Water in boot

Fri Nov 27, 2009 1:55 pm

Major condensation on inner boot? Also a puddle in left had corner down where jack sits? Can any one help please

Fri Nov 27, 2009 1:58 pm

Check the rubber gasket around the rear lights, and if you've got an aerial check that it's seated correctly.

It could also be the rubber seal for the bootlid...

Fri Nov 27, 2009 2:00 pm

If it's not any of those then pull the carpet up and check the inner arch for holes...but i hope for your sake it's one of the other things!

Fri Nov 27, 2009 2:03 pm

Boot seal, rear light gaskets, ariel grommet, wheel arch.
Remove the complete boot t rim ,cover boot in talc powder then run a hose over it to see where it,s getting in. Take the boot seal off and have a look at the metal under there too.

Fri Nov 27, 2009 2:46 pm

Most likely it is probably holes in the rear inner arches... Also (hopefully) the seals that have already been mentioned

Fri Nov 27, 2009 9:07 pm

Cars been restored there is definatly no holes in the inner arch ill check other suggestions tomorrow

Fri Nov 27, 2009 9:26 pm

Get in the boot with a torch and get a mate to pour water from a hose over the boot of the car.

You should see were its coming from then.

Fri Nov 27, 2009 9:27 pm

i am having the exact same problem. my guess is the rear light seal and boot lid seal.

Sat Nov 28, 2009 10:57 am

got the same thing in mine, rear light seals and aerial for me, nothing 20 minutes and a tube of silicon wont be sorting out

Sat Nov 28, 2009 11:06 am

As sihooker said the main culprit is normally the boot seal you can get some rubber boot seal from Frost.co.uk. Its slightly oversize which means you will get a better fit and its sold per M think you need 4 and a bit so just get 5, bout £15. Thats normally the only thing that will allow sufficient amounts of water in to fill the little well where the jack sits.

Sat Nov 28, 2009 11:10 am

This is the stuff i fitted fella, works a charm and has the metal strips for better fit and longer life.

http://www.frost.co.uk/item_Detail.asp? ... ostSubcat=

Sat Nov 28, 2009 11:14 am

A lot of people drill drain holes in that area for this exact reason - won't stop the leak obviously but will not allow water to sit.

Sat Nov 28, 2009 11:34 am

r3chy wrote:As sihooker said the main culprit is normally the boot seal you can get some rubber boot seal from Frost.co.uk. Its slightly oversize which means you will get a better fit and its sold per M think you need 4 and a bit so just get 5, bout £15. Thats normally the only thing that will allow sufficient amounts of water in to fill the little well where the jack sits.

Check BMW, from memory a brand new genuine seal isn't much more and it fit's perfectly, it's only with age that they shrink a little and you can end up with a little gap.

Sat Nov 28, 2009 11:43 am

Royalratch wrote:A lot of people drill drain holes in that area for this exact reason - won't stop the leak obviously but will not allow water to sit.

this is a drain hole there already..you will fined it if you check...they usually get blocked

Sat Nov 28, 2009 12:05 pm

I've found before that water has run down the hole where aerial sits. Also, if aerial has been snapped off, I don't want water sitting in the hole where aerial once was.
Underneath where the jack sits, under the lining, there was a block of foam that was soaking wet. I removed that and sealed aerial again and now have a dry boot. Might put the foam in again when dry, but it will probably stink.

As someone said earlier, it is best to take everything out, like lining, the jack, spare wheel etc etc and you'll find something, somewhere where the water is getting in.

Sat Nov 28, 2009 12:06 pm

I've found before that water has run down the hole where aerial sits. Also, if aerial has been snapped off, I don't want water sitting in the hole where aerial once was.
Underneath where the jack sits, under the lining, there was a block of foam that was soaking wet. I removed that and sealed aerial again and now have a dry boot. Might put the foam in again when dry, but it will probably stink.

As someone said earlier, it is best to take everything out, like lining, the jack, spare wheel etc etc and you'll find something, somewhere where the water is getting in.

Sat Nov 28, 2009 1:45 pm

DaveD wrote:
Royalratch wrote:A lot of people drill drain holes in that area for this exact reason - won't stop the leak obviously but will not allow water to sit.
this is a drain hole there already..you will fined it if you check...they usually get blocked

The drain hole is blocked at the factory. There are a few of these drains dotted around E30 shells, and they are for factory use only.

Sat Nov 28, 2009 1:47 pm

Legface wrote:I've found before that water has run down the hole where aerial sits. Also, if aerial has been snapped off, I don't want water sitting in the hole where aerial once was.

Should be a drain hose connected to the bottom of the aerial assembley, leading to the drain point behind the side of the bumper.

Sat Nov 28, 2009 4:43 pm

Just spent a merry hour fixing exactly the self-same problem on mine.

Was the rear light gaskets -one wasn't seated properly from when I had it all apart in the summer

The boot smells like a tarts boudoir now after the amount of talc I used in finding the leak. Better then the smell of mouldy old carpets I guess..

Sun Nov 29, 2009 12:08 pm

powelly wrote:
r3chy wrote:As sihooker said the main culprit is normally the boot seal you can get some rubber boot seal from Frost.co.uk. Its slightly oversize which means you will get a better fit and its sold per M think you need 4 and a bit so just get 5, bout £15. Thats normally the only thing that will allow sufficient amounts of water in to fill the little well where the jack sits.
Check BMW, from memory a brand new genuine seal isn't much more and it fit's perfectly, it's only with age that they shrink a little and you can end up with a little gap.

Im sure Nickerz Knew he could buy this part from BMW in fact it would prob be cheaper to buy it off someone like Spadge on the site. I was offering an alternative as my post says the top rubber is oversize this offers a snugger fit against the boot. It in no way impairs the ability of the boot to close but offers a better fit. Besides when I had the 2 seals off the Frosts one seemed a better buy. Anyhows it might not even be the boot seal, but goodluck tracking down and fixing the problem.

Sun Nov 29, 2009 3:24 pm

The boot seal can be compressed as much as you want by using the adjustments provided by BMW.
Unless you park nose down on a steep hill, the boot seal shouldn't have an awful lot to do with keeping water out in any case.

Tue Dec 01, 2009 1:38 pm

Brianmoooore wrote:The boot seal can be compressed as much as you want by using the adjustments provided by BMW.
Unless you park nose down on a steep hill, the boot seal shouldn't have an awful lot to do with keeping water out in any case.

Ok, boot seal failure on e30`s is common as the rubber perishes leading to water ingress. Couple of other posters also mentioned checking the seal and I have had 2 go on my 3 E30`s. So yes the boot seal does play a part in keeping water out of the boot. Saying that tho its not the only possible culpritt, hope you find the problem.

Wed Dec 02, 2009 10:34 am

How do you adjust the compression onto the seal?
Presumably you can adjust the boot lid itself?