I tried on 2 separate occasions to poke my way down the sunroof drain tube.

First I tried with a fairly thick piece of string trimmer line which got stuck about a foot into the drain. Working it back and forth for a while I was able to get it about another foot further in but that was as far as it would go.

The next step was to try and go from the bottom up, also a fail.

Next I used a piece of electrical wire that I stripped out of the white sheathing. More rigid but it didn't get any further than the string trimmer line.

I pulled off the A-pillar covers and...


https://i.imgur.com/M9s52sb.jpg


https://i.imgur.com/WGNrKrs.jpg


Which very much explains this

https://i.imgur.com/kymF5Ir.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/TYo8BfZ.jpg


I have no idea how the drain tubes could get kinked that bad but there was not a drop of water getting past the bends on either side.

For anyone wondering there is a LOT more stank water stored in that drain than you think and it comes out like a full bladder after a long road trip. Be ready for it, I was not :doh:

So between the car spending time in Florida, the interior marshland aka carpet and the frogs and bugs...Swamp Thing pretty much named itself

Sunroof drains are back to doing what they're supposed to do.

https://i.imgur.com/jgXGYM4.jpg

Dear lord, I would say that you found a significant part of tour water problem for sure - those almost absolutely look like someone had been in there before, I just don’t see how those get screwed up to that level without someone LS hands on them..

Nice find! Keep up the great work, slow and steady as you go [emoji106]


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That's the only thing I can think of happened, someone must have got in there for whatever reason.

Even if you were after something else, wouldn't you notice something doesn't look right with those tubes? :dunno:

That is pretty insane, probably happened as they yanked and pulled and "hammered" the a-pilers back into place, tough from my experience they're just an easy snap... Whoever it was had no idea what they were doing. The good news, as you said a few posts back - at least all of the critical components were above the water line - :D


I think in your case, if there's one close, the local salvage yard would be one of my best friends right now for any of the hard parts you might need, that said, you seem to be getting it sorted just fine - keep up the good work! (at least as long as it makes sense to do so)

There's a pic n pull type yard about an hour away from me but they don't have a great selection. Their main location which is about 2 hours away from me and currently has 8 e53s in stock with many more cars with the M54 engine to pick from.

However they do pick 'em clean of all the good stuff pretty quickly and because of the age of these models the parts aren't as fresh as I'd like sometimes.

You guys are lucky. Our pnp yards put most BMW's in the "special" section of the yard that costs more to get into and more for parts. Or at least they used to. Haven't been there for 3 or 4 years when I used to pull E30 and E36 parts.

They keep the BMW and Mercedes section right up towards the front so they can keep an eye on it and things go FAST.

Literally within hours of a car arriving at the yard there's people there to cherry pick all the easy to remove and high value parts.d

The older these cars get the less of them you see each year at the yards and statistically it's a front driver's side impact that brings them there so front end parts are particularly hard to source.

Reminds me of a thrift store called Value Village around here. Years ago it was pretty much the go to place for guys needing work clothes. Jeans were $5, T-shirts were $2 etc etc,

Well the hipsters all of a sudden discovered these stores and made them EXTREMELY popular and before long it's not a T-shirt anymore, it's a Polo T-shirt for $15, or Levi's jeans for $20 :rolleyes:

3M sells a paint/rust removal disk at home depot. I use it on the wheel hubs when changing rotors & on the grill to clean off caked on grease & what not. Would be much easier then sanding by hand.

As for the project, i think its great. $1200 to have some fun & a working BMW sounds great to me. I don't spend money on my car because it makes sense (because frankly it makes no sense with the value of these cars). I spend money on the car because I enjoy wrenching on it, modding it & driving it.

If you're talking about those black webbed looking discs I discovered them a few years ago and you're right. They're absolutely incredible for paint/rust removal compared to sandpaper.

I started to enjoy wrenching a lot more as soon as I had a backup car. The usual routine of having to scramble to get things working again before I had to be back at work was a lot of stress at times.

But even when I had a perfectly working car I would have the door panels ripped apart for stereo upgrades or putting in LED lights or who knows what else catches my attention. And then of course we have my detailing habit, literally polishing turds :D

Yes precisely that disc. Its awesome :)

Agree with you on your other points as well. Frankly, i think driving an E53 requires owning a backup car :rofl: