]

Taillight gaskets, even if they look new replace them. Also the check for the little clips that hold the trim around your C pillar, mine were broken leaving holes exposed.

[Balleristic31]

I've got the same problem so any suggestions would be nice! :up:

[Pac1373]

it is tailight gaskets like Holland says, super common issue.

both of mine do it.

[Holland]

it is tailight gaskets like Holland says, super common issue.

both of mine do it.

Immediately fixed the issue. I did a bunch of stuff and I still had standing water, did this, and it was all gone.

[grantlacey11]

agreed. just ordered TL gaskets.

[Gerta]

A common issue is to have a leaking sunroof and blocked drains which cause water to leak down the pillars. OP do you have a sunroof car? If not disregard. I get water in the jack side of the trunk far forward in the well when it rains hard. Washing the car I get nothing, even when purposely spraying the tailights.

[BMWerke]

i had my jackwell FULL of water on several occasions and it couldnt figure out what its was, until i found this tiny hole that looked like it was drilled in the area in between the body and rubber trunk seal.

[CharlesDickens]

How about adjusting the trunk latch? Sounds obvious, but it could be loose. It's one of those stupid things that could go unnoticed. Happened to me, and it took surprisingly long to figure it out.

Otherwise, does your car have diving boards? The rear trim pieces that house the side turn indicators have vents underneath them, and if the gaskets are crap on those, water could run under the trim and into those seams.

[Robert Fisher]

I had a similar problem when I first got my E30 cabrio. The jack well would have water in it after every rain. There were two sources of the water. I put silicon all around the new tail light gasket but no difference. The water, I eventually discovered was flowing by capillary action under the trunk lid gasket. I took the gasket off and cleaned out the inside of it and put new Plumbers Goop sealant in it all around and replaced it. The other source however I have never found a way to stop. It comes from somewhere above the wheel well and runs down under the antenna into the jack well. The only solution I could find was to open the apparent drain hole that it appeared someone had plugged with sealant. So, now the water runs in and right back out again with no dwell time. There was a small depression in the bottom of the jack well that I filled with sealant so it would not become a reservoir.

Bob

[mrmckie]

i have water building up on the top of my battery cover and my carpets wet too..think it may be trunk seal itself, but i think i'll get the TL gaskets to be safe like everyone recommended as well

[viali8]

flooding

A common issue is to have a leaking sunroof and blocked drains which cause water to leak down the pillars. OP do you have a sunroof car? If not disregard. I get water in the jack side of the trunk far forward in the well when it rains hard. Washing the car I get nothing, even when purposely spraying the tailights.

I do have a sunroof car...but the sunroof is not leaking. How do i clean out the blocked drains?

[viali8]

flooding

I had a similar problem when I first got my E30 cabrio. The jack well would have water in it after every rain. There were two sources of the water. I put silicon all around the new tail light gasket but no difference. The water, I eventually discovered was flowing by capillary action under the trunk lid gasket. I took the gasket off and cleaned out the inside of it and put new Plumbers Goop sealant in it all around and replaced it. The other source however I have never found a way to stop. It comes from somewhere above the wheel well and runs down under the antenna into the jack well. The only solution I could find was to open the apparent drain hole that it appeared someone had plugged with sealant. So, now the water runs in and right back out again with no dwell time. There was a small depression in the bottom of the jack well that I filled with sealant so it would not become a reservoir.

Bob

This sounds like this could be my problem. How would we go about cleaning out the drains to prevent the water from going into the trunk?

Matt

[VinniE30]

I have this same exact problem with the same symptoms. For some people it is apparently the taillights but not me. I see no watermarks or wetness on the inside near them and cant get water to come in when I try to with a hose. My sunroof seals were old and off a little and after I fixed that I think it solved the problem.

OP, I think this could be your problem as well because like me you said you have no wetness anywhere but in the jack well. The sunroof drains to this area if water gets past the sunroof seals with no visible signs of leakage anywhere else.

If it was the trunk seals or taillights you would see water or at least water marks in other parts of the trunk which would make it more obvious where the water was coming from.