Passenger side floor REALLY wet..
 

Happy Thanksgiving...

I'm getting a pool of water on the pass side of my X. It actually rises enough to cover the rubber winter mats. I have checked the drainage holes and blew compressed air through it. I cannot find any obvious gaps in places like the mirror or handle. Water is not apparent in the door compartments.

What am I missing ???

ed

not possitive but check the side marker light on the fender I think that might actually lead into the front of the vehicle.

get a torch , sit in the car and get someone to spray it with a hose pipe, dont know who good this will simulate you driving down the highway at 100 but if it is a major leak should show up i guess, did this in the trunk of my old car to find leak, powder coated the sides of the trunk with talcum power so i could see where the run of water had come from

thanks guys.

I'll check your suggestions

ed

You can simulate rain by having a friend dump a bucket of water against the window of a door. This way you can check the insulated door panel clips (testing with door panel on) then the vapor barrier behind the door panel (with door panel off). Water should flow through the door, but not into the cabin.

I want to say that this type of water ingress is more typical with a rear door. Good luck!

Is it in the front, or the rear?

Front passenger side.
I have determined it is not coming from the cowl or anywhere behind the glove box area. Have tried taking off the interior panel and having the wife spray a hose against the glass. There is no water INSIDE the door panels.

@ J. Wouldn't it run through the drainage holes and out of the cabin if it was coming from the clips ? That's not meant to be a challenge, just a question.

ed

Front passenger side.
I have determined it is not coming from the cowl or anywhere behind the glove box area. Have tried taking off the interior panel and having the wife spray a hose against the glass. There is no water INSIDE the door panels.

@ J. Wouldn't it run through the drainage holes and out of the cabin if it was coming from the clips ? That's not meant to be a challenge, just a question.

ed

Front passenger, rear passenger, or both?

If you perform the tests mentioned above (spraying or pouring water over the passenger side and windows)...while in the interior...note how the interior door panel is designed to intrude over the rocker panel and lines up with the interior of the vehicle.

BMW designed the "vapor barrior" to seal along the outer edges...thus if this seal deteriorates or fails...water that enters the cavity of the door...instead of running down to the very bottom and exiting the "slits" that are the drain holes...will follow the path of the vapor barrier and enter the interior of the vehicle instead of continuing to flow down to the bottom of the door and out to the exterior.

The vapor barrier leakage is well documented on some of the forums like the e39 & e38 & e46 (videos DIYs can be found on YouTube)...and the repair would be almost identical for the e39.

If the water is in the front passenger footwell...also check the panel on the right side (exterior wall) to see if there is moisture on components behind that panel...if so...it could be from a detached or leaking sunroof drain. The same could be for the rear sunroof drain on the passenger side as well.

Good luck.

Hi Ed, no worries man! I have personally seen water ingress through a clip hole. Probably not as typical as the vapor barrier ingress, but it seems that it can be a possibility. Hope you find the leak soon! It seems that you've checked the common sources.