Sunroof drains, a mystery
 

Owned this '04 X5 3.0 since 2014. For most of that time, at least the last 4 years, if we parked the thing nose-down, we'd get water dripping from the headliner over the windshield if it rained, so we've always made sure to park it nose-up.


I finally decided to check the front drains, and what I found was quite surprising. This is what I saw the moment the covers came off. Have a look at the pictures and let me know what you think could have caused this. Frankly I'm baffled. We had PDR done to fix hail in late 2015, and the body shop said they had to remove the headliner and sunroof cartridge, but if they did, and pulled the drains out and tried to stuff them back down the A pillars, would they really have had this result? Looking at the design, I think the A pillar covers would need to come off to get the headliner off, unless they took a shortcut.

Looks like the cassette was removed and the drain tubes were pulled out some and shoved back in up top... you know "good enough" for insurance work

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That's about what I was thinking too. Even though it's been a few years, I've shared the pictures with the shop that did the work, just for giggles.

Instead of pictures you should have sent the shop an old 30 gallon trashcan full of dirty water.... You know, let them enjoy the ambiance of wet carpet [emoji1787]

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Luckily it never got to the point of saturating the carpeting - worst was a time the glovebox filled with water, destroying the Garmin Nav I bought for my directionally-challenged wife (a rare find with lifetime free updatess), along with the original owner's manual and a couple of other treasures.


That, and I already took the hit on the dirty water during the repair...

Aw yes, the foul smelling liquid and shirt stains...

Just like everytime I pick up the baby...[emoji28]

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had this once on an old range rover, you might want to blow it with an air compressor and/of flush it with some clean water to clear the innevitable debris stuck on the tube sides.

That's not surprising at all, especially if the tech is paid flat-rate. Glad you found the issue and you might want to check the other one while you're at it

I did both sides. Pictures in post #1 show both. All four lines drain great now, and I've been able to leave it parked on the street rather than taking up space on the driveway.

Mine were both kinked like that and I don't think anyone had touched it before.