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Water Found In Wheel Wells - How??

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    Water Found In Wheel Wells - How??

    Hi All,

    Over the years when there’s rain/a lot of water on the ground I always end up with water in both of the wheel wells in my truck. Since the lining of the trunk is only wet in the bottom of the wheel wells, I have not been able to track where the water is coming in from. Keep in mind, the amount of water at times has been a few inches deep on either side.


    Have any of you ever experienced this issue? Being that this car is my sunny day driver, I don’t want to throw money randomly to try and fix this problem. Any info or insight helps.

    Thank you!

    #2
    Sunroof drains. Common problem. Do a search.

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      #3
      I have had that problem on a couple of cars. I assumed it was sunroof drains as well but they are good and drain out of the car through the flaps on each side. It wasn't the sunroof drains on either car. It seemed to be coming from high up and trickling down as I've observed water dripping from the bottom of the rear deck right under the C pillars. Other culprits are tail light gaskets, trunk gasket rear window seal and the rear quarter window trim seals. The quarter window trim seal clips are often dry rotted out now and given the rain gutter drains back towards them, water can easily enter the car through the 3 holes in the C pillar.
      "I'd probably take the E30 M3 in this case just because I love that little car, and how tanky that inline 6 is." - thecj

      85 323i M TECH 1 S52 - ALPINEWEISS/SCHWARZE
      88 M3 - LACHSSILBER/SCHWARZE
      89 M3 - ALPINEWEISS II/M TECH CLOTH-ALCANTARA
      91 M TECHNIC CABRIO TURBO - MACAOBLAU/M TECH CLOTH-LEATHER

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        #4
        sunroof drains, trunk seal, antenna grommet, or talight gaskets. When my window C-pillar trim grommets were all dried out, I ended up with water in the back seat.
        Build thread

        Bimmerlabs

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          #5
          How much of a pain is it to replace say the:
          -Trunk Seal
          -Sunroof Seal
          -Side window seal

          And is it very costly? Being honest, I am not very mechanical and fear fucking this up even worse.


          Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

          Comment


            #6
            The sunroof seal doesn't do anything to seal water. It's only for wind. It's designed so water drains through the opening, down the sunroof tubes, down behind the rear wheels and out of the car.

            The trunk seal and C-pillar grommets are easy - the trunk can be done with zero tools. I've never replaced a window seal.
            Build thread

            Bimmerlabs

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              #7
              Do some more diagnosis before throwing parts at it. With "both wheel wells" with standing water I'm betting on the trunk gasket and tail light gaskets.

              Both projects are pretty straight forward. First, remove the trunk gasket, it just lifts off. Clean real well underneath and look for pin holes in the lip. After reinstalling it, take a piece of waxed paper or something similar close the trunk on it in several places and see if you have an area where it pull out real easy which would tell you where the bad seal area may be.

              The tail light gaskets can be ordered through BMW and another relatively cheap part (by BMW standards), easy to do and highly likely culprit.
              2004 525i Manual - 1985 325E Coupe Manual

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                #8
                In the meantime, drill a little hole in the plugs at the bottoms of the trays to avoid rusting. There's a ~1" plastic plug on each side.
                john@m20guru.com
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                  #9
                  Originally posted by nando View Post
                  sunroof drains, trunk seal, antenna grommet, or talight gaskets. When my window C-pillar trim grommets were all dried out, I ended up with water in the back seat.
                  this ^^^^

                  Originally posted by tomstin View Post
                  Do some more diagnosis before throwing parts at it. With "both wheel wells" with standing water I'm betting on the trunk gasket and tail light gaskets.

                  Both projects are pretty straight forward. First, remove the trunk gasket, it just lifts off. Clean real well underneath and look for pin holes in the lip. After reinstalling it, take a piece of waxed paper or something similar close the trunk on it in several places and see if you have an area where it pull out real easy which would tell you where the bad seal area may be.

                  The tail light gaskets can be ordered through BMW and another relatively cheap part (by BMW standards), easy to do and highly likely culprit.
                  this plus 1 .... could be a various amount off things at once ex: trunk seals bad and taillight seals being bad as well but test for it first

                  you can use a garden hose when its not raining outside and test one spot and then check see if there water then test another spot and so on
                  PERSON 1 - "It whispers to me at night...and convinces me i have to spend all my earnings on it...and buy all this stuff....to be cool...and be euro."

                  PERSON 2 - "Oh your married too?? Oh you mean the car....yes ....yes i agree...:shock:"

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                    #10
                    Originally posted by ForcedFirebird View Post
                    In the meantime, drill a little hole in the plugs at the bottoms of the trays to avoid rusting. There's a ~1" plastic plug on each side.
                    Actually, there is a factory drain on these cars. Unfortunately, most of the time, it's been covered up, usually by the factory undercoating. It's about a few inches away from the edge of the tray, closest to the rear tires, in the center of the tray. You'll have to dig at it with a pick, but make sure you clear out any blockage, to ensure that all the water will drain out.

                    (I had no idea these existed, until a couple years ago - needless to say, I felt stupid)
                    '72 2002 pickup | '88 M5 | '89 330is | '89 M3 | '01 Z3M | '11 328xi-t

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