E30 Zone

Hi Guys,
After a bit of advice please. Just bought a 325i 4dr with sunroof. I've noticed that the passenger footwell carpet is soaked thro. But the sides that fold up towards the dash and door are completly dry. Any ideas?

I've had the car jet washed and didn't notice anything leaking on that side of the car. I did however notice that the sunroof is leaking directly above the drivers seat.

Thanks in advance guys.

Take the carpet out, and get the welding torch ready!

It's likely that the floorpan has rusted to the extent that water is coming straight through into the footwell.

I had a leak in that footwell when i turned the heating off, was told it was the seal in the heater gone! Been too cold to turn it off hence no more leak. Perhaps yours is leaking? Must get round to fixing mine

HTH

Theo325 wrote:Take the carpet out, and get the welding torch ready!

It's likely that the floorpan has rusted to the extent that water is coming straight through into the footwell.

I've just had it MOTd, would they have failed it for a rusty floor pan?

bazman wrote:I had a leak in that footwell when i turned the heating off, was told it was the seal in the heater gone! Been too cold to turn it off hence no more leak. Perhaps yours is leaking? Must get round to fixing mine

HTH

The car has been sitting on my drive for 2 weeks now, and I haven't used the heater yet. Could be? Only thing is, the carpet is only wet on the flat bit. The bits that turn up against the sides are completly dry.

The location of the wet is directly under the passenger side of the top corner of the windscreen, hence why I thought it was possibly the windscreen rubber. Will rip up the carpet tonight and have a look.

Any other ideas?

Before you rip the car to bits try the easy bit first check the heater air inlet drain
located drivers side bulkhead flat piece of plastic dosent take much to block up.

As theo says probably a hole in the footwell unfortionaltly. 'Ripping up' the carpet is easy, and all will be revealed.

Hi Have you cleaned out behind the scuttle panel and checked the elephants trunk is clear as that is where my prob. was.

Water in the passenger side footwell, if not coolant from the heater valve, or from the scuttle because of a blocked drain, is usually a rusted front "jacking point" or rust around the big rubber grommet where the wiring comes through from the fusebox.

You could have a look in the n/s wheel house pop the wheel off and check the bulk head,I've seen holes in here.

SGP wrote:You could have a look in the n/s wheel house pop the wheel off and check the bulk head,I've seen holes in here.

These are usually holes that have spread from the grommet I mentioned. Getting towards terminal when it gets that bad.

Yes, a mate bought a pre facelift 325i sport, paid top dollar for it,the bulkhead is totally rotten through, v.sad.All that salt they throw on the U.K roads during winter plays havoc.

How about drivers rear side? That footwell could've had ducks in it this morning! V upset... any ideas where that could be getting in from? Everywhere else is fine!

NH325CAB wrote:How about drivers rear side? That footwell could've had ducks in it this morning! V upset... any ideas where that could be getting in from? Everywhere else is fine!

Assuming you mean water under the carpet, 85mm round plates in the floorpan, right under the front seat bases. The lugs that hold them in place rust off.

Had a look under the car last night & lifted the carpet, there's no sign of rusty floor pan or any holes. I've sent the car to my mech to check out the heater & see if thats where the leak is coming from. All the other footwells are completely dry.

Thanks for your help guys, will let you know what the mech finds.

Not sure if this is of help to you, but I had(still have?, not sure yet..) a leak in passenger side front foot well and sealed up the plastic grommets in the floor. Since then the leak seems to have stopped, but I'm not going to count my chickens yet...

Brianmoooore wrote:

NH325CAB wrote:How about drivers rear side? That footwell could've had ducks in it this morning! V upset... any ideas where that could be getting in from? Everywhere else is fine!

Assuming you mean water under the carpet, 85mm round plates in the floorpan, right under the front seat bases. The lugs that hold them in place rust off.

Thanks for that.. will have a look tomorrow. An easy job to fix?

Yep, I just prised them out and put some windscreen sealent around them, the stuff that stays flexible. Then just pushed them back in. Three weeks of almost constant rain here in the west of Ireland and still seems OK. Fingers crossed!

The Mechanic looked at this, and said it was the rubber grommet in the floor. He's sealed it up with some silicone, so hopefully this has been sorted now. Cheers guys for all your help.

camshaft wrote:The Mechanic looked at this, and said it was the rubber grommet in the floor. He's sealed it up with some silicone, so hopefully this has been sorted now. Cheers guys for all your help.

Which rubber grommet!! Mines leaking too.. The carpets out so its abit easier, but the door seal is very damp across the top of the sills.

Anyone? Will try the grommet thing if I can find it!

I also have a whole in the scutle just below the a pillar on the pax side. Could it be coming in from there?

oze30 wrote:

camshaft wrote:The Mechanic looked at this, and said it was the rubber grommet in the floor. He's sealed it up with some silicone, so hopefully this has been sorted now. Cheers guys for all your help.

Which rubber grommet!! Mines leaking too.. The carpets out so its abit easier, but the door seal is very damp across the top of the sills.

Anyone? Will try the grommet thing if I can find it!

I also have a whole in the scutle just below the a pillar on the pax side. Could it be coming in from there?

There are no rubber grommets in the floorpan of an E30 that I know of. There are a few plastic grommets into some double skinned places, but I wouldn't normally expect much water to come in through these.
The hole in the scuttle is caused by shrinking sealant inside the bottom of the windscreen pillars. Water going in this hole will end up inside the scuttle and drain out of the " elephant's trunk" on the RH side of the engine bulkhead.

kevin316i wrote:Yep, I just prised them out and put some windscreen sealent around them, the stuff that stays flexible. Then just pushed them back in. Three weeks of almost constant rain here in the west of Ireland and still seems OK. Fingers crossed!

They don't prise off, and they don't push back in. They are retained in a similar way to the fuel pump. I.E., by lugs on the plate and cut outs around the hole.
Turn to remove and refit.

Brianmoooore wrote:

oze30 wrote:

camshaft wrote:The Mechanic looked at this, and said it was the rubber grommet in the floor. He's sealed it up with some silicone, so hopefully this has been sorted now. Cheers guys for all your help.

Which rubber grommet!! Mines leaking too.. The carpets out so its abit easier, but the door seal is very damp across the top of the sills.

Anyone? Will try the grommet thing if I can find it!

I also have a whole in the scutle just below the a pillar on the pax side. Could it be coming in from there?

There are no rubber grommets in the floorpan of an E30 that I know of. There are a few plastic grommets into some double skinned places, but I wouldn't normally expect much water to come in through these.
The hole in the scuttle is caused by shrinking sealant inside the bottom of the windscreen pillars. Water going in this hole will end up inside the scuttle and drain out of the " elephant's trunk" on the RH side of the engine bulkhead.

Is there anyway that water thur the scuttle in the A Pillar to come back thru the door frame/sill and soak the rubber seal?

There are a couple of small flexible plastic grommets in the floor of the front passenger footwell, one of them is on the upward sloping part and I found a very small amount of water leaking through this. There are a couple of other that are plastic coated metal with small tabs to hold them in place. When I sealed these up, the leak appears to have stopped.

Ok guys, I've stripped the carpet out of the car & found out where the leak is coming from. A small hole (1cm) on the sloping bit of the bulkhead - here's a pic

Here's another pic of the footwell - may help others