E30's and leaks

[Simon]

Noticed there's a lot of problems in the tech section now the monsoon season has started about leaks in the E30.

I've been replying to these threads, even though I'm pulling my own hair out and trying to sort out a leak of my own!!

This is my car at the moment, trying to dry the carpet out, it's soaked on both sides..



And this is what I found in the elephant's trunk...



And here you can see the pool of water that's gathered so far, got a de-humidifier in there at the moment...

[Dominitry]

Ouch, I got a leak in my boot right above the battery but thank god i have the battery cover, blue sheeting time for me i think, looks quite bad in those pics!!

[TheDutch]

I like that elephants trunk thing, but what is it? A drainage channel of some sort? Where do I find my Dumbo snout for inspection?

Like many others I seem to be suffering from water ingress - at least I did a year ago, seems fine now

How many places can it really leak from though? Can't we just make a list with the most common first?

[Simon]

The elephants trunk can be found in the engine bay, above the exhaust manifold area, on the bulkhead/firewall, it comes off easy enough (twist) and is designed to drain the area of the bulkhead underneath the windscreen, where the wiper mechs live, if this is blocked up it will cause water build up and to flow back into the car.

[DanThe]

Bloody hell mate
some serious sealing needed there

[Hap]

simon can you try n call me thurs after 7pm?

cheers

[Andy335Touring]

I stupidly cut the plastic lining behind the door card for my speakers, it hasn't leaked a lot but the carpet is slightly damp, a bit of the mdf on the speaker build has started to go manky as well

Only leaked on the passenger side though ?

I've got to figure a way for the speaker to use the air space of the door with out it causeing a leak ?

[Simon13]

i have a horrendous leak on my boot on the sport! un bocked it the other day. I had about 5 inches of water below the battery tray. I've got 2 new light seals and a new boot seal. It's finding the bloody time

Carpets dry at the moment.....................

[Demlotcrew]

Si, thats alot of water there! I didnt get that much with no heater core and the bonnet seal off the car which stood in rain for about a week!

Andrew

[Simon]

Yes it is a lot of water, it was held up in the foam, most of it came from there when I squeezed the water out of it, it's slowly dissapearing now though!!

Hap, will do.

[Demlotcrew]

Mate but you need to trace the leak! it will only fill up in no time at all!

Andrew

[Simon]

Mate but you need to trace the leak! it will only fill up in no time at all!

Andrew

I know that, it's why I have the car in bits at the moment!

I would have thought that if it was the trunk being blocked up, then it would have cause only the passenger side to get wet?

[Demlotcrew]

There are a few areas to look out for.

The rear of the sunroof tray rusts and water then flows down the headligning under the rear seat and into the foot wels.

1 Check the rear seat foam for damp.
2 Check the Headligning (the M3s have the fabric one)
3 Get the sunroof pannel off and shine a torch down to the end of the roof
4 Hoover the pannel and get any rust/leaves/insects out before they block the over flows.

Then its the ussual bits at the front to check.

1 have a look above the ECU, on the M3s it seems they fill up with water, have a look at the screen round the corners.
2 take the centre console out and have a look at the heater box make sure no water if getting in that way.
3 Take the wiper arm off and take off the black grills and shine a torch down there make sure no nasty holes are there.
4 Remove the screw that secures the Fuse box lift that out with the sound proofind and have a look to see if theres any holes there.

HTH

Andrew

[Brianmoooore]

Give any orange patches on that white floorpan a good prod with a small screwdriver.
In your third photo, it looks like your metal plug in the floorpan directly under the front seats is leaking.
Cut around the carpet under the heater. (Mind the wiring!), and remove the carpet completely.

[Simon]

Cheers guys.

Andy, the rear part of the car is fine, under back seat and rear footwells are bone dry, it's coming in through the front of the car somewhere, if the aerial was leaving water through, could this cause this amount of water?

[Demlotcrew]

Cheers guys.

Andy, the rear part of the car is fine, under back seat and rear footwells are bone dry, it's coming in through the front of the car somewhere, if the aerial was leaving water through, could this cause this amount of water?

Yeah it could!

Andrew

[liam012]

http://www.bimmerdiy.com/e30

there are several leaks and how to fix them listed here - i hope one of them sorts you out.

[Simon]

Thanks for the link, sadly doesn't give much help for leaks in the front.

I've tried pouring water around the scuttle vents, water seems to be draining OK down under the wings, sunroof drains are functioning OK, and draining down on the sill, I've established that the aerial is not the cause as the sunroof panel would be wet yes? Well that is also bone dry.

Could the blocked elephants trunk have been causing this water intake, and cause both foot wells to get wet?

[buster]

Hap,
thats the trunk bit i was expaining to you in your thread.They clog up so easily and a simple 10 minutes to take off ,clean out and re-fit.

Simon,
id say so yes,they cause the water to sit below the scuttle pannel

[DanThe]

I stupidly cut the plastic lining behind the door card for my speakers, it hasn't leaked a lot but the carpet is slightly damp, a bit of the mdf on the speaker build has started to go manky as well

Only leaked on the passenger side though ?

I've got to figure a way for the speaker to use the air space of the door with out it causeing a leak ?

I would get a new scraper seal first mate, and make sure the drainage holes in the underside of the door are crud free.

[Bob_S]

simon if you have that amount of water in that area I'm gonna say you have a hole on the outside of the inner outer wheel arch. by the fuel filler cap have a good look

[billgatese30]

the outside of the inner outer wheel arch

which bit is that exactly

by the fuel filler cap

he said it was only in the front and the back was fine

[Simon]

the outside of the inner outer wheel arch

which bit is that exactly

by the fuel filler cap

he said it was only in the front and the back was fine

I'm sure my inner outer inside outside arch is ok!

As Bill said, there's only water in the front foot well, I'm pretty sure it was coming from the blocked up drain in the scuttle, I've poured a fair amount of water in all places now and no more water seems to be making it's way in.
Thanks for the addition though!

[JOSEMI]

After reading Simons post and seeing his car, I checked mine and it does have some dump on both the passenger's and the driver's floors too. Its too late to check as its dark but I am a bit concerned that too much rain is now getting in mine too !!

Is this common ??

[Simon]

I checked mine and it does have some dump on both the passenger

Is this common

Nobodies ever dumped on my seats!!!


It is very common mate, 1st step check the elephant's trunk!

[JOSEMI]

hee hee very funny

if its common then I am stripping the interior tomorrow for signs of rust on the floor, yours looked a bit cracky Simon !!

[Simon]

hee hee very funny

if its common then I am stripping the interior tomorrow for signs of rust on the floor, yours looked a bit cracky Simon !!

The cracking in the pics is a material that has been stuck to the floor, not quite sure what the purpose of the stuff is, but I'm assuming it's a sort of sound insulator and to give added padding to the floorpan, nothing to worry about!

[JOSEMI]

Simon,

I checked in the engine bay and see if I found the elephant trunk you were talking about but didn't find it... I checked below the exhaust manifold around the steering rack and nothing, where can I find this ??? Can't wait to find crap in there in get rid of it just to make sure is clean !

Jose

[Simon]

Simon,

I checked in the engine bay and see if I found the elephant trunk you were talking about but didn't find it... I checked below the exhaust manifold around the steering rack and nothing, where can I find this ??? Can't wait to find crap in there in get rid of it just to make sure is clean !

Jose

Not below, but above the manifold, not far from where the steering column comes through the bulkhead.

[JOSEMI]

Simon wrote

Not below, but above the manifold, not far from where the steering column comes through the bulkhead.

Found it, why call it an elephant trunk, it looks more like a bloody proper d*ck to me !!!

And yes, it was full of crap.

Cheers Simon
Jose

[Andy335Touring]

I would get a new scraper seal first mate, and make sure the drainage holes in the underside of the door are crud free.

Cheers, i will check it

[Simon]

Simon wrote

Not below, but above the manifold, not far from where the steering column comes through the bulkhead.

Found it, why call it an elephant trunk, it looks more like a bloody proper d*ck to me !!!

And yes, it was full of crap.

Cheers Simon
Jose

Good stuff!!!

[Bob_S]

I'm imagining things again I'm convinced you said you had a puddle under the battery in the boot? oh well.

Billgates, if you look in the boot you will see the inside of the wheelarch which is spot welded to an outer section wich then joints to the outer wing, so its the outer part of the inner wheel arch if you understand lol

[TheDutch]

I would just like to add the wonderful news that my trunk, my trunk, my trunk was full of gunk. But now it's clean. Took 5 mins and I don't know why people don't check all the drainage channels once in a while and save a lot of bother later.

[Guest]

mines leakier than the titanic, boot fills with water, passenger side carpet is soaked - water drips in throo the door - the way its going ill have to start using an umbrella in the car....... oh and the front valance is about to fall off
e30s