The lovely wet passenger floorboard!

[Weasel]

Moulded permanently on to the carpet.

[SLOWBRA]

Here are the pics of the problem.











It appears the factory line from the sunroof is BEYOND smashed (kinked). I also see evidence of the headliner near the a-piller as being wet (not soaking, but damp). This explains that water must have taken this path down to the floorboard, but I don't see evidence of a hole in the line. I did not try to feel to see if anything was blocking in the line as it was smashed. I believe the line was installed in the incorrect location and smashed for many many years. The drivers side line looks perfect and takes a different path to the a-pillar.

The next urgent questions from me are:
What's the best way to repair this?

What else can I do to ensure the carpet doesn't smell after I get done with this?

I've tried to get as much of the water out from the foam padding, but it's like a sponge. I put some things under the carpet to lift it up so the air can flow with the fan.. Although this will be the second day with the fan and 5th day since it last rained.

Thanks guys.. btw.. I've taken plenty of pics and will continue to do so to help everyone in the future

[Weasel]

Yeah, I think you definately found the cause of the problem. What I would do is remove the seat to gain access to more of the carpet and dry out as much as possible. With the carpet propped up as high as you can go (doesn't really matter if some of the padding tears, it will go back together straight) aim the fan(s) under there. It will dry it out comletely. (I've done more than my share of flood cars down here in hurricane country) If you want some extra assurance, you can put down either baking soda or kitty litter under the carpet to absorb/stop and odors.

As for the collapsed drain hose, that is a tough one... I don't know if it has any connection points to replace pieces of it, so it may take trying to straighten it out. I'm wondering if a stretched out spring can be inserted to hold it open?

[X5 Meister]

Do you have the panoramic roof? What is the production date of your 2003 4.4?

[SLOWBRA]

It's not the panoramic. The production date is 11/02 (according to the tag on the drivers door)

[X5 Meister]

Hey Weasel - Would the "repair kit front right slide water channel" p/n 54-12-8-202-280 MSRP $14.03 be of any help to him in terms of the crushed drain tube issue? Shown as # 7 below.

Also, you have 4 drain tubes. Left/Right & Front/Rear. The rear ones are the same on both sides, but the two front ones are different from each other and different from the rear ones. The Front Right (passenger) drain tube is 51-13-7-000-496 & retails for $10.75. Shown as # 12 below. It's impossible to tell from the schematic how it is constructed and I don't have an actual photo unfortunately. Could it be possible that a cable holder (#4) (there are 8 installed in total) failed somehow and that led to the kinking and eventual clogging of the drain tube?

[Weasel]

Hmmm, I've never seen that repair kit at the dealer...But it usually takes someone not putting it together with the hose in the wrong place to cause problems like that.

SLOWBRA, maybe you could call the dealer and have them look up the service history and see if any wrk has been done woth the sunroof or in the a-pillar area. If so then maybe you could get the dealer to cover what is happening by explaining the situation.

[SLOWBRA]

I'm having a friend check the BMW records for my X5, but I won't hold my breath on BMW covering this. My friend is a tech and is helping me, but he isn't close enough to me to come take a look in person. I sent the pics to him today to get his feedback.

I'm assuming I have to replace this tube. It looks like I can get to the nipple on the cassette from where I am at and pull it out, but I am not sure how easy that is and where it connects from there. I also will need more room to get my hand in there as the headliner isn't coming down all that much (it's firmly attached to the sunroof area).

[Weasel]

There is a ring od t10 torx head screws around the sunroof that you get from the top, that will let the headliner come down quite a bit more.

[SLOWBRA]

Thanks Weasel.

Does anyone have a picture of the drain tube? I want to see where it connects to after the connection on the sunroof..

I wonder if it's worth the effort to wait and get the factory tube or just splice in some other tubing. Dealers around here don't have that part in stock.