Water entering in speaker well - normal?

Post Sat Aug 22, 2015 12:09 pm

Hi all,

After a long and painful year dealing with a bodge artist body shop (the latest cut corner was welding the inner sill panel to the floor only, not the sill!), I'm finally ready to put the interior back together.

I thought a final test with the jet wash to check for leaks would be wise, and apart from water pouring in through the missing driver's door seal, it's mostly OK.

However, when aiming the jet wash, with the bonnet open, around the scuttle area, there was water appearing in the speaker aperture. When only sprinkling with a hose pipe, water directed at the scuttle vents/drains goes correctly down behind the front wheels.

Is it normal for water to appear here (as it's where the sunroof drains out?), or do I have another problem? It all looks solid from what I can see though, but given things like the locking 'ECU' lives in there, I doubt it's meant to be wet?

(The interior is empty, except for the loom, so I can see it all clearly)

Thoughts appreciated!

Cheers,
Joe

Post Sat Aug 22, 2015 1:28 pm

Having had another look now its all dried out a bit, sticking my hand into the speaker well doesn't detect anything bad or rusty. There was water on the door loom plug though, which is poked into the hole (so the door will shut), but isn't connected to anything, and thus, doesn't seal at all. I'll try again in a bit when there's someone around to help me, but hopefully that's the cause of the ingress

*firmly crosses fingers*

Post Sat Aug 22, 2015 1:35 pm

Sunroof plastic drain tubes should be obvious when you look through the 'speaker apertures, and do indeed drain into the inside of the bottom of the sills, but there shouldn't really be any water higher up than that.

Post Sun Aug 23, 2015 10:37 am

Panic over - it's just tracking in through the unsealed grommet for the door loom.

phew!

Just the slight leak where the rubber seal for the clutch/bulkhead cylinder has degraded to go and it's as watertight as it'll ever be.

Post Sun Aug 23, 2015 12:02 pm

TriggerFish wrote:
Just the slight leak where the rubber seal for the clutch/bulkhead cylinder has degraded to go and it's as watertight as it'll ever be.

If you find a replacement for this, please post up the part number.

Thanks
Ben

Post Sun Aug 23, 2015 12:14 pm

I'm guessing it might be 3 or 9 on here, but I can't find anything definitive on the internet.

TBH, I was going to just seal it up for now.

It only leaks under prolonged direct application of the jet wash, so it should be fine for use in the dry and being hosed down occasionally.

Post Sun Aug 23, 2015 2:14 pm

TriggerFish wrote:I'm guessing it might be 3 or 9 on here,

Did you mean to put a link in here?

Thanks
Ben

Post Sun Aug 23, 2015 2:28 pm

No, I like to keep people guessing!

Yes, though. And that link would read like so: http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showpar ... Id=21_0004

Post Sun Aug 23, 2015 3:12 pm

I think it is meant to be 3 on there but it is labelled as a wave washer.

I tried to get the part from a dealer but they couldn't track it down.

Ben