[ramman434]

Hey Guys,

So I've done a search through the forum and have seen a few posts that are mostly related to this. I just picked up my '16 F10 535 last Wed. 8/28 from a dealer here in S. Florida.
With all the weather we've been getting due to Dorian (thank God it didn't hit us), we've been getting a lot of rain. I opened my rear passenger door to have a lot of water pour out, where it would usually drain just a little under normal condition. This lead me to believe that the door was retaining water inside.
I looked in my rear door pocket to discover a slimey white substance, and cleaned it out as best I could, without realizing what it was. I then pulled out the puddle light underneath to discover the same substance, and that's when the smell of "mushrooms/decay" aka mold hit me.
I pulled off the door panel yesterday and there is significant mold grown inside the door of my new (to me) car that I love! I took the below pics and sent them to the dealer I bought from (3rd party, not BMW) and I'm hoping they're going to help me out. The water has been obviously building since before I got the car, and it's causing the interior of the door panel to decay/disintegrate.
When searching in the forums, I initially was coming across people talking about a "rear vapor seal" needing to be reattached or replaced. Hopefully I can get this in to be looked at in the next couple of days and keep ya'll posted. Believe it or not, my electronics on the door work without issue: window switch, and interior ambient lighting. Pics are below:
Inside pocket of my door after I'd tried to clean out white mold




Inside with the panel off

[philipm785]

With this being a 2016, is it still under warranty? If so, I'd have the deal fix the seals / drain and replace the effected panels, etc.

[ramman434]

Sadly no, it's at 61k miles so outside of warranty. The good thing is that there is no water inside the actual vehicle, and there's no odor in the interior.

Who knows how long I could have had the car without noticing all of this. It was only when an extra large amount of water spilled out of the door upon opening, did I think something was up.

[OnlyGerman]

Any signs of previous body work on that door?

[ramman434]

Originally Posted by XLife14

Any signs of previous body work on that door?

No previous body work done on the entire car. I had a PPI done by an independent BMW shop before purchasing the car. The car needed new front tires and to have the new battery registered to the car, all of which the dealer took care of without question.

[ramman434]

Finally an Update:

A friend of mine (employee of BMW) and I thought that the leak may be caused due to a faulty vapor seal, which was a plague of the E39s and some E60s. However, after a leak down test, the door appears to be perfectly fine, even though a bit more water than normal still appears to hold in the water exit channels.

Verdict is that we think someone had placed a bottle of water/gatorade/liquid, etc. in the rear pass. door pocket, without properly closing the lid. It had leaked over time into the pocket, creating the mold growth seen in the 1st photos, and then moved on down to the growth directly around the base of the pocket, on the inside of the panel.
The mold/water had sat there so long, that it had disintegrated the door panel, which was evident when the dealer pulled the panel off, as a couple of the cardboard bits that house the plastic screws (that adhere to the metal door itself) broke clean off.

Therefore, I'm getting a new door panel. I bought the car as-is w/no warranty from this boutique dealer and am trying to see if they'll cover the cost, since it was sold to me with a sh**load of white mold in the door. I'll keep ya'll in the loop.

[wcr3d]

Could you explain the "leak down test"?

[ramman434]

Originally Posted by wcr3d

Could you explain the "leak down test"?

As simple as it sounds. Open door, pull off panel, run hose (light flow) over window trim to see if water is properly channeling through the door.

It should slowly make its way towards the door hinge and come out at the bottom corner. If you find any spots where it appears to be allowing water through (which could be the vapor seal issue), then you want to investigate further at those locations

[TZ]

F10 Door vapor seal defect is a common cause of leaking. Wet floor after heavy rain.

[Cvx5832]

I also had this. Right rear door. Dealer took care of it without question (factory warranty). Seemed routine for the F10.

[ramman434]

The good thing for me is that it's not the vapor seal, and there's no actual water line in the door. Leak down test showed the metal door itself to be water-tight. No dripping from the vapor seal.

Bad thing is that I've got to replace the door panel since the bottom portion has disintegrated.