E30 Zone

hey guys...wondering if someone can help me out. a week ago i realised my boot was completely drenched in water... i thought it was my waterbottles that might have leaked or something... since i cleaned it up the boot has been empty, only the carpets and my subwoofer in there. yet i opened the boot today and found the boot full of water again...

anyone know how the water could be getting in??? the sills are in perfect condition. could it be the little air flaps behind the carpet opening due to my sub???? i have no idea... neeed urgent help...

i have the exact same problem mate,I sadly have not found the problem tho.

Ill-fitting bootlid or boot seal?

Like Speedtouch said, it can be your boot seal, Might be worth taking it off, giving it all a good clean, clean the lip up on the car then re attach...

Then I would check your light seals as thats the usual suspect for letting the water in... Might is currently doing it again but havent got round to sorting it, but it turned out to be the light seals last time... New ones are needed, or take the old ones off carefully and put them back to front on the opposite side... Works for me, but only for around a year and half. Its a quick fix, but in the long run, new seals are the better option as it will save less hassle in the future!

Boot seal & rear light seals as Jim says are the prime culprits for this.

If you can't cure it just drill a small drain hole at the lowest point where the water is collecting - make sure you paint the edges of the hole to stop it rusting - at least then if the water does get in it can drain away rather than just sitting there !

rear light gaskets/seals has done this on both of my e30s water runs down the boot and gets behind the rear lights and drips in to the cubby holes!unscrew the grey cluster on back of lights and see if thers drops of water in ther!or poor water down side of boot with the grey cluster of and look at the bottom of the light and should see it drip!my left indercater lens used to fill up with water i took out both sides of lights and ran a beed of silicon round the seal and has stopped leaking!dont use bathroom sealant the stuff that smells fishy as this rots metal or i think u can still get the light seals from bmw not to sure.

capri_rob wrote: drill a small drain hole at the lowest point where the water is collecting

I shall be doing this in mine I think, just to stop any future puddles.. Only thing is, I wont be able to tell if the water is leaking again... The other side never fills up though dude to the 2x2 inch hole in it

mine done this but it wasnt either of them it was a hole on the inner wheel arch at the rear so when it rained and driving in the wet the wheel would flick water up the arch and dribble in them cubby holes

Boot lid strut replacement was the fix for me.
Simple job.
A small bead of black silicone to the light clusters to be sure.

Get this on the Touring, comes in through the trim that covers the rear side window i think. Took it off once to clean the gunk out and it hasnt sealed right since

don't forget to make sure that the drain holes at the bottom of the "inner wells" are clear too. they are often blocked (by the factory underseal). just poke a screwdriver up through them from underneath and even if your seals are leaking, you won't get those ponds in the wells.

where are the drain holes?

the drain pipes that run off from the sunroof was what did mine in. you could see where the pipe had leaked at the sealed part above the wheelarch and basically rotted the arch and filled the cubby with water same as yours! fixed it by ....removing the sunroof! nah...not totally for that reason but i was going to take it out as its a weight saver and ive never been keen on em anyway . its gone now anyhoo, replaced with a steel plate!

get all the boot carpets out , water is probably coming in through a rusty hole somewhere

If it's on the NS, in my experience water often gets through the aerial hole. Easy to test also.

asmith88 wrote:where are the drain holes?

where i said Andy, at the very bottom of the wells, approx. 3-4 inches behind the arch. you can see them better from underneath.
HTH

e30topless wrote:get all the boot carpets out , water is probably coming in through a rusty hole somewhere

Eh? rust on an E30?
you must be

ross2009 wrote:mine done this but it wasnt either of them it was a hole on the inner wheel arch at the rear so when it rained and driving in the wet the wheel would flick water up the arch and dribble in them cubby holes

Same happened to me - 'peppershot' holes in the offside inner rear arch. Cut out and weld in new metal and job's a good 'un. Luckily no hint of it elsewhere.

I had this prob on both of mine and my freind had it on his it was the rear light cluster seal everytime

rear light cluster seal was the culprit on mine. took off, cleaned up, bit of vaseline and no more water

capri_rob wrote: If you can't cure it just drill a small drain hole at the lowest point where the water is collecting - make sure you paint the edges of the hole to stop it rusting - at least then if the water does get in it can drain away rather than just sitting there !

+1 - thats the right thing to do lol I've seen it done before and no problems after the drill hole (but the carpet will always be moist when its raining i guess which is the only downside!)

mine did the same. I replaced the tail light seals. I wire brushed the area, gave a good dose of rust deactivator(tannic acid), two coats of thick smooth enamel and then drilled big ass drainage holes. Seems to have solved the problem.

Oh and I chucked out the carpet from those side areas so that any water that did get in, flowed out my drilled holes.

e30topless wrote:get all the boot carpets out , water is probably coming in through a rusty hole somewhere

Rear arch or battery try/toe eye is my bet.


If its rotten there, there will be more

Get the carpets out, give the inside of the boot a good dusting of talcum powder, and leave it in the rain again.

You can adjust the bootlid lock so it pulls down further if the seals at the top of the lights are the problem. Sorted the same issue on my car.

Brianmoooore wrote:Get the carpets out, give the inside of the boot a good dusting of talcum powder, and leave it in the rain again.

i did exactly this on a mini, found water coming from 4 different directions,

Brianmoooore wrote:Get the carpets out, give the inside of the boot a good dusting of talcum powder, and leave it in the rain again.

that won't be long then

If none of these id it, check the spot welds that hold the boot lid hinge boss, to the body

I noticed the spot to the rear of the boss had pulled through, leaving a hole in the gutter..

To check, lift the seal out of view and slightly close the boot which takes the spring pressure from the link on mine it was invisible with the boot fully open..

thanks for the help guys.... found the problem... its the new lights i fitted..the gasket is leaving huge gaps alowing water to just seep through..!!!! going to try and fix it tomorrow with my dads DIY approach with aerodite... see if that solves it... if not then holes it is....


thanks again fellas!!!!

Barx325i wrote:If none of these id it, check the spot welds that hold the boot lid hinge boss, to the body

I noticed the spot to the rear of the boss had pulled through, leaving a hole in the gutter..

To check, lift the seal out of view and slightly close the boot which takes the spring pressure from the link on mine it was invisible with the boot fully open..

This happened on my old iS.