water leak between the bonnet and the bonnet seal.

[marc55]

Hello guys!

This is an issue i had for years. I have no rust in the problematic areas since they were treated (front battery tray, location under the fuse box) but the water leak in the engine compartment still remains.

I did put silicone between the inner wing panel and the strut tower from the wheel arch so the water doesnt come in there, eventually i found there is an issue with bonnet seal. Somehow it doesnt do its job even though it looks in fairly good condition.
It seals in the middle area where the windshield sprinkles are but not around the corners.

I tried with some other seals and it didnt help. I also tried lowering the hood down a little bit but the water still came in.

Now I could buy a brand new seal but im afraid the problem will still remain.

Seems like a lot of e30s have this issue but not a lot of people do anything about it as long as it doesnt leak into the cabin .

The only useful advice on web i found is in this 7 year old topic:
http://www.bavarian-board.co.uk/forum_p ... ?TID=25459

qoute: ''I must say though, I found that once I'd stopped the water getting into that area around the bonnet latches, all of that leaking stopped, and it is the bonet seal that is chiefly responsible for this. Try taking it off and squeezing some sealant into the channel (underside of the seal itself), so that when it clips back in place you are not relying so much on a tired clip to do your waterproofing. My bonnet seal is pretty new, but still doesn't clip down with any real bite''

Anyway if anybody got a similar problem and know how to fix it...please do tell

[Brianmoooore]

Try placing strips of newspaper between the seal and the bonnet, and see if any of them can be pulled out with little resistance when the bonnet is closed.
TBH, I can't see a problem if some water does get past this seal - it should just drip straight out of the bottom of the engine bay, along with water that comes in through the rad. and up off the road.
BTW, you do NOT remove the scuttle grills as described in your link! They should be slid downwards, compressing the steel spring clips, then lifted out at the top edge. In general, be vary wary of some of the advice you find on US sites. I keep an eye on a couple of them, and sme of the advice given is atrocious.
You should also avoid using silicone sealant products on any car, except for bonding to glass. They produce acetic acid when they cure, trapping it against the metal.

[marc55]

Try placing strips of newspaper between the seal and the bonnet, and see if any of them can be pulled out with little resistance when the bonnet is closed.
TBH, I can't see a problem if some water does get past this seal - it should just drip straight out of the bottom of the engine bay, along with water that comes in through the rad. and up off the road.
BTW, you do NOT remove the scuttle grills as described in your link! They should be slid downwards, compressing the steel spring clips, then lifted out at the top edge. In general, be vary wary of some of the advice you find on US sites. I keep an eye on a couple of them, and sme of the advice given is atrocious.
You should also avoid using silicone sealant products on any car, except for bonding to glass. They produce acetic acid when they cure, trapping it against the metal.

I'll try that with newspaper, but already after the rain if i raise the bonnet i can see on the seal where are wet marks.

I know that a leak there isnt a 'big deal' next to all other possible leaks in e30 but still....the water next to the battery makes no sense to me . E30s are great cars but when it comes to water drains...they suck :S oh well...they aint new

As far as silicone is concerned, i only use non-acid sealant materials such as which is designed to be used on cars/metal surfaces.

Its raining right now in my town. Yesterday i lowered a bonnet a little bit and i'll give it a go one last time. If once again there wont be any improvment, ill buy a new OEM seal and go from there. It costs around 22 pounds which seems somewhat excessive for 1,5meters long rubber

[Brianmoooore]

Polyurethane sealants are fine, but you did say silicone in your OP. Polyurethane and silicone are completely different things.
I disagree with your comment about water near the battery. What harm do you think it can do?
On the contrary, a bit of clean water flowing around the area will wash away any acid build up, spilt from the battery vents.

[marc55]

Polyurethane sealants are fine, but you did say silicone in your OP. Polyurethane and silicone are completely different things.
I disagree with your comment about water near the battery. What harm do you think it can do?
On the contrary, a bit of clean water flowing around the area will wash away any acid build up, spilt from the battery vents.

My mistake then, i used only polyurethane sealant not silicone

Its true that it wouldnt harm battery directly but unless you remove the battery itself after every rain there will always be some moisture there, and in time...that equals rust...no big deal if you monitor the situation couple of times a year.

The problem is i have air condition in my car and also some cables (to power the amplifiers in the trunk) that go through the original hole meant for cables for rear battery as seen in picture: http://sphotos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-a ... 3942_n.jpg

So everytime there's rain, water drips on to gronment for AC pipes and on gronment for cables. Everything is well isolated so nothing comes through to the cabin but in time...i would rather see that everything remains dry in that section so i have no worries