Water in Drivers footwell
 

I have to say, I'm not a very happy person right now. My CPO X5 is headed into the dealership after I discovered the carpeting was SOAKED after driving through rain yesterday in CT.

Previously, I had noticed the top mat was wet but figured it was from wet shoes, never looked any further into it. Last night I removed a shoe on a long drive to get nice an comfy and my sock instantly became wet. I pulled out the top mat and discovered a pool of water on top of the carpet. So this morning I pulled the carpet back (what a PIA that is) today there's easily a quart of water underneath the carpeting. I have no clue where the water came from, my best guesses would be the sunroof body drains or the windshield, either way, I'm disappointed. Hopefully my dealership will remedy the situation. Thank fully I'm just shy of 49k and inside 4 years but this is the fear I had buying a BMW. As of now my car sits in my garage with my leaf blower nozzle inserted under the carpet attempting to dry out the under padding.

I've seen many other threads about water in the passenger foot well or in the back but nothing for the driver. Has anyone else experienced this, what was the root cause or are you still fighting it?

Thanks!

E

willing to bet the sunroof drains are clogged. There is a drain on both sides, driver and passenger, so either can get wet.

I just took a more in depth look at the situation. I poured water with dye in it down the drains from the sunroof and they clear the catch effectively. Water ends up coming out a few places though which I think is the cause. Water seeped out between the door and the fender on the plastic step rail, also under the car behind the tire there's a spot with a hole that I suspect is the bottom drain out area but the water came out around that plastic tray. I'm thinking something there is pooling the water as the dye was diluted at that point.

I also pour water down the windshield with a different color dye that came out on the wheel well same color but also out that lower drain spot but faint with color. Looks like you have to take the entire inner wheel well out to further trouble shoot the area. Probably a clogged catch basin. That's what warranty's are for I guess. Meanwhile the blower's on hour number 5 and it's still very wet under the carpet! Smells musty too so I'm guessing this is not a new issue. Nothing like trading a 3k problem for a 30k problem.:pullhair:

Yeah, its the moonroof drains alright. A problematic symptom of many panoramic moonroofs on pretty much every BMW model.

At least the E70s came out in late 2006 after they revised the moonroof design. Back in 2003-2004 with the X3s, a lot of the moonroofs would get stuck in the open or tilt position. Very convenient when it rains.

Seeing as they had a detailed remediation plan based on my conversation surrounding water in the foot well I'd guess this is pretty well documented in their service area. Guess I'll be adding this step to my 30k service intervals to ensure my interior stays dry.

Has anyone gone through the process of cleaning them out themselves? Curious as to what you discovered. I'm guessing that the inner wheel well cover needs to be removed to view the catch basin as one of the first steps.

Update:

Just heard back from the service advisor that all drains are operating correctly and that they were unable to reproduce water entering the cabin via the sunroof, roof drains, windshield, or door. They suggested I bring it back in during the next rainstorm to see if this requires highway speeds and water on the roads to reproduce. Have to say I'm frustrated but I get it that sometimes these things require just the right amount of wind/pressure to occur. If that's the case I'd guess it to be a grommet but I find it hard to believe that much water would get through.

For now I'll crack open the carpet and continue to blow air under the carpet to dry it out completely. Have to laugh the forecast has nothing but sun the next 6 days! If I wanted a car that leaked I would have purchased a E46 convertible like my 03 M, that I knew would leak in one spot during heavy rain. It was a simple fix for that queen, don't drive it in the rain!

SOLVED!!!

I brought the beast back in last week while it was raining, you could feel the carpet getting wet again. I finally convinced the dealership to pull the carpet and try to drive the car to find where water was entering. Before they road tested the vehicle, they found the Evap drain line was cracked and therefor voiding water into the driver foot well any time the A/C ran. They replaced the hose, dried the car out and returned it. I have since driving in the rain again and I can say with a big @ss smile that the car is dry! I rewarded the car with a full detailing including glazing, debadging and some old fashion polish lovin'. Looks REALLY good!

Search words: Evap, Evaporator, Evap Drain, A/C issues, Leak, standing water, Wet Carpet, musty smell

Probably a long shot given this is a three year old post...but could the OP provide the part number that they swapped out? I've been looking at a similar problem in a X3 and can't find the appropriate part in the various online catalogs....

You're in luck as I subscribed to the thread so I saw your question!

Here's what was on my invoice:

49154 found water entry from evaporator drains corrected evaporator drains removed front an rear carpets for drying retest okay defect 64 11 33 37 00 sib 64 14 07

I see one other code not sure if it applies 5147450 and FC 6411333700

My carpets have been dry for 3 years now so they clearly fixed the issue. Best of luck.