Leaky roof box on Cab

[DemonDaz]

I opened up the box the roof folds into this morning to find it full of water, and some leaking into the boot.
I am going to run sealant around the seal, this was only replaced a couple of months ago as it was happening before. Now I think the water is coming through the location indicated in the picture.
Has any other cab drivers had this issue? and could some other cabs take some piccies to show the gap on theres?

[elliot]

pretty sure i dont have a gap that big, give me five mins, ill check......

[elliot]

ok i was wrong, mines about the same as yours, a bit more investigation needed

[DemonDaz]

Thanks elliot, I have just had another look and it is definately coming in there.
It is running over the end of the seal and into the compartment.

Can someone take a picture of the list end, and the inside with the lid up to show the seal end please?

I am not sure what to do to stop it leaking.

Just checked, and it looks like the seal on the sides may have an insert thats missing on mine. Pictures would help alot.

[elliot]

ill do that for you tomorrow daz, tiz a bit late in the day for firing up the old brownie

[DemonDaz]

That would be appreciated, cheers elliot!

[motorsport]

If it's deffo coming in there try using clear silicone sealant to fill the void. First cover the areas you don't want it to stick to with grease/baby oil etc.
Andy

[DaveD]

have a look at this it might help

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do ... g=41&fg=55

[DemonDaz]

Thinking about this I wonder if water is supposed to get in at this point, but should there be some drain holes?

Anyone got drain holes near the front of the box?

What is part 8 - Weather protection cap?

A picture would be nice someone, please!!!

[DaveD]

I will ahve alook when i get the car back

[DaveD]

cant see any

[DemonDaz]

Cheers for looking Dave,
I'll have to have a look at another cab at the next meet to see whats wrong.

[Yam4L0]

Got the same prob
Anybody found a solution?

[nav786]

as motorsport says, get some clear silicone sealer and add it into the gap. it stops the water from coming in.

[DemonDaz]

I sealed mine last night, then this morning wondered if I am looking at this the wrong way round.
Is there meant to be some rubber on the roof that presses into the gap when the roof is put down? It ohnly needs to push on the inside of the gap, not neccessarily all of it.

[oneblueleg]

http://www.e30zone.co.uk/modules.php?na ... ic&t=20730

Mine does exactly what yours does and I now don't think there's a problem with my seal, it's just the gap at the side like yours... needs some silicone or a bit of strategically placed rubber me thinks...

I looked this morning and I've got about a mug full of water either side after particularly heavy rain last night... the sloshing sounds like there's gallons in there lol... nice

[E30cabrioman]

all same size of gap..think just depends on way water is hitting it,best try the silicone approach
sorry bout pics , in garage not much light

[DemonDaz]

thanks for the pics E30cabrioman, it seems I am not alone now in the leaky roof box compartment.
I was begining to think it was my car alone!!
I have changed the seal, I now think a strategically placed piece of rubber would fix it so it looked better, I am investigating putting it on the roof. Hopefully in a couple of weeks I'll have some answers and a completely dry solution.

oneblueleg, the water in the rear of the floor pan, I found that this was caused on mine by a leaky seal on the front of the roof. If you look at the first piece of seal that runs along the drivers window, this on mine had a small slit, but it was filling with water and then spilling out into the car when the door was shut. This slowly dripped down, finally causing a puddle in the back. After glueing the seal back together with superglue, I have had no more problems with it... yet I've done it now!

[Yam4L0]

Not sure if filling the gap will cure it.
Last weekend I dried the boot, roof box & covered the offending gaps with duck tape.
Sunday night it rained, not a lot, but guess what......... Monday morning, water in the boot again.
Didnt checked the roof box to see how much was there.
So far I have replaced both the boot & roof box seals, dont know what else to try.

[oneblueleg]

Thanks for the advise Daz... but the only water I've got that I don't want is in the roof box, it puddles each side by the roof mechanism... I'm going to try something similar to what you suggest... rubber

I don't know what to suggest either Yam... my boot is as dry as a bone...

[DemonDaz]

In my roof box, if thats what we're calling it, there are a few holes to the boot in the flat section, when driving, the water swills about and then drains slightly through these into the boot, hence boot being wet!

[oneblueleg]

In my roof box, if thats what we're calling it, there are a few holes to the boot in the flat section, when driving, the water swills about and then drains slightly through these into the boot, hence boot being wet!

Jeepers! I know what you mean.... I don't get that much water in mine... I only get just enough to show in the two 'lower lying' areas each side at the front of the 'roof box', so though the water 'swills' about, it doesn't get that high.

[DaveD]

Have you checked the seal on the flap rather than the roof
mine has the same gaps but no leaks even in the most horrendous storms last summer...

[oneblueleg]

Have you checked the seal on the flap rather than the roof
mine has the same gaps but no leaks even in the most horrendous storms last summer...

Now we're getting somewhere... my flap doesn't have a seal! the only seal is on the body of the car itself, around the boot box. Can you put a photo up of your flap seal? (ooh ere missus)

[DemonDaz]

I think Dave is talking about the flap seal you have, I replaced that last year.
Is there some correlation between people who have had their roof replaced and this happening?

[oneblueleg]

I think Dave is talking about the flap seal you have, I replaced that last year.
Is there some correlation between people who have had their roof replaced and this happening?

I had my roof replaced about three days after I bought the car, and it didn't rain in between, so I don't know...

I'm not sure what the flap seal is...

[DaveD]

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do ... g=41&fg=55


number 2

[oneblueleg]

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do ... g=41&fg=55


number 2

That's fitted around the edge of the 'box' on the car, not the flap though isn't it?


BTW just spoke to a bloke who's got a cab, his doesn't leak at all, and he's got a big gap just like ours...
I'm gonna smear some silicone sealant all round mine when it's dry...

[optima]

i dont own a cab so i dont know but see it the hinges have elongated hole it might need adjusting

[stevetigger]

Have the people with the water in "roof box" got manual hoods??

If so, it could be that for most of the cars life. The person who owns it, puts the roof up and down from the same side every time. Which in turn could warp the "roof box" lid out of shape. Misalignment then cause's the box to leak!! Just a thought!!

[DaveD]

mines electric and is dry

[oneblueleg]

Thanks for the ideas optima and Steve... the lid though is very light and has gas springs, so easily hinges... the position of mine certainly is fine.
I do think mine needs silicone or a new seal before I pass anymore judgement... the seal if anyone's interested is Ԛ£42 from the stealers...

I had to sponge my roof box out this morning, it comes up nice and clean but ruins my sponge...lol... it wasn't full up or anything, just covering the bottom, it was particularly nasty windy, rainy weather last night...

[DemonDaz]

Yep, Checked mine this morning as I had the sealant in there and there is water in there again, not as much as normal, but still some. Ineed to sort this out, I will be going over it with a fine toothcombe to find this soon.


Problem is I can't see any trail of water to work out where it is coming from.

[DaveD]

why not cover the flap joint under the roof with poly sheeting ,leave the joint clear and leave overnight to test where the water is coming in

[DemonDaz]

I was thinking of doing this tonight Dave