water leak in rear

Wed Jan 30, 2008 12:20 am

Heah all i have a very annoyin water leak in the rear of my car on both d/s p/s its a 325i sport.. stripped rear bench seat out plus rear shelf carpet now when water is poured over rear of car the leak comes in the rear shelf and down to the seat base i have towels to trap it....

1st thing 1st i replaced the rear 1/4 seals d/s p/s....
still leaking with new seals.. i traced further and i have found a dampness in below the parcel shelf in the boot so i have ordered a new seal for rear window.. has anybody had a leak from the rear window seals...????? Really need help with this its baffling me and really i have had car stripped for a mth now so am loosing the heart in her....

Wed Jan 30, 2008 11:04 am

is the boot wet?

Wed Jan 30, 2008 11:19 am

have you a sunroof?..rear window seals?

Wed Jan 30, 2008 11:42 am

sound's very much like it's coming in via your sunroof?
you may have to pull down the headlining slightly, check where the rear end of both gutter's connect to a rubber hose from your sunroof, also pour some water in to the gutter channel's and see if the water run's through? you should see water running down at 4 point's from the car, under each front door and under each of the rear bumper corner section's.

if your car has opening rear window's then you can take them off and pull down the head lining from there and have a look at the hose-connections.

Wed Jan 30, 2008 11:45 pm

Cheers Guys this is whats crippling me when i put water on rear window and know where near the sunroof at all the water flows down the rear seat bench i replaced both 1/4window seals... and removed and tried a little silicone on them still leaking in.. so thats what leading me to rear window seals kinda running outta ideas... Plus the car got a part respray and we never removed the rear window we held the seal up and sprayed in below it... i am wondering has the seal reacted with the paint basically am at the elimation stage just keep firing seals till her to see if i can put her right.....

Plus if the the sun roof is causing the leak would the roof cloth not be damp???? And wet or am i wrong i am deffo sure its not the sunroof but i will tape up the sunroof tomorrow night and then try it just to totally rule it out... but when am checking it i just get my ole boy to pour the water on the rear window seal....and 1/4 windows....

lol cheers guys really appreciate this......

Wed Jan 30, 2008 11:58 pm

Have a look at:
http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... ic&t=53191

Ian's post about the 'hockey stick' trim pieces immediately behind the rear windows may be relevant.

Thu Jan 31, 2008 12:51 am

Cheers lad this is a nightmare i replaced the hockey stick clips lol around rear 1/4 windows plus even removed em and taped them up to see if it would help every which way i seal i try i still get a leak so am trying elimination process ... already have new 1/4 seals plus clips on the hockey sticks so rear window seal next... and if not that

lol Thanks for the help any more ideas no matter what i`ll try desperation lol.....

Fri Feb 01, 2008 10:23 pm

Heah 320ian ...... So far you have been my saviour cause i taped over my sunroof with masking tape and dried out rear bench of car and kept pouring water all over the rear of car 1/4 windows and stayed away from the sunroof now i inspected boot and rear seat bench no leaks..... but eventually the leaks appeared due to the masking tape giving way lol.... But near 99.9 % sure its the sunroof.... I know u explained briefly about the sunroof drain tubes .... is the roof cloth easy to get down??? without damaging it??? plus is it a hard fix if its my sunroof tubes... from what i can see there do`snt seem to be a seal in the sunroof??? is this write??? does the water flow in constantly flowing out the drain tubes???

Fri Feb 01, 2008 10:30 pm

There should be a seal on the sunroof, fitted to the edge of the panel itself.
It's more of a wind noise seal than a water seal though, and is not intended to be entirely waterproof.

Sat Feb 02, 2008 12:15 am

Brianmoooore wrote:There should be a seal on the sunroof, fitted to the edge of the panel itself.
It's more of a wind noise seal than a water seal though, and is not intended to be entirely waterproof.

Heah yeah i have that its called a weather seal lol from what i see on real oem... have you any ideas of which kinda tape i could use to seal up to make sure its is the sunroof masking tape is to weak i was thinking on getting my local signwriter to make me little strips of vinyl.. to stick over it as a temp fix till i get time to get the cloth down on p/s and look in at the sunroof drain tubes.... am scared when am removing tape i`l`ll damage paintwork

Thanks alot for the help really appreciate it....

Keeping the e30 alive and well.......

Sat Feb 02, 2008 9:43 pm

Heah all i have finally got to the problem its deffo the sunroof thats causing the leak.... how or what is the best way to get the roof cloth down to check for leaks???? is it that hard to remove the roof cloth completely to see and inspect the cause?? Has anybody got any pics of an e30 with the roof cloth removed or what the workings of it look like ???? Many thanks Andrew....

Sun Feb 03, 2008 12:52 am

best do a search for roof leak's, etc
only way i looked at my roof was as i said above, take the rear side glass right of the car and pull the head cloth down, shine a torch in there and have a look

Sun Feb 03, 2008 9:28 am

i copy this from an earlier thread

"The E30 sunroof has 4 drains - one on each corner of the tray. They can be cleaned by 'gently' pushing some wire down them if they are blocked or just flushed out with some hot water for general maintenance. Be gentle because the pipes are just a push fit and almost impossible to put back without dismantling the whole roof! The rear ones, which sound like your problem, have pipes that exit into a tray on the side of each footwell behind the carpet. The pipes can get disconnected here and you end up with matching swimming pools. The water exits past a flap in the tray which also lowers air pressure so we can shut the boot. Sunroof panels rust easily on welds and can spread rapidly backwards under the roof lining. If yours has been as bad as it sounds for a long while and you intend to keep the car, it may be as well to get the headlining off and clean up any rust and Waxoyl everything.
You can make the roof water tight with a new seal still available from the dealers"

by Monsport. rip

Sun Feb 03, 2008 12:34 pm

Heah thanks alot... will check rear drain tubes... there is no seal on the sunroof its just a little black seal that goes around the sunroof itself as brian exactly said... its just a wind noise seal and from what i gather the water is supposed to flow in there all the time the rear drain tubes at in the boot are connected and the flaps are working The guy who painted the car said the sunroof was out but it was all okay in there and the sunroof opens and closes better than ever

lol i guess i am going to have to dry the car out and stick it in very dry storage untill i get a dry day as am waiting on a builder to start my new garage lol
This one has everybody baffled lol untill i get the front window out the rear window out and take the 1/4 windows out then am ripping off the cloth and binning it buying a complete new roof cloth for once i have the problem sorted i hate to do this cause the cars absoulutley immaculate my local bmw dealer took pics of it... lol Its making me out to be sa right fool lol.. I am a mechanic well Heavy mechanic (Volvo truck and bus)... The funny thing was the leak only appeared after the respray or cause this is the 1st winter my car has had to sit outside... lol

Sun Feb 03, 2008 1:25 pm

Hmm, problem only since the panel was out! Wonder if part 12 of this diagram has become disconnected:
http://bmwfans.info/original/E30/2-T/32 ... l-54_0127/
It acts as a gutter for the rear edge of the sunroof, and channels water to the side gutters.

Sun Feb 03, 2008 5:25 pm

Heah Brian cheers for that i will take a look to see if i can see that... Plus if i open the sunroof write back i should be able to see that! Brian you seem to be very clued up with the e30 looking at other posts always following through till the end.... Can i ask have you ever had this problem?? another thing the front drain tubes go down the front pillars am i write?? plus the rear tubes go down behind the rear 1/4 windows this where am getting the leak running dwon from there.... Plus out of curiosity... is the complete sunroof mecanisim/unit welded or rivited to the roof is my sunroof unit like this....

I know its an E36 sunroof inside but you can see the 4 drain tubes or is mine diff is this where am getting the problem???

Or this is off a 535i

Really apprecaite the help guys.... Would`nt of got where i have without the help....

Sun Feb 03, 2008 5:58 pm

Both those pics are similar to the E30 mechanism, but it's all welded to the shell. An E30 with a sunroof uses a different shell to one without. The drain tubes run where you say.
The only problem I've ever had with leaks from E30 sunroofs have been associated with the sliding gutter that I've mentioned above. On one, the ends of the gutter had rotted off, and the second was an E30 I used as a daily driver for a while, that didn't have the inner sunroof panel fitted. If you drove it in the rain, it would be fine until you braked hard - then you would get a considerable quantity of cold water down the neck!
Others on here, though, have had problems with rust in the stub pipes from the corners of the roof.

Sun Feb 03, 2008 7:20 pm

Ive got problems with leaks in boot but its coming from hole in my inner arch up behind the filler neck.

Sun Feb 03, 2008 7:22 pm

AHHH Rotted off if thats the worst case senario lol what did you do to repair??? i hope this has`nt happened mine really need toget the 1/4 window out and pull the cloth down and look in before i go any further lol.... Cheers

Mon Feb 04, 2008 11:25 pm

After getting my wagon in a big new shed lol (my Aunts newly built house and Garage lol)... all in the dry i pulled off the rear 1/4 windows and rubbers pulled down the roof cloth and inspected the rear drain pipes now there all in tact and when i pour water down them there emptying water out the rear exit tubes also there emptyin water out the front drain tubes .....

Now when i pour water towards the rear drain tubes i notice a little drip in the middle of sunroof casing there is holes all over the middle of the sunroof casing on further inspection i have noticed that these are factory holes so what has confused me how is the water getting to the middle of the sunroof????
Is it possible that the rear drain tubes are half blocked and the water has to flow up to a certain hieght to flow out the rear tubes hence the water making the way to the middle of the sunroof casing????

Brian moore!! i think this is one for you lol

P/s the whole roof above the roof cloth was soaking!!!!

Mon Feb 04, 2008 11:42 pm

Already answered:

Brianmoooore wrote:Hmm, problem only since the panel was out! Wonder if part 12 of this diagram has become disconnected:
http://bmwfans.info/original/E30/2-T/32 ... l-54_0127/
It acts as a gutter for the rear edge of the sunroof, and channels water to the side gutters.

Tue Feb 05, 2008 12:37 am

Brian if you don`t mind me askin but where about is this Drip moulding located... i looked in there the night and could not see it or anything like it just two black rails for the sunroof to run on how i was testing my drain tubes was putting sunroof write back into the rear most of car and pouring water to the rear most of car... and it was`nt untill i pulled the roof cloth down that i found the leak dripping out the middle of the sunroof casing... Hence running down the rear 1/4 window seals making me think it was them..... Do i have to remove the sunroof to see these mouldings??

cheers... Andrew..

Tue Feb 05, 2008 12:52 am

The gutter (12) is attached to the back of the fabric part of the roof by two links which are similar in appearance to the links that pull the wind deflector down at the front of the roof.
To get at it, you have to remove the steel outer sunroof panel, then pull the fabric part fully over into the roof shut position. The gutter should then end up parked directly beneath the rear edge of the roof opening.

Tue Feb 05, 2008 11:22 pm

Heah tonight i ripped out the sunroof of the car a bit awkward but i got it out now i got welding rod and poked it in and out through the rear most drain tubes on p/s d/s seems toget far into them... now i totally dried out the roof and refiled the drain gutters with water i have constant flow at front and rear of car and no matter how many times i tried i could not get leak again.... I have fixed the leak with not knowing what i did I HOPE!!! LOL i seen the drip gutter You talked about it seems to be doing its job and all in tact

Now i am guessing that with me poking out the rear drain tubes it has cured my problem lol just totally pickled now tho....

i will put her all back together the mora night and try to see if the leak is gone fingers crossed lol

Wed Feb 20, 2008 12:25 am

Heah All sorry it took me so long to get back the car has been back together now 3 weeks no water leaks in boot any where now it gave me the run around but more satisfied now the car i know after being over every inch there is no rust at all a real clinker of a sport i bought it off a mate who assured me it was..... And safe to say he was write lol

...... It was the rar sunroof drain tubes all along Thanks everybody for your help especiallly Brian

cheers guys really appreciate it

Ps emptied another 4 cans a waxoly in her to lol... where ever i could spray i filled lol.....