Please see the attached picture... or I'm afraid I did that wrong so here is a link where you can see it as well. https://www.dropbox.com/s/470apx38znlky0z/bmw.jpg?dl=0
Basically the trim on the rear passenger side door seems to have developed a break, and when it rains... well I get actual standing water inside the rear passenger floor area. So I need to replace the part that is circled in red on the high res image attached, but I can't seem to find that specific part in the online retailers' sites. I just don't know what they would call such a part. I've clicked through all the options that seem correct but none of them ends up being what I'm looking for. So if you could, please either let me know what this part would be called and in what section of the retailers I would find it, or maybe just send me a link please Thanks!
RealOEM is a clone of the BMW parts lookup computer.
The prices however are completely wrong.
If I were to give my Touring a first name, I'd probably name it "Alan".
Mostly because I like puns.
Mutual Admiration Society #5
I doubt that is your problem, the door seals against the body not that seal. If you get standing water on the floor remove the door panel and inspect the vapor barrier (door isulation) most shops rip it and tear the hell out of it trying to get to latches and regulators. if it is not sealed the water will run inside door and inside your car.
x3 is also notorious for this.
Level 1 Certified BMW tech.
I don't disagree, because I did my best average joe examination and it didn't seem like the issue I was seeing (I can take picture later) should be able to cause it. The vapor barrier (the foam on the door side, right?) goes all the way around so any water getting into the channel that runs along the top of both doors and then down behind the rear door should channel water out no matter what. But last night (rainy) I put some tape along the top of the door, covering the channel, and stuffed a paper towel in the channel for good measure. No more water in the car. And that exact situation (car parked, rainy night) had produced standing water two weeks ago. I'll do my best to get a good picture or video, but I'll try here to describe it as well.
The part that I'm looking for is shaped like a C, or maybe an r (lowercase). There is a rigid plastic frame and inside it, a flexible plastic tongue that goes out the top of the r and into the next part forward, creating a seal under the channel. That piece of flexible rubberized plastic no longer reaches fully to the next piece, leaving a gap of about 1/4 inch. I can only assume that this is allowing water in, which is then running down the door between the car and the outside, down to the bottom of the door where it may well up but eventually comes into the car. The reason I suspect this is because there appears to be no sign of water entry at the TOP of the inside of the door, or anywhere on the door, but still the floor is soaked.
So, that's my best guess so far. It's going to be a rainy week and i really don't have time to be without my car for a few days, so I'm going to try to wing it and fix it myself. We'll see!
Man, frustrating! I just posted a long reply to post #5 but for some reason it just didn't appear, but my next post (#6) did. Annoying! (Edit 927 PM.. well there it is, post 6, back from the ether. So below is a repeat of that I suppose).
I'll try to quickly recreate it....
So I agree that it seems like the vapor barrier would stop any water coming in from the point that I suspect it's coming in, but here's why I think it's not. The part I'm looking to buy is shaped basically like a lower case r. At the top right of the r is where a break appears, and inside the rigid plastic of this part, there is a rubberized part that extends out of the r and into the next piece. That rubberized part is the problem, as it is not extending fully anymore, and thus leaving a 1/4" gap, which I think is where water must be entering. The water then must be traveling down the door inside its frame, because the water entry in the car is only at the bottom of the door, not the top. I don't know how it's getting past the vapor barrier, but my guess is just that there is a ton of it and it is not designed to hold water like a tupperware would hold it.
So last night I put tape on the top of the car, covering the channel that runs from the side view mirror all the way over the doors and down behind the back door. I covered the channel only from about the top of the car, about where the two doors meet, back to about the point where the channel heads down toward the ground. I also stuffed a bit of paper towel into the actual spot where the hole was. Logic here was that the channel would be feeding water by gravity from the roof of the car directly into that gap, so I covered the "watershed" that would feed back but ignored the part that would feed forward. This morning, after a lot of rain last night, no water.
I'll try to take a video that better illustrates what I'm saying here. But I think I'm right about the point of entry of the water.
Last edited by cameronjpu; 05-22-2017 at 09:28 PM.
OK i just took a video, which may or may not help. https://youtu.be/zjw-B1lr7YY
Thanks!
if it is that piece, it looks as if someone tryied to use foam tape to reattach it. replacement involves replacing the entire drip moulding on that side of car. its sold as one piece. thats why there is a gap in it now.
Level 1 Certified BMW tech.
no I am talking about the part where you showed the paper towel shoved in. there is a gap, that was mad when someone or previous owner, tech, who knows seperated the back part (part that curves down around rear door) with the long rain channel along roof and down front windshield. They are put together from factory and should be replaced as a unit. what happens is the rear clips break and people pull it off replace the clips and put back together, you can see it doesnt line up anymore and behind the tow pieces is a piece of grey foam tape that looks like body shop to me....
Level 1 Certified BMW tech.
Ah, got it, thanks. I can't imagine what that would be, because the car was bought certified pre-owned from BMW and I haven't ever had anything that would require repairing/replacing those parts. I'm trying to figure out how to find time to get it repaired instead of hoping to do it myself. I'm sure it'll cost $700 like everything else does
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