E36 Cabin Water Leak.

[Xaxina]

Hello , I have a 4-Door E36.
When it rains heavily i get a water leak in my cabin.
The leak is located on the Driver (left) side, and the water somehow goes into the left Wind shield pillar.
It seems to be seeping in somewhere above my left shoulder , at the top of the pillar. And then it runs down the pillar to my dash.
Now this isn't a HEAVY water leak, i just feel the pillar padding getting wet all the way from top to bottom.

Now i think that the water is coming in from the the roof of the car where the rubber seal above the wind shield and the rubber seal of the door meet. Because there is a chip in the rubber (on the wind shield one ).

I will take a few pictures and post them tomorrow to see if it helps at all.

Does anyone have any experiences with this sort of problems?

Whats the most likely place that the leak is coming from, and is there something specific i should change or just all the seals (which seems like a lot of work, cause i think i need to take out my windshield in order to change one of them).

Thanks in advance!

[bmwdirtracer]

Most likely spot will be from the sunroof, because the drains are clogged. The drain holes for the sunroof are tiny (~1/4"), and ANYTHING will clog them. Open the sunroof, and pour a cup of water into the front most corner, and see whether it drains quickly and correctly out underneath the front fender. If not, you need to use compressed air to blow out these drains, carefully. You can see the drain holes in each corner of the sunroof cassette if you look carefully. The sunroof seal does not prevent water from entering; the sunroof drains are there to drain what comes in.

IF the windshield has been replaced, it's possible for it to be leaking. The "seal" you see around the windshield does not keep water out - the windshield is GLUED in place, and the glue keeps the water out.

[328 Power 04]

My e36 leaks between the heater/air conditioning box and firewall seal. Check and clear the drains of leaves on the windshield cowling area as well.
Surprisingly the sunroof drain system was fine.

[bmwdirtracer]

I was going by the "above my left shoulder".......

[Xaxina]

I was going by the "above my left shoulder".......

Yes, i think it will most likely be from the sunroof drains , since the wind shield was not replaced. (Atleast i think it was not).

[ross1]

Be advised that the engine DME sits in a compartment at the base of the windshield on the right. I neglected a similar water leak into the cabin that resulted in the DME compartment flooding with predictable results.
Until this is fixed don't park the car with the right side low