Hi Everybody,

About a month ago I got an unexpected surprise when I discovered what I consider to be an engineering, (and non-thought out), design flaw on our 2016 535i. Maybe my experience can help you avoid a similar experience.

Here's what happened - My wife and I were caught in a heavy rain downpour as we arrived for an overnight visit with friends. While my wife took an umbrella and made a run for their house, I used another umbrella to gather the two/three items in our car's trunk.

Of course the 5 series trunk lid opens at almost a 90 degree angle to facilitate easy loading/unloading, but I didn't think about it "catching" the rainfall. I gathered up our items in one arm while holding the umbrella with the other to keep the heavy rain off me. I was able to push the auto-close button on the trunk lid and as it started down I stepped slightly back to let the lid close without hitting my umbrella.

Then I got the "surprise". What seemed to be a "bucket-full" of water poured off the lowering trunk lid down my leg . The rain had collected in the license plate area while the trunk was open. That area, when the trunk lid is open is a 25" x 7" catch basin almost an inch deep, which means "a lot of water" collects and then can pour down your leg or into your shoes if you aren't paying attention. My right pants leg was soaked from the knee down all the way into my shoe .

We all had a good laugh about the slight mishap and shared a drink while I waited (in another pair of slacks) while the pants ran through the dryer. So be on the alert for this "gotcha" surprise if you're loading/unloading your F10 in a heavy rain.