E30 Zone

Hi all, i should realy know the answer to this question but can someone go through properly what needs to be done to stop water gathering in the battery area in the boot. Ive just got another tech1 and found it full of water! fortunatly its crusty enough to push a screwdriver threw to drain the water out

Rear light seal's first port of call .

Great timing, i've just spotted water in mine today.

Mine too. Can someone please solve this mystery

also check your boot seal and the sunroof drain tubes are located also inner wheel arches rust out
sort them and your boots will be dry

Im after something comprehensive here as im bloody sick of it my old one used to do it aswell. i.e the rear light seals do you buy new ones or what? It keeps hamering it down here i feel so guilty for driving this car in this weather

dano0 wrote:also check your boot seal and the sunroof drain tubes are located also inner wheel arches rust out
sort them and your boots will be dry

The rear inner arches are good thats the first thing i checked The sunroof drains...do you remove them from the back of the sunroof cage then clean out or can you buy new ones? Im guessing its possible to buy a new boot seal, i will get on to real oem for the part numbers

Welcome to E30 ownership gentlemen. Sodden boot is just one of the commonly occurring issues with this model. Problem is, the leaks can come from a host of areas.
Let me see if I can remember:

1: As already mentioned, light seals. Check and renew if needs be.
2. Bootlid seal, as above.
3. Sunroof drains can also be a source of leaks. Not sure what happens here, presume they get blocked and water following a path of least resistance ends up in the boot.
4. Worst case scenario, inner arches are shot, again allowing water into the boot.

I'm sure there are others. Oh yeah, check the aerial.

Thanks ranchero will be going over it all with a fine tooth comb tomorrow

light seals are £10.66 for two from bmw

I ran a beed of silicone into the boot seal where it sits on the metal work,this sorted mine.

Regarding the sunroof drains, I believe with a bit of care it is possible to shove something flexible, like curtain cable for example, down them in order to dislodge any blockage.


Here's another obscure source of leaks that's just occurred to me. In my last E30 i used to get pools of water under the back seat. It did my head in because there was no obvious source.

In reading up on the subject, it seems that the rubber seals on the rear quarter windows on 4 doors is another place that water can get in.

Ive had the same thing.

For me it was the aerial.

Rear light seals are without doubt the most common. Just done it on my car. Sometimes rear screens can leak too.

IIRC there's a small drainage hole in the wells of the boot that should let any water out, but usually blocked full of gunk over the years.

Someone should be able to confirm.

I just went in to my dealers and got a price for 2 rear light seals and the boot seal,they quoted £80,after asking they gave me a discount and dropped it to £72.
Needless to say i still have a leaking boot!

Small list:

Arches
Any other holes in the wells
Light seals
Light lenses
Ariel hole
sunroof drains
Boot lid adjustment
boot seal
Rear panel (under boot seal)

Those are the ones i can think of off the top of my head. I've gone through all of them until I came to the last one and found my problem. dab of filler has temporarily fixed this until I can afford to replace the panel.

Sometimes replacing the various parts doesn't quickly fix the issues. Particularly heavy rain will test the fit of your rear light housings against the rear panel, if it has been replaced over the years then there may be a less than ideal fit. There is also a need to glue the boot seal on as water will creep through under the seal due to the properties of water. The sunroof drains can also split somewhere inside the car which allows the water to run down the outside of the pipe. Rear windows and their seals allow water into the back seat area too.

Unfortunately there can be a million and one areas that the water can get in through, and is a problem if the well drains aren't working, so the first port of call should be ensuring that these are clear and letting the water out. I have never owned an E30 that hasn't, at some point, let water in to the boot.

Good luck!

Very comprehensive list of things for me to go threw here lads cheers just what i was after

to check your light seals and boot seal!?? ok get in the boot and shut it ask a trusting mate to pour water over the boot and around the lights with a torch you'll see where its leaking from.

£10 for seals and boot seal go to your motor factors for a universal fit £15quid jobby

all worked for me