A lot of water!

[lightflyer1]

We had some huge downpours Friday and Saturday here in Texas. My 328i convertible with hardtop installed, sat in the driveway slightly nose down. Sunday morning when I went out to work on it, I got in to find the whole back seat area filled with water. I had removed the seat bottom earlier in the week to replace the seat belt receptacles back there. I have since vacumned out all the water and dried it out. When the sun comes back out I will bake it with the top down to finish drying it out.

Any ideas how the water got in? The hard top looks to be firmly seated on the body. The rear clamps for the hard top take a little effort to latch down. I assume it is pulling snug. I need to remove the hard top to install the electrical anyway. Might as well check the adjustment/seals while doing that.

[110reef]

I bought my car off e-bay in Houston. The day before I went to get the car it apparently rained like crazy, so when I opened the door to look inside the car, the back floor had about 3" of water sitting in there. Keep in mind this was the first time i ever laid eyes on the car. Anyway, we vacuumed out the water, and I have never had water get in there like that again.

My guess is it either came from the front seal against the windshield, which I had to silicone-glue after buying the car, or it came under the seals around the back of the top.

[CABimmer]

Its the seal for the Tonneau cover 51718132674

[MParallel]

Might also be clogged drains at the bottom of the roof department. I'm pretty sure the lid doesn't make a watertight seal, but who knows...

[jeewing]

I had this same problem and it turned out to be a combination of things. First, as Mparallel pointed out, make CERTAIN the drain plugs in the stow compartment are clear. Pour water in to confirm it is. Poke with a bamboo/skewer stick if it is not. Oddly these get clogged easily and I've had to clear mine countless times.

The Tonneau cover DOES NOT create a water tight seal. Is it supposed to? Mine sure doesn't and I suspect few of our cars do unless you happened to have changed it. Age does that to a seal we seldom pay any attention to when lubing everything up.

So the next thing to look at is what was the culprit for me. The top motor gasket. Believe it or not there is a gasket seal between the motor and the bottom (trunk side) of the stow compartment. On mine, water was getting into the trunk behind the seats and literally draining into the rear seat bottom where the fuel tank access panels are. How did I find this out? I put a towel along the length of the back of the trunk and sure enough only the left side got soaked.

Meh... I suppose changing the tonneau rubber might solve all of this but that damned seal is pricey.

[lightflyer1]

Where exactly are these drain holes located? Forgive me I am new to BMW's. I have done this for sunroof drains before though.

[jeewing]

If you look inside the stowage compartment just aft of the door jamb. Basically just in front of the hing mechanism the entire top rides on at the lowest point of the compartment. There's one on both sides.

[owwwch]

i rubbed all my seals down w/ baby oil (a thick coat), let it soak in for a bit and bam, no more issues.. it should work as long as none of ur seals are torn..


i know this is an old thread, but i figured i would add my 2 pennies

[jeewing]

An old thread but an even older problem. All suggestions help.

I'm not so sure about the baby oil simply because of it's petrol properties. Maybe it's just an old school line of thinking but the worse thing you can put on rubber seals is petrol based oils.

There are commercial products designed for this very specific purpose. I suggest those over baby oil.

[Crashj]

Model airplane guys use glycerin mixed with alcohol to lube rubber parts. I have some old fashioned rubber lubricant that is basically soap.

[freddybeemer100]

Check the antenna grommet, water can leak in the trunk and run.

[3DGE95Ti]

I used compressed air to clean the drain tubes, I was amazed how much goo came out. No more water issues anymore

[lightflyer1]

Drains cleaned and problem resolved. Now to fix the A-pillar dripping. Be careful using compressed air as you can damage/loosen the lines if you use too much pressure.

[jeewing]

The A-pillar fix is two fold:

Clean the top of the windscreen where the top meets it. Also clean the rubber on the top

The second thing is the rubber pieces in the corners. There are two pieces of rubber that overlap there. Clean out between them. Clean anywhere dirt can become trapped. I've heard of some folks using a silicon bead there but I'd rather do that as a last resort.

Miller made a video on the A-pillar fix.

[Dominic321]

We had some huge downpours Friday and Saturday here in Texas. My 328i convertible with hardtop installed, sat in the driveway slightly nose down. Sunday morning when I went out to work on it, I got in to find the whole back seat area filled with water. I had removed the seat bottom earlier in the week to replace the seat belt receptacles back there. I have since vacumned out all the water and dried it out. When the sun comes back out I will bake it with the top down to finish drying it out.

Any ideas how the water got in? The hard top looks to be firmly seated on the body. The rear clamps for the hard top take a little effort to latch down. I assume it is pulling snug. I need to remove the hard top to install the electrical anyway. Might as well check the adjustment/seals while doing that.

normally the top leaks some times but the rear window where it seals up betueen the weather stripping and the top...you should check it out next time it rains in that area you might notice a slight leak. i have had the same problem with water leaking in my 328i vert as well as you mine leaks in the trunk some times as well one day i wnet to go get a bag out of my trunk and their was a huge puddle in the middle of it...