Canvas Waterproofing, or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love My E36

[Eflat36]

This one's a two-part-er

Bought an E36 vert about 6 months ago. Guy who sold it to me said the top was about 4 months old at the time.

Part 1:
Last weekend it rained.
A lot.
I know I'm not the only one to notice.
Anyway, my car sat all weekend, I got in it Monday morning, and my back seat is a fucking pool.
Not the carpet.
Not the floor pans.
Just the back seat.
Anyway, my local bmw specialist mechanic recommended I get some tent waterproofing spray and hit the whole top with that.
Anyone waterproofed their top before?
Any recommendations?

part 2:
So anyway, like I was saying, my back seat literally had about 4" of water in the back-seat-pan-area.
Three days of no back seat and everything is back to normal, but in my searchings I noticed that my vert top doesn't quite seal down to the body for about 3" on both sides, right behind the rear windows.
It's to the point where I can look over my shoulder and see light peeking through the holes.
It really seems like there should be some rubber stripping there, and I'm 99.99999% positive that's how my back seat got flooded.
It's quite literally right behind the rear windows, right at (I believe BMW officially calls it) the main-hinge-between-car-and-top-area.
Has anyone ever heard of this before?
Was the guy who changed out the top just too much of a dip shit to put the seals back on for both sides?
Do all E36 verts have holes right behind the rear windows between the body and top?

I'll see if I can get some pics up later, unless someone knows whats up in the mean time.

[lightflyer1]

Back seat is the drains in the top compartment. Clean them out. Towards the front of the car. Check the windshield cowl and drains while you are at it. There is a posting here somewhere about how to adjust the top for the gap you are talking about. Can't find it right now though.

[fun2drive]

First use either 303 Protectorant for cloth not vinyl or RaggTop, both work well and I have used both. Wipe the top clean with a damp cloth when the sun is out to get it clean. Use something as lint free as possible. Then apply the spray. I put two coats on and it drys fast if warm and sunny slower if not really warm but it will bead.

My top has gaps where you mention and I have yet to see how to adjust that area down. However your water didn't come from those gaps unless you had hours of horizontal rain. Your top does have drains in the boot storage area that you can see when you open the top and the boot is up and the back window area has not tucked itself into the boot. They are slightly ahead of the back seat back in regard to location and are not big drains maybe 3/8" and have a circular star shaped ring around the drain. Hard to explain easy to see.
I just not have had time to correct my top being too high in the same area you describe and that is the source of a lot of wind noise too. I just got some foam and waterproof black canvas like the top and made a couple of canvas covered gaskets that I put in from the inside that sit against the top and block that area completely and are easy to store and insert until I can correct that problem. I am not aware that there is anything there but the top, no gaskets. I hope to find the procedure to adjust that down as well but think after time these tops do shrink as do the rubber seals....

[110reef]

There are gaskets that go there, there are some pics and references somewhere on this site. But that being said, my car is also missing those seals, and I do not get water in my car.

[Eflat36]

It rained for three days straight with constant 10-20mph winds.
The inside layer of the top right where I have the gaps was extremely damp, so I'm pretty sure horizontal rain had quite a bit to do with it, though i'll go check the boot lid drains in a bit. Thank you all very much for the info.

[110reef]

Eflat - where in Louisiana are you?

[Eflat36]

Metairie.
It seems like most of the e36 guys in LA are centered around BR, kinda odd.

[lightflyer1]

Use something like string trimmer line to gently run down the drain. Run water through to make sure it drains free. Check often.

[110reef]

I don't know if you have seen the Louisiana forum, but there are meets and road trips from time to time, and while most of the people there are from Baton Rouge, many of the meets are on the lakefront or road trip to Abita brewery etc, which are plenty close to Metarie. Plus a lot of helpful friendly folks that aren't too far away if needed.

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...play.php?f=289

[Eflat36]

As long as nothing catastrophic happens between now and then I'll be making it out to the abita run

[trayson]

Here are pictures of what the seals look like under the soft top. You should not see big gaps (although I know tons of E36's have them).

These pictures were from my 1996 328i that had one of the most pristine condition soft tops I'd ever seen.

[fun2drive]

I need to check my top and see if I have those installed. I never recall seeing those...
I would love to see what part this is.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/partgrp.d...77&hg=54&fg=10

[e30hijinks]

I am interested as well. Literally 100% of E36 cabrio owners never speak of this part nor do they know of it. I"ve been wondering the exact same thing--why would BMW design a car with an open and obvious big gap between the body and the top? You can literally see right through it. What part # is this?

BTW Is topped my leak by applying "Gummipflege" to the seals. It took a few applications and a couple weeks for the product to "set in" and work. Have had HEAVY rains and car washes since and no leaks. I also sealed the top with Porsche brand canvas protectant which I purchased from Pelicanparts

[trayson]

Originally Posted by e30hijinks

I am interested as well. Literally 100% of E36 cabrio owners never speak of this part nor do they know of it. I"ve been wondering the exact same thing--why would BMW design a car with an open and obvious big gap between the body and the top? You can literally see right through it. What part # is this?

BTW Is topped my leak by applying "Gummipflege" to the seals. It took a few applications and a couple weeks for the product to "set in" and work. Have had HEAVY rains and car washes since and no leaks. I also sealed the top with Porsche brand canvas protectant which I purchased from Pelicanparts

I can't find a part number on this that would seperate it from the soft top frame. I have to believe that it would have been made seperately, but I can't find it...

[LockDots84]

Looks custom/hand made to me.

And of course Tray just HAD to post.......he needs any kind of excuse to be a pictar whoar

[sam316i]

I have a gap i can see light through too dont no why its there but my right hand side front and rear foot wells are saturated an dont no if this is the reason? P.S. i have checkedthe rear drain holes too and they are clear.

[LockDots84]

usually not the case. The holes there really don't get water through them unless it's raining sideways or you spray the car horizontally during a wash.

I do like what Tray has on his car though and doesn't look to hard to fabricate. I'm sure you could take some window or door weatherstripping and cut down to the right size, then glue it on.

[fun2drive]

Until I do that I will just use the foam with waterproof inserts to block those areas. It does really cut the sound down as well. I like the addition I saw but I do think my top could use an adjustment.

You can get a lot of water from the windshield area, it will run like a faucet barely cracked which over an hour is a lot of water. Not sure why you get a lot in the rear well areas but the front area is the point where the windshield, window, top all come together.

My current vert doesn't have the best fitting top even though it is expensive but it is a quality top and not worn much so I may try to do some adjustments.

[Eflat36]

-____-'' the foam gaskets are now the least of my worries.
I just noticed a 2" long crack had reciently formed in my back window.

[elroy455]

I have 2 e36 325ic's - one with this gasket intact and one without. i just recieved the replacement part from Pelican parts: 54-31-8-135-273-BOE

Here is the diagram from REALOEM.com.



09Gasket154318135273$62.69

[LockDots84]

good to know! Thanks for the find!

[freddybeemer100]

Sat in my '94 325i today, looked behind me at the right side behind the window and yup, daylight.

Hardtops are rare here in Sofla.
I only like the softtop when its down, cranky piece of work that it is.

[fun2drive]

My car has that gasket so it is up to me to close the gap. I have some black waterproof cloth and will use some double sticky tape like you use on a truck topper to seal the gap and close mine off. My gap is not huge but allows a lot of air in. It looks like it was glued to the top by the way the gasket shown in item 9.