92 e36 back pass side floor soaked - United Bimmer Community

**macneil** · 11-09-2009, 12:22 PM

I was cleaning my car today, i removed the back passenger side carpet mat and it was dripping wet... I lifted the carpet and obviously there was a shit load of water just sitting there. I checked the front passenger side and it's soaked too. It's only the passenger side that's wet(driver side front and back are dry), is there something that's common in these e36's that eventually causes it to leak? Or am i gonna have to get out the garden hose and start spraying lol.

**3050rpm** · 11-09-2009, 01:44 PM

A couple of guesses... I think with the '92 model year there was a problem with proper drainage of the plenum, beneath the windshield. Maybe you were getting water backing up there, and it worked its way behind the firewall, on the passenger side, to what you see now.

Second guess... Had the car been hit, had any bodywork done on it? Could be a seam opened up under the car, which could explain the wetness, and also why leaks are otherwise not visible.

**macneil** · 11-09-2009, 06:42 PM

I remember seeing somewhere something about a drainage issue with older model bmw's. I'm gonna have to look that up and see if that's the case here.
As far as i know the car has not been in an accident.

Another thing i noticed, there was condensation on the mirror on the passenger side sun visor?? It hasn't rained here in 3-4days but i guess it's frosty at night outside. Again it's only the passenger side that's like this.

I'm gonna check it all out this week sometime.

**3050rpm** · 11-09-2009, 06:55 PM

Another thought, the sunroof...

**macneil** · 12-05-2009, 12:32 PM

My sunroof seems to be sealed tight, although when it's damp outside there's dips of water on the sunroof(inside)and the windshield is soaked inside as well, i have to wipe it down..This has gotta be caused from the water on the floor of the car right? I had the seat out and the carpet up and i didn't see anything that would be leaking, i'm gonna have to look into what 3050rpm was sayin..

**macneil** · 12-05-2009, 04:49 PM

Ok i tracked down the leak, it's the sunroof. The sunroof itself is not exactly level with the rest of the roof, it's about 1/16th or so lower. Is it suppose to be like that and the seals are bad? or is it the lifting arm assembly(i think that's what it's called?

I found this site http://www.emotors.ca/Articles/24.aspx

I just don't wonna have to buy everything and spend the money if it's just one part.

**3050rpm** · 12-07-2009, 02:57 PM

This might confuse things a bit, but I don't believe the sunroof is supposed to be perfectly flush with the rest of the roof. On my car at least, the front of the sunroof is perhaps 1/16" below the roof, my guess is that this is deliberately done to reduce the potential for wind noise. To my knowledge, my sunroof does not leak.

The link that you provided looked like a pretty good write up, but if your sunroof otherwise works fine, then my hunch would be the seals need replacing, and again that link seems to provide the step-by-step procedure to do the job, just different parts.

**loweredfx** · 01-01-2010, 10:31 AM

maybe the heater core is leaking? is the fluid on the floor water or antifreeze?

**macneil** · 01-01-2010, 10:36 AM

It's water, i've soaked a lot of it up already and it's ringing out clear.

**Jonathan073** · 01-09-2010, 12:38 AM

I have the same problem with the water in the floorboard, check it out

http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/tech...DME-Repair.htm

Hope that helps, I still need to do this

**macneil** · 02-02-2010, 02:38 PM

The drains for my sunroof are located in the front corners correct? Where do they drain out at exactly?

Also, the inner panel on my sunroof is messed up. When i open the sunroof everything slides back, but when i close it the inner panel doesn't slide forward with the rest like it used to, i have to pull it shut and it only shuts 3/4 of the way, then it stops and i can't pull it ahead anymore. (hope i explained it good enough)

**loweredfx** · 02-03-2010, 06:30 PM

The drain on my 1994,325i is on the passenger side. I had a leak from the reinforcement pillar caused by a disconnected drain tube. I simply blew compressed air tru to ensure no obstructions were present and reconnected the drain tube using a Small radiator clamp. Be careful the drain itself is plastic.

**k3nd0** · 02-05-2010, 12:57 PM

This isn't really BMW specific, but my guess would be that you have condensation build up in the HVAC module (where the heater core, evaporator and other stuff is). Under the hood, on the firewall there should be a tube that comes out and doesn't go anywhere. This is just to drain the HVAC module. Give it a squeeze and see if anything comes out. They can get plugged up with debris and cause water to build up in the module and leak on the passenger side floorboard.

GL

karime302 · 02-07-2010, 07:06 PM

thanks for this nice info

**macneil** · 03-13-2010, 02:49 PM

Well now that the weather is warming up and ice is melting, i took the carpet out of my car and must have rung out and sucked out 10liters of water or more. Then i took the ceiling out and noticed the drain hose wasn't connected at on the passenger side and the drivers side was leaking a bit. I replaced the clamps and now no leaks that i saw. There are also 2 drains in the back of the car that i didn't know were there.

Anyway, I hope i got it all fixed now.