water on floor right rear footwell
 

was cleaning the carpet today to put in my new floormats on my 01 and when I was cleaning the right rear floorwell I realized water had gotten in. an area from the right rear corner by the door opening up about 3" and over about 6" was wet...not sopping wet but wet. I know I will have to pull up the carpet and cut out the jute underneath so completely dry the area but before that...

I'm trying to figure out how its getting in?

I grabbed the hose and put it on jet mode and hit the whole door all around and in weird angles just trying to simulate splash and such.

only place where it was weird was on the actual body weatherstrip at the bottom middle. it was kind of pooling up on top of it. It also started to come over the top of it and go down the trim piece towards the carpet. ok...

I looked up under at the door itself and the bottom of the door panel in the same area had water on it.

I mean both body and door weatherstrip are intact so the only thing I can think of is that age has gotten the better of one or both of them and they are allowing an air gap but the car isn't that old. I guess it "could" be depressed since I think the previous owner kept a child seat on this side from what the seat bottom looks like (can see depressions in the leather from child seat continued contact).

but wouldn't the driver door be more logical for this to occur since its used much much more often??

anyone with similar? or advice on what to look for?

Do a search for "vapor barrier"...its a very common malady on the e38/e39 forums and there's plenty of DIYs on the forums and even YouTube.

Most times, the adhesive that holds the vapor barrier to the door fails. Thus water that enters into the cavity of the door will escape where the adhesive on the vapor barrier has failed, instead of continuing on to the bottom of the door where it flows out the built in drainage slits, onto the rocker, then out to the ground.

When the vapor barrier fails, the water will flow over into the inside of the car (based on how the design of the door comes in over the top of the rocker...and the water leaks inside the vehicle instead of to the exterior.

Suggest you check if the leak could be coming from the sunroof and that is just the area it is collecting.

where do the sunroof drains go? down the c-pillar? if so then its a possibility for me

I'll also look into the vapor barrier as well. If I'm in there I might as well check both.

my vote is for vapour barrier, i have the same issues, but only in extended heavy rain.

its on my to do list.

Yes, it is more likely the vapor barrier because of where the water is collecting. I am only suggesting to test the sunroof drains and water barrier before attacking a barrier repair just in case OP can can get off easy by just clearing the sunroof drain.

To troubleshoot the sunroof drains--pour water next to the sunroof track. The drains are on both sides at the front of the sunroof. They are facing toward the doors. If the water stays below the track the drain is plugged.

To test the vapor barrier--open the door, pour water down the glass. If the barrier is OK you should see water running out the bottom of the door. The drain is at the end of the door toward the front end. If you do see water--the barrier is very likely OK. To verify the drain is operating properly do the same test on the other side and compare results.

Great point...I whole heartily agree...check both the sunroof and vapor barrier to verify if the issue is one or the other. :iagree:

But I do believe there are drains on the rear of the sunroof, too. The front drains down the A-pillar, and the rear drains down the C-pillar. The OP needs to pour water down the rear drains (especially the right rear) to see if he can replicate the leakage. :)

See item #12 in the diagram below of the regular sunroof used on the 01 X5. There are 2 drains in the rear of the sunroof which use the same part #....and 2 drains in the front which are "left/right" specific. :)

I had dampness on the right side of the carpet in the rear of the car also. It turned out to be a disconnected drain hose for the sun roof. When I placed my hand down into the right rear wheel well (under the fuses), I found the water was 3 or 4 inches deep.

Reconnecting the drain hose solved the problem.

Good catch. You can test by blocking off the front drains so it has to go out the back.

No problem...we're all in this together...we've gotta have each other's back. :)