Soggy Floor

[Bimmin' in BC]

I have confirmed today that water is getting into the passenger compartment. It is only on the passenger side but it is in both the front and rear footwells and it is a considerable amount. The weird thing is, underneath the front passenger seat, there does not seem to be any water yet both the front and rear footwells are soaked. There is no evidence of where the water may be getting in through as there does not seem to be any wetness higher up than the floor. Has anyone else been unfortunate enough to experience this and if so, what was it from?

 

[Kirby]

Umm, I recall a few posts here about door seals leaking. I assume that this is occurring during rainy weather only?

 

[detcord]

Look at your A/C evaporator's drain line. It could be slimed up and overflowing into the floor pan.

 

[aNoodle]

Look at your A/C evaporator's drain line. It could be slimed up and overflowing into the floor pan.

Kirby's door seals and detcord's drain line seem to be the two causes of water in the interior. I had the later, but that water would come when the a/c was being used for prolonged periods, and the water comes from either side of the stick (passenger and driver side). The door seals would show water when it's rainy out. One other remote possiblity is the seal of the sun roof and the drains being clogged, but I think this is probably not the deal.

Good luck, and don't forget to let us know what they found in the end.

 

[Bimmin' in BC]

Update

Thanks for the input guys. I haven't been able to get to a dealership to have it looked at as I leave three hours from the closest one. I have, however, been monitoring it closely and troubleshooting the possible sources of water. (southwestern BC rains all winter ) So far the vapor seal idea seems to be the most likely culprit (see quote below). Today, as it is raining cats and dogs again, I was able to see the probable area of entry. When I opened the front passenger door, the rubber seal above the door sill and the fuzzy trim that comes down to meet the sill was wet but only where the inside door trim meets this area. Upon closer inspection of the door, I noticed water drops running down from the bottom edge of the door trim. This says to me that water is getting inside the door and probably seeping to the side of the door where the inside panel attaches and is dripping out. I will put this theory to the test at the dealership when I finally get a chance to get down there. I wish I knew how to get the door panel off safely on my own just to verify this idea before I go!

Well I finally took the car to the dealer after the rain soaked the floor on the drivers side (both front and rear). Thought it was the sunroof which the dealer worked on but nope... It's something called a vapor seal in the doors. Actually they took apart all 4 doors and found the vapor seals broken. Didn't know that much water can get thru the door panels...

 

[blkonblk330i]

Have you had any work done on your doors or had your window regulators replaced recently? When the dealer replaced my passenger window regulator they didn't install the vapor seal properly and resulted in water leaks in the passenger foot well. I took it back, they fixed it and hasn't leaked since then.

 

[Bimmin' in BC]

No I haven't, but I am still convinced that there must be a vapor seal integrity problem even though the doors have never been apart. All the evidence just seems to point in that direction. Does anyone know how to get the door panels off without damaging anything?

 

[northstar]

I have a similar experience when I first got my 03 330i. Water is detected on the front drive side carpet near the door's edge. I had noticed it when I was washing the vehicle. Took it down to the local BMW dealership and they kept the car for two days. But they did fixed the problem and it has not occur since. The service invoice states " DRIVER DOOR PANEL CLIPS COMING LOOSE. WATER TEST VEHICLE, LEAKING THROW DR DOOR PANEL CLIPS, R&I DOOR PANEL, REPLACE THE DOOR PANEL CLIPS." It also listed the following replaced part numbers:

10 51-41-8-224-768 CLIP
5 51-41-8-224-781 CLIP

At least now you know the problem can be repair.
Good Luck.

Northstar

 

[m5runner]

I am having the same problem with my 92 325i. Only the right rear passenger side gets wet! I bought some door clips the other day so I will pull the panel off and replace them and then get the carpet shampoo'd a dyed

 

[LoMo987]

I had this problem with my 2000 328i. It first began when I was at the car wash and when the car was being vacuumed out, when they took out the mats they were all mildewy and what not. So I took the car to BMW and it was a mystery to them. They ended up replacing all the weather stripping on all of the doors because eventually the water was coming up in every foot well. I NEVER had any water on the seats it was only in the footwells. When I drove the car in the rain, there was never any water coming in from the windows or sunroof. Then they took a look at the A/C drainage line and that wasn't the problem. Turned out the problem became so bad that I was able to turn it in as a lemon and got a new one. I am sure that is not what you want to hear but I brought the car to two different dealerships and they could not figure it out. Sorry for no solution but I am just letting you know what could be coming your way possibly. Good Luck!

 

[andreyiv]

I am having the same problem with my 92 325i. Only the right rear passenger side gets wet! I bought some door clips the other day so I will pull the panel off and replace them and then get the carpet shampoo'd a dyed

That could be your sunroof drains. I had the same problem and it turned out that my sunroof drain tube came off the sun roof drainage system. I had to take the head liner of to get to that drain. Hope this helps.