Need help with this LATEST water leak issue~

[evomel]

Had my windshield replaced twice now- a few months back was the most recent - Yes I know the cars are getting older but I will argue with anyone why the poorly designed drainage and placement of ECU !!! Anyways!! Can anyone tell me the correct placement of the corner cowl covers? Mine look like they have been chewed up by a dog and who the heck knows how they should actually go back properly- and yes I'm getting a pool of water in glove box and floor is super saturated on passenger side. Any help would be appreciated ~

[geargrinder]

Mel -

In the last pic the trim along the along the bottom of the windshield yes should go down on top of the tray for the cabin air intake, so water runs down into that channel. There's sort of a little interlock deal there.

I agree they aren't the best - on one side of my car the cabin air intake is easy to sneak under there and get it to flow correctly, on the other side its fussy.

Places to look for your leak:
- Drains down in the area below the ECU "e-box" most importantly (and the corresponding brake-booster bin area on the other side). Those definitely clog up with leaves and crap (frikkin maple seeds are my sworn enemy) and create swimming pools.
- But more likely, from the description of 'filling the glove box'... The sunroof drain up behind the passenger A-pillar.

When I bought my car it had issues w/ that sunroof drain and indeed I'd get dripping water coming down behind the glove box. Didn't fill mine but got stuff wet back there. The metal dash framing back there has a little surface rust to this day from it. All it took was pulling the interior A-pillar trim and the visor etc. to pull the headliner corner back a little to find the pinched sunroof drain and straighten it out and reconnect everything. With luck you find something easy like that.

[evomel]

Mel -

In the last pic the trim along the along the bottom of the windshield yes should go down on top of the tray for the cabin air intake, so water runs down into that channel. There's sort of a little interlock deal there.

I agree they aren't the best - on one side of my car the cabin air intake is easy to sneak under there and get it to flow correctly, on the other side its fussy.

Places to look for your leak:
- Drains down in the area below the ECU "e-box" most importantly (and the corresponding brake-booster bin area on the other side). Those definitely clog up with leaves and crap (frikkin maple seeds are my sworn enemy) and create swimming pools.
- But more likely, from the description of 'filling the glove box'... The sunroof drain up behind the passenger A-pillar.

When I bought my car it had issues w/ that sunroof drain and indeed I'd get dripping water coming down behind the glove box. Didn't fill mine but got stuff wet back there. The metal dash framing back there has a little surface rust to this day from it. All it took was pulling the interior A-pillar trim and the visor etc. to pull the headliner corner back a little to find the pinched sunroof drain and straighten it out and reconnect everything. With luck you find something easy like that.

cool so they need to interlock got ya- I'll be honest I'm loosing my hair with this car LOL - I've tried selling her so many times I just don't wanna give her away cause I have so much invested into her- So Ive been just trying too cope with all the fussy things like this- I'm gonna take a good look at all those points you listed - today its raining like a monsoon and of course indoor swimming pool LOL - either way I need to at least order those corner towel covers - tks bud

[geargrinder]

Yeah honestly how those fit together doesn't matter 100% though, if stuff is clogged underneath that's not the difference maker. #1 job for sure is makign sure the drains are all clean and flowing. If those are good then the whole engine bay system can handle a little trickle here and there, which is why you shouldn't worry about the aged gaskets etc. too much .

[evomel]

tks GearGrinder! yeah the other slight detail that scares the heck out of me is the ECU cover under all that LOL OYE VAY never an end-

[bmchuckleyou]

I'll just add that when I was doing the drains on the 528, I ran aquarium tubing down the drain tube, then ran water through to unblock any obstruction.

Worked like a charm.

[geargrinder]

I'll just add that when I was doing the drains on the 528, I ran aquarium tubing down the drain tube, then ran water through to unblock any obstruction.

Worked like a charm.

Hmmmm. Clever idea. You could even use that to blow some air through without blowing the hoses off, i.e. push the hose down past the seam, then work it towards the bottom. The teeny hose would also limit pressure to keep it from blowing stuff off too. I'll have to remember that and file it next to string-trimmer trick.

[bmchuckleyou]

Hmmmm. Clever idea. You could even use that to blow some air through without blowing the hoses off, i.e. push the hose down past the seam, then work it towards the bottom. The teeny hose would also limit pressure to keep it from blowing stuff off too. I'll have to remember that and file it next to string-trimmer trick.

Yeah, that's exactly what I did. I put the tubing in, put some air through it...pushed it down all the way to make sure there were no more obstructions...

The good thing was the air line tubing fits very well into the drain lines, so you know you're not leaving anything left in there to block things up again and it's got enough rigidity that you can pretty much get it down to the bottom of the drains.

[m735is]

After you fix the drainage problem, I would look at the LCM at the base of the A pillar and fuse block under the passenger seat carpet-- battery disconnected first. My 99 had a slight leak at the A pillar and it ruined my LCM and the fuse block was completely rusted. I had recently bought the car, so I have no idea how long it was leaking.

[evomel]

anyone have a clear diagram or pic of the sunroof drain and A pillar drain? ya know its quite daunting getting rid of all the mechanical issues to then have these silly issues - for some strange reason my sons daily corolla and wife daily land cruiser sent have these strange issues LOL - and their OLDER

[Milanese]

"My 99 had a slight leak at the A pillar and it ruined my LCM"
Yep, this thing just happened to me yesterday. Lights not working, LCM was wet with oxidation on it, probably good for garbage, will have to search ebay for some used one and pay $$ to have it reprogrammed by the dealership. Don't want to hijack the thread but...anyone in north Alabama/Tennessee who can reprogram LCM for cheaper?

"anyone have a clear diagram or pic of the sunroof drain and A pillar drain?"
This would be super useful. I don't plan to replace the LCM just to have it destroyed by the next rain...again. So having the drains figured out is imperative.

[evomel]

"my 99 had a slight leak at the a pillar and it ruined my lcm"
yep, this thing just happened to me yesterday. Lights not working, lcm was wet with oxidation on it, probably good for garbage, will have to search ebay for some used one and pay $$ to have it reprogrammed by the dealership. Don't want to hijack the thread but...anyone in north alabama/tennessee who can reprogram lcm for cheaper?

"anyone have a clear diagram or pic of the sunroof drain and a pillar drain?"
this would be super useful. I don't plan to replace the lcm just to have it destroyed by the next rain...again. So having the drains figured out is imperative.

yes please diamgram and info please real bad design bmw !!!!

[geargrinder]

Gosh people. Really?

http://bfy.tw/GfZO

BTW its not that horrible of a design honestly. The vast majority of the time it works fine. Often its screwed up by a minor maintenance event where somebody nudged it or kinked it without noticing and fixing it. Yes they can clog, but that happens on loads of (all?) cars, and these are hardly the most cloggable worst drain situations in the world.

[evomel]

well today finally removed the passenger side A pillar trim and part of the head liner- apparently when i pour water down the sunroof drain water comes out the front passenger side front wheel but also a leak down A pillar- now looking intro it- NOW WHY WOULD BMW put a FUSE BOX ON THE FLOOR OF THE PASSENGER SEAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ?????????????????????????????????? any ONLINE FORUM LAWYERS

- - - Updated - - -

THESE THINGS HAVE REAR DRAINS ON THE C PILLARS AS WELL???????? I"M READY TO WELD SHEET METAL IN LOL

[geargrinder]

Dude. Take a few big pulls of a nice mellow indica. Close your eyes and think of calming waterfalls and meadows full of wildflowers blowing in the wind. Deep breaths. Chant "vanos disa guibo, vanos disa guibo, vanos disa guibo" 100 times. And break the caps lock key off your keyboard.

OK. Let us proceed.

The rear drains are seldom a problem. Not impossible but seldom. No idea how you think "WELDING SHEET METAL ZOMGZLSALKCAPSLOCK11111" is gonna help. It won't. Probably they are 100% fine honestly.

The front drains, as mentioned already today, aren't really a disasterous engineering failure at all.

They just get either
1. clogged,
2. pinched , or
3. pulled off.

None of which are grounds for a class action lawsuit. The latter 2 are usually from somebody doing some work in there and not noticing.

BMW is not responsible for somebody prior being a jackass, nor for you having had 10lbs of pine needles and maple seeds and leaf debris wash down the sunroof drains over the years. Crap happens. They are all a fairly easy fix.

If you dump an ASS-TON CAPSLOCKZOMG11111111 of water into the roof, it WILL overflow the tray momentarily, there's no way around that. But that's not normal. That's not a problem or a failure with the system. That's a failure of your expectations and procedure.

However, if you pour a slow trickle into the roof tray, and it then starts dribbling down the A-pillar, then yes, it is one of the 3 things mentioned.

Gently pull the tab off the hose barb and try one of the many documented ways to clear drains.
- weed whacker cord with or without a knot tied in it.
- guitar strings (aren't as long as you can reach w/ the WW cord tho').
- aquarium tubing connected to some light compressed air, run it down a ways and then try blowing it a little bit.
- NOT CAPSLCKZOMG11111 heavy compressed air directly into the tube itself

Once you're sure the drain tube itself is clear down to the ground, fit it back into the holder clips & fit it onto the barb again being sure it doesn't get pinched or kinked. If you like, run small ziptie around the top of it to hold it onto the barb (tho' that isn't really necessary, maybe it'll make you feel better).

Now test the trickle into the tray again. Should be fine. There's a long shot that a plug has popped out of the sunroof tray, there's a bimmerfest thread on that, however that is a long shot thing and most people do not have that problem, furthermore most water that gets in around the sunroof glass doesn't even make it to that point where that plug is. So what I'm saying is, don't sweat that thread too much if you stumble on it, just do what I said...

It really aint that hard

#spoonfeedthemillenialsnowflakes

[DennisG01]

Don't get too stressed. Putting electronic items under floorboard is nothing new, nor is it specific to BMW. It's really not that uncommon, at all.

I'm not "well versed" in the area of leaks, but I have some experience. It sounds like the drain tube from the sunroof is only partially connected or the tube has a crack in it. The first one is likely more probable. Try pouring water DIRECTLY into the drain hole - use a little tube and a funnel - just to make sure the leak isn't somewhere else around the sunroof rain gutter.

EDIT: Looks like Geargrinder types faster than me... and with more info to boot, as well!

[evomel]

ok ok I'm breathing again a few weeks back from BP was 208/140 so trying not to get agitated these days- will try those suggestions sounds great! thank you '

Dude. Take a few big pulls of a nice mellow indica. Close your eyes and think of calming waterfalls and meadows full of wildflowers blowing in the wind. Deep breaths. Chant "vanos disa guibo, vanos disa guibo, vanos disa guibo" 100 times. And break the caps lock key off your keyboard.

OK. Let us proceed.

The rear drains are seldom a problem. Not impossible but seldom. No idea how you think "WELDING SHEET METAL ZOMGZLSALKCAPSLOCK11111" is gonna help. It won't. Probably they are 100% fine honestly.

The front drains, as mentioned already today, aren't really a disasterous engineering failure at all.

They just get either
1. clogged,
2. pinched , or
3. pulled off.

None of which are grounds for a class action lawsuit. The latter 2 are usually from somebody doing some work in there and not noticing.

BMW is not responsible for somebody prior being a jackass, nor for you having had 10lbs of pine needles and maple seeds and leaf debris wash down the sunroof drains over the years. Crap happens. They are all a fairly easy fix.

If you dump an ASS-TON CAPSLOCKZOMG11111111 of water into the roof, it WILL overflow the tray momentarily, there's no way around that. But that's not normal. That's not a problem or a failure with the system. That's a failure of your expectations and procedure.

However, if you pour a slow trickle into the roof tray, and it then starts dribbling down the A-pillar, then yes, it is one of the 3 things mentioned.

Gently pull the tab off the hose barb and try one of the many documented ways to clear drains.
- weed whacker cord with or without a knot tied in it.
- guitar strings (aren't as long as you can reach w/ the WW cord tho').
- aquarium tubing connected to some light compressed air, run it down a ways and then try blowing it a little bit.
- NOT CAPSLCKZOMG11111 heavy compressed air directly into the tube itself

Once you're sure the drain tube itself is clear down to the ground, fit it back into the holder clips & fit it onto the barb again being sure it doesn't get pinched or kinked. If you like, run small ziptie around the top of it to hold it onto the barb (tho' that isn't really necessary, maybe it'll make you feel better).

Now test the trickle into the tray again. Should be fine. There's a long shot that a plug has popped out of the sunroof tray, there's a bimmerfest thread on that, however that is a long shot thing and most people do not have that problem, furthermore most water that gets in around the sunroof glass doesn't even make it to that point where that plug is. So what I'm saying is, don't sweat that thread too much if you stumble on it, just do what I said...

It really aint that hard

#spoonfeedthemillenialsnowflakes

- - - Updated - - -

also good suggestion- thank you - will give it a go

Don't get too stressed. Putting electronic items under floorboard is nothing new, nor is it specific to BMW. It's really not that uncommon, at all.

I'm not "well versed" in the area of leaks, but I have some experience. It sounds like the drain tube from the sunroof is only partially connected or the tube has a crack in it. The first one is likely more probable. Try pouring water DIRECTLY into the drain hole - use a little tube and a funnel - just to make sure the leak isn't somewhere else around the sunroof rain gutter.

EDIT: Looks like Geargrinder types faster than me... and with more info to boot, as well!

[DennisG01]

If the tube/funnel thing doesn't produce any leaks, then you can do the opposite - plug the drain holes and pour water into the gutter. You can further isolate areas by putting tape over things (our putty). Again, this may not be a totally definitive way to check things, but it could help to narrow down the problem area before dismantling things.

[evomel]

well---- pulled the tube from top that leads to sunroof to A pillar no leak on tube - tube looks fine- I even first installed a small radiator clamp maybe that would;ld help nope- still leak- took that off stuff a smaller tube down the bmw tube blew air all open poured water down the BMW tube all comes down- re connected it still leaks LOL oye vay

[DennisG01]

How are you getting it to leak? Where are you pouring water to make it leak? If it's still leaking by pouring it down the sunrook gutter drain, then you know the leak is from the gutter connection and down.

[evomel]

How are you getting it to leak? Where are you pouring water to make it leak? If it's still leaking by pouring it down the sunrook gutter drain, then you know the leak is from the gutter connection and down.

yes pouring water from the sunroof down- it seems to me the hose to female part is not tight enough either I add some silicone tape around it or putty not sure which is best - what would the OEM guys suggest

[evomel]

OK SILICON TAPE did it ! .30 tape job done! pouring tons of water no leaks - 1 down 1 more problem to go - now lets see if I was right

[DennisG01]

Great! Just out of curiosity, since I've never had mine torn down that far to physically see it... the "hose to female part" - are you saying the hose fits INTO the gutter drain connector? If that's the way it was designed, then that is actually backwards, in terms of logic and, well, phsyics. The gutter drain should fit into the hose - just makes more sense, you know?

[evomel]

Great! Just out of curiosity, since I've never had mine torn down that far to physically see it... the "hose to female part" - are you saying the hose fits INTO the gutter drain connector? If that's the way it was designed, then that is actually backwards, in terms of logic and, well, phsyics. The gutter drain should fit into the hose - just makes more sense, you know?

the nipple part from the sunroof tray- thats the part that needed the silicone tape cause the BMW tube wasn't a very good snug fit- - I'm going to leave it all open just to see if that was the culprit or if I need to do something else- put after the tape I poured a gallon of water and no one drop came out

[DennisG01]

Nipple part... OK, that makes me feel better about the BMW engineers...