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Thread: this is what happens when yer car sits for too long

  1. #1
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    this is what happens when yer car sits for too long

    This was found under the plastic mounting for the jack/lug wrench. Followed a trail of shredded toilet paper to it.

    Car sat for months getting swapped, had a roll of TP hanging in the hatch and didnt think twice about it when I cleaned it out and noticed it was mutilated. Just cleaned up the immediate mess and moved on. This is where all the little pieces went.

    All things are working and intact except my hatch unlatches at random times and I get the message on dash. Also my speakers in passenger front and rear doors aren't working, sounds like the hatch speakers are good on both sides though...hmm

    0115192249.jpg
    Last edited by WBAD530i; 01-17-2019 at 01:27 PM.

  2. #2
    JimLev's Avatar
    JimLev is offline Artifically Aspirated Moderator
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    Looks like the mice moved in.

  3. #3
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    As for your hatch/trunk popping open randomly, check out this link (the trunk wiring is a common e39 problem):

    https://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=397245
    <== Steptronic Sealbeach740
    2000 740i sport: 74k Green/Tan chrome MPars, clear corners, quad brake lights, AIC hi-beams, Hoen fogs, 16x9 screen, MKIV, TFT LCD screen in back, license plate backup camera with "on demand" switch, iPod audio/video (CDC/iPod audio switching, iPod video on 16x9 screen), Basslink, gauge rings, ///M pedals, switched steptronic +/- shifting mode, E46 paddle shifter steering wheel, Dinan engine & tranny software upgrade, DDEs controlled via Euro fog light switch, painted calipers with "BMW" lettering, windows up/sunroof close via remote.

    2003 540i sport: 81k, Sterling grey/grey, MKIV Nav, PDC & CWP - Added license plate backup camera with "on demand" switch, paddle shift steering wheel, windows up/sunroof close via remote, Akebono's, painted calipers with "BMW" lettering, quad brake lights, iPod audio via AUX mode/video via 16x9 screen, BMW TV tuner, ///M pedals & gauge rings.

  4. #4
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    I had mine sit in the backyard for a month and they moved right in. Mostly only chewed up a bit of the engine dampener on underside of the hood. It was making a nest in the middle topsides of my intake manifold. Nice little nest. Had i not been taking out intake I would surely have only noticed the odd smells ....so I felt lucky ...


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  5. #5
    geargrinder's Avatar
    geargrinder is offline Having No Trouble Here BMW CCA Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by WBAD530i View Post
    had a roll of TP hanging in the hatch
    Errrr... Because you often take dumps in the trunk?

    :
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  6. #6
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    My first beemer (79 R100RT) started readily on the 32 (F) day when I was picking her up from her previous owner. I remember thinking "I didn't even need to choke the Bings to get her running nice". When I got home I found out why. The cylindrical air filter had been stuffed with pink fiberglass from the PO's barn walls (he lived in a barn and the beemer lived in the entryway). I also found 2 mummified baby mice.
    Even though I have 2 cats on the prowl outside my house I find evidence of mice and chipmunks in all sorts of protected places (stored linden seeds etc) I'm not sure what the answer is to keep them from living (and defecating) in my motor vehicles but if someone has an answer please share it, this is a problem I'd love to avoid!

  7. #7
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    wot, coulda swore it came standard in the trunk tool kit. trying to keep it factory.

    I have also just recently discovered we have squirrels in the attic after they devoured a hole in my house where the wood has rotted. I patched over the current hole to try and corner him in the house, but the little sheet chewed another hole right beside my patches.

    My dog and cat are useless.
    Last edited by JimLev; 01-18-2019 at 01:21 PM.

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    had an attic squirrel recently, a $20 HF varmint trap (with slight mods to improve the action of the trip mechanism, it wasnt sensitive enuff as is) baited with peanut butter in a bottle cap wired to the cage bottom got it on the second try. the first try was when i discovered it wasnt sensitive enough. took it for a 10 mile ride and released it.

  9. #9
    geargrinder's Avatar
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    One of my best buds bought a house this summer, when they moved in attic was overloaded with squirrels that'd been living there while the place was uninhabited for a year or more and the ventilation fan was broken so they could just run in and out at will. At first he camped out up there and shot them w/ a BB gun but immediately that turned out to be way too inhumane (tho' if he'd used a more powerful pellet gun it prob woulda been better...) and really bummed him out, so he started catchin' 'em and doing what we came to call "Squirrel Uber" (or "Sq-uber" if you will).

    I think it was an easy 12 in the end. Made sure to take them over a bridge because supposedly short of a water barrier, they'll find there way back from pretty long distances. He found that certain baits stopped working after a while, switched from one thing to another I think. Theory was that some of them up there saw the others get trapped and screaming and yelling and formed a bad association w/ the bait smell.
    2003 M3CicM6 TiAg
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  10. #10
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    I had a mouse nest over the fuel tank, underneath the cover below the rear seat. They chewed thru the tank vent tube, setting the CEL. After I cleaned it out & R&Rd the tube, I placed some D-con on top of the two tank/pump covers. This has kept them away for a few years now. I wouldn't put D-con in your trunk, but maybe in some safe areas around the garage/barn.

    And don't get me started on those frikkin' squirrreeellllssss! I, too, had one make a home in my attic - he chewed a hole in the fascia at roof corner. I caught him in a have-a-hart trap (peanut butter on an apple) and drove him a few miles away on the other side of the highway. The worst part was me patching the hole with a new painted wood piece, and hitting my index finger nail dead on. Turned black, fell off a few weeks later, had to wear a band-aid to keep everyone from horfing at the sight of it. I don't think I would have used the squirrel-relocation program had I hit my finger before he was caught.

    I threw moth balls inside the attic perimeter to keep them out. The smell seems to repel them. Just be sure that no kids or pets have access to the MBs.
    Ed CT
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  11. #11
    geargrinder's Avatar
    geargrinder is offline Having No Trouble Here BMW CCA Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ed CT View Post
    Just be sure that no kids or pets have access to the MBs.
    Yeah when I had my Mercedes I always kept the kids and pets away from it.
    2003 M3CicM6 TiAg
    2002 540iT Sport Vortech S/C 6MT LSD TiAg
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    2014 BMW X1 xDrive28i (wifemobile)

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  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by geargrinder View Post
    Yeah when I had my Mercedes I always kept the kids and pets away from it.
    Now that's a good policy to set forth! LOL
    Ed CT
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  13. #13
    JimLev's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by geargrinder View Post
    Yeah when I had my Mercedes I always kept the kids and pets away from it.
    You meant the Mercedes, not the mothballs.

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ed CT View Post
    I had a mouse nest over the fuel tank, underneath the cover below the rear seat. They chewed thru the tank vent tube, setting the CEL. After I cleaned it out & R&Rd the tube, I placed some D-con on top of the two tank/pump covers. This has kept them away for a few years now. I wouldn't put D-con in your trunk, but maybe in some safe areas around the garage/barn.

    And don't get me started on those frikkin' squirrreeellllssss! I, too, had one make a home in my attic - he chewed a hole in the fascia at roof corner. I caught him in a have-a-hart trap (peanut butter on an apple) and drove him a few miles away on the other side of the highway. The worst part was me patching the hole with a new painted wood piece, and hitting my index finger nail dead on. Turned black, fell off a few weeks later, had to wear a band-aid to keep everyone from horfing at the sight of it. I don't think I would have used the squirrel-relocation program had I hit my finger before he was caught.

    I threw moth balls inside the attic perimeter to keep them out. The smell seems to repel them. Just be sure that no kids or pets have access to the MBs.
    Trap
    Apple + PB
    Moth Balls
    Use drill/screws to secure patch instead of hammer/nails

    DONE. Thank you sir. I have a squirrel to go re-locate now.

    Also they chose the exact same location on my house. Gutter is probably clogged and rotting out the corner. It's so saturated and moist you could *insert joke here*
    Last edited by WBAD530i; 01-18-2019 at 05:42 PM.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by WBAD530i View Post

    It's so saturated and moist you could *insert joke here*
    again, keep the kids and pets away from it

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