Rear carpet wet. NOT vapor barrier. Sunroof drain nor AC drain

[Prostrho]

Hi all,

Been driving my 530i M sport touring for a while now.

When i first got the car, noticed the rear carpet was wet and the bottom of the door cards was wet when it rained so i fixed the vapor barrier and tested it using the garden hose. No water is getting thru the vapor barrier.

Then the snow came, and i stored the car indoor for about 2 months.

Well now im driving it again in the rain and my rear carpet is wet again.

I made sure its not the vapor barrier again by taping up the gap between the window and the seal thats like a wiper blade with electrical tape. There is absolutely no water in my door sills when i open the door.

i also checked all 4 sunroof drains and water drains out from bottom of the car once i poured water in.

i also havent used AC at as its winter time here.

Any other ideas?

[StephenVA]

Yep, Requires one helper, flashlight and a hose.

Really simple, Give the helper (one that knows what they are doing) and a good strong flashlight. Run hose on door FIRST, lower door, window trim, working your way UP the door to the seals at the top. Then move to the roof rack posts, then and only then to the sun roof area. Move to the front windshield top and sides.

Take the spare out: Got water?

[adm750]

As dumb as it may sound...all door trim is in place right ?? I've seen water ingress from poorly installed door mouldings (the exterior longitudinal trim mid-door)...and missing courtesy lamps....
also - I haven't looked under the chassis in a while but there are no missing or displaced body plugs below the wet areas correct ?
DEFINITELY check the spare tire well for water (don't ask me how I know...)...there was a hole left open in the upper part of the rear door opening from body repairs that allowed it to fill with water ( no leaks since it was covered...but I have removed the body plug in the center of the spare tire well to ensure I do not have a fish tank back there moving forward....)
you're sure it's water...? not washer fluid ??? X3's ran the rear washer line inside the car and under the carpets....I do not know how the e39 rear washer is plumbed so you'll have to ask someone that knows what the heck they are talking about (either way...if it's in the roof, it's not like the fluid will go UP...!!)
good luck...

[Prostrho]

Will try a to get someone to do the garden hose while I sit inside method. I might need to strip the carpets while I do the test.

Are there anything that drains along the b pillar? My feeling is that it seems to be coming along that area.

Spare tire well is not wet. Only the rear passenger side footwell carpet and foam is wet. Headliner and front carpets and everywhere else is dry. All the trim and molding are in place and still soft and flexible without damage. The sills are draining fine as well from my sunroof drain test.

Symptoms are exactly same as a vapor barrier except it can't be coming from there anymore. With me fixing it already once, and putting tape on the window seal to avoid any water getting into the door itself, that should eliminate any possibility of vapor barrier leaking.

[jclausen]

As far as sealing the vapor barrier we use a ribbon black sticky 3m product. You have to clean ever thing off, the vapor barrier has to be perfect and it is sealed all the way around.when removing it with the 3m product you have to heat it up with a heat gun to get it to come apart. So is your sealer that sticky? That's the most common problem followed by the sun roof drains, if it's not the drain I think it still is the vapor barrier. You might want to remove the front seal and lift the carpet, vacuum up water and point a fan at it over night

[Prostrho]

Found the issue. The water was coming thru the clips for the door card!

The vapor barrier was good and wasn't leaking, and I guess when I first tested it I never paid attention to those holes for the door card clips.

I am missing the foam gaskets for those clips, so I put squirted a blob of silicon on the hole and pushed the door clip thru the holes that were leaking water. Hope that solves it.

Thanks guys!

[adm750]

Job's a good 'un !! Nice catch....

[WBAD530i]

You siliconed your door panel to the door?

Wat.

I've never heard of those foam rings doing any kind of sealing. Maybe keeping it from rattling around...

[carlova789]

Are you sure there aren't any gaps in your vapor barrier?

[adm750]

yeah....I wasn't really thinking when I posted...lol...

I'm just wondering how you determined water was leaking through those clip holes... The only real way to see them is have the door open, pull the panel back away from the sheetmetal slightly, and see. (???) If that was the method....you may just have induced that leak inadvertently.

I've never seen those foam rings do any sealing either...maybe by accident...but I agree, I think they simply run interference and are for noise abatement. My r/f panel does not have any of those foam rings and I have no water on the floor. (not sure about the other panels..haven't had them off but I do have one other barrier I need to re-seal on the left... ).

Shoot - if the car is dry, you may have indeed fixed it....but you'll have to revisit this project at some point...the silicone will bite you in the ass later.

Get new clips, grab a roll of that dum-dum from Bavauto or wherever, take a nice warm Saturday afternoon and pull the panel off. Clean that silicone @#$t off there, and re-seal that barrier. Clean all the old stuff off the sheetmetal, and using hairdryer or heatgun, warm the sealing ribbon slightly. This is a PITA...but it will pay off by taking your time to do it right. We dealt with that shit all the time...these doors are a nightmare...and there were times it would take us 2-3 attempts before the leaking stopped. Sometimes you just gotta bite the bullet and replace the barrier too...but detailed workmanship could keep you from having to do that...
Hope all is well...and dry... ! Just wanted to provide something more valuable than my poorly thought out original comment...
tony