[Black5]

Hello people, I'm really puzzled here because I have no clue how the water got in the car. The car is a 2011 535 xdrive

My car been sitting out in the rain for 3 days. Lastnite I took to work( I work graveyard) On my lunch I decided to relax at the back seat so I took off my shoes climb to the back only to find myself stepping in a puddle of water behind the drivers side. I'm like wtf is this!! I checked all the windows and the moon roof and there all closed. Whats weird is nothing else is wet, only the floor as if someone spilled a bucket of water. No one have been in my car. I'm the only one with the key..

The only thing I can think of right now is to open all windows and roof and closed them shut again. Maybe water leaked through and came down the side some how. Well its gonna rain tonite again so I'll check tomorrow if same thing happens..

Here's a picture of me just finish vacuuming all the water

[3rd party]

Make sure the moon roof drain line is clear. Not sure where it is, but if that line plugs you could have a lot bigger problems than just water on the floor.

[Black5]

Originally Posted by 3rd party

Make sure the moon roof drain line is clear. Not sure where it is, but if that line plugs you could have a lot bigger problems than just water on the floor.

I just inspected the roof, all looks good. The drain is nice and clean.

[bimmertaxi]

It's probably a leaking vapor barrier in the rear door. Check if water is trapped in the door by pulling on the door trim at the bottom of the door.

[immx]

I had this once in a car some years ago. It turns out it had had a new windscreen fitted badly which leaked. Have you had a new windscreen fitted?

[Black5]

Originally Posted by bimmertaxi

It's probably a leaking vapor barrier in the rear door. Check if water is trapped in the door by pulling on the door trim at the bottom of the door.

The door look ok but I did not look at the bottom tho. i'll check it later to see if some water still trap in there.

thanks

[Black5]

Originally Posted by immx

I had this once in a car some years ago. It turns out it had had a new windscreen fitted badly which leaked. Have you had a new windscreen fitted?

Sorry but I'm not sure what windscreen you speak of. But anyways no I haven't installed anything on the car yet.

Well it's morning the next day. Hopefully we got some rain lastnite. When it starts to warm up a little I'll go check to see if there's a puddle again. I'm hoping not. If there is I'll take the car in to have it check. It's still under warranty anyways..

[3rd party]

Originally Posted by Eddiear

Sorry but I'm not sure what windscreen you speak of. But anyways no I haven't installed anything on the car yet.

Well it's morning the next day. Hopefully we got some rain lastnite. When it starts to warm up a little I'll go check to see if there's a puddle again. I'm hoping not. If there is I'll take the car in to have it check. It's still under warranty anyways..

Windscreen = Windshield

[justsam]

Do you have rear passenger A/C? If there is an evaporator back there it could be a clogged drain line.

Do you know how long the water has been there? Is it really related to the rain storm?

[Black5]

Originally Posted by justsam

Do you have rear passenger A/C? If there is an evaporator back there it could be a clogged drain line.

Do you know how long the water has been there? Is it really related to the rain storm?

There is an A/C funnel underneath the drivers seat. I did stick my fingers down there and I didn't feel any water.
I don't know how long the waters been there. I hardly drive the car and when I do I hardly ever go at the back. If I hadn't taken off my shoe I might not have notice.

I'm not sure how much rain we got lastnite but I checked the car this afternoon and seems to be ok. Well hopefully everything is all good..

[mariusz335i]

Had the same issue last year.They had to reseal moisture curtain inside the door.When is hot the sealant ,used by BMW melts.They also replaced rear carpet in my car,due to some spots from the leak,which they couldn't clean.Never had a problem since then.

[Black5]

Originally Posted by mariusz335i

Had the same issue last year.They had to reseal moisture curtain inside the door.When is hot the sealant ,used by BMW melts.They also replaced rear carpet in my car,due to some spots from the leak,which they couldn't clean.Never had a problem since then.

Aw so I'm not the only one. I guess I'm off to the dealer

[Black5]

mariusz335i I think my car has the same problem you had. I found water leaking from the bottom of the rear door.

In this picture where the light is. Underneath is where its leaking. The rubber seals around the door looks ok, no tear or bends. I guess its inside the door like you mentioned..

[mariusz335i]

Yep.I had exactly the same symptoms. I remember taking pictures like yours for my tech advisor .

[ghueser]

Check the sunroof again. It is a little hard to describe, but on BMW's of past and probably with the current ones, the sunroof surround consists of two main pieces that should be glued together. (or at least sealed together) On a sunny day, open you sunroof and get on a ladder to look from above. In the channel that runs aroung the perimeter of the sunroof opening, you should see somewhere a "seam" or step in the plastic. Likely this seam will be located more towards the front of the car, somewhere along where the front door is. Take a small bottle of water, or even an eyedropper if you can get one and see if water disapears at that location. Otherwise is should migrate to the drain tubes.

next question you would ask is how can the water get to the back mat? Well when I discovered this problem on an old Bimmer I had, I soon found out that the surface of the headliner (that faces the metal roof) has a wax coating. Water leaking on it will just run anywhere in the car, and in my case, ended up on the rear passenger area like you are experiencing.

It could still be the door, but check the sunroof surround to make sure. Oh and in my case, I fixed the leak by laying down a thin seam of black silicone sealant.

[Black5]

Originally Posted by ghueser

Check the sunroof again. It is a little hard to describe, but on BMW's of past and probably with the current ones, the sunroof surround consists of two main pieces that should be glued together. (or at least sealed together) On a sunny day, open you sunroof and get on a ladder to look from above. In the channel that runs aroung the perimeter of the sunroof opening, you should see somewhere a "seam" or step in the plastic. Likely this seam will be located more towards the front of the car, somewhere along where the front door is. Take a small bottle of water, or even an eyedropper if you can get one and see if water disapears at that location. Otherwise is should migrate to the drain tubes.

next question you would ask is how can the water get to the back mat? Well when I discovered this problem on an old Bimmer I had, I soon found out that the surface of the headliner (that faces the metal roof) has a wax coating. Water leaking on it will just run anywhere in the car, and in my case, ended up on the rear passenger area like you are experiencing.

It could still be the door, but check the sunroof surround to make sure. Oh and in my case, I fixed the leak by laying down a thin seam of black silicone sealant.

Yeah its not coming from the sun roof. If you look at the picture i posted above I pulled at the bottom of the rear door panel and lots of water poured out. So im pretty confident thats where its leaking from.

[HighlandPete]

Inner door barrier/membrane is a common cause of water ingress.

I've had it on two BMW cars, your picture clearly shows the issue. Membrane comes unstuck as has already been mentioned in another post. Both mine happened on the 'sunny side' of the car, when it is parked at home.

HighlandPete

[Mr. Grumpy]

I just found a puddle of water on the rear passenger floor. It was raining hard last Friday so I guess that when it happened which meens that I had water inside the car for the last 2 days. Black5, did you find a solution for this problem? I swear that I'm thinking of getting rid of my car, too many problems for a $70K car.

[Black5]

Originally Posted by Mr. Grumpy

I just found a puddle of water on the rear passenger floor. It was raining hard last Friday so I guess that when it happened which meens that I had water inside the car for the last 2 days. Black5, did you find a solution for this problem? I swear that I'm thinking of getting rid of my car, too many problems for a $70K car.

My car is still under warranty. So I finally scheduled a service appointment this coming Tuesday.

[Mr. Grumpy]

I have one for this coming Friday. My SA said that there is a water test that they can do to see where the leak is coming from, we'll see how accurate that test is.

[mko9]

I have developed this problem in the last week or so in the right rear footwell. It has been raining non-stop fo days. When I pull the door card away from the metal door, water comes out.

Has anyone had this fix done out of warranty? Does anyone know what is involved in the fix? Any chance I can do it myself?

[tresean1]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

Inner door barrier/membrane is a common cause of water ingress.

I've had it on two BMW cars, your picture clearly shows the issue. Membrane comes unstuck as has already been mentioned in another post. Both mine happened on the 'sunny side' of the car, when it is parked at home.

HighlandPete

Originally Posted by immx

I had this once in a car some years ago. It turns out it had had a new windscreen fitted badly which leaked. Have you had a new windscreen fitted?

Originally Posted by mko9

I have developed this problem in the last week or so in the right rear footwell. It has been raining non-stop fo days. When I pull the door card away from the metal door, water comes out.

Has anyone had this fix done out of warranty? Does anyone know what is involved in the fix? Any chance I can do it myself?

I have had this same problem on three different 5-series, all different chassis. I thought I was losing my mind and imagining things, as (of course) the dealer said all was fine and they couldn't find any issues. When this happened on my 2nd BMW, I swore to never buy a new one (none of my Mercedes ever had these issues). Well, here I am in an F10 (thinking things with BMW quality would have improved by now) like a dummy, and once again same issue with back carpet soaking wet!

Some of the pictures you guys posted did not show up--so I am really not sure what to look for or what sunroof/door pieces to pull apart or inspect.

Did anyone get any answers from their dealership?
Has anyone had to pay out of pocket to get this fixed, how much was it?
Anyone gotten this covered under extended (3rd party warranty), and if so what was the "gripe" or explanation used to get it taken care of?