530i - Water leakage on floor under passenger seats

[Manu]

Floor under the pasenger seat of my 2002 530i became soaking wet totally unexpectedly. There is no leakage from the sun roof or the door gaskets. BMW dealer advises changing liner (?) appears a very expensive job with 4 hours of labor. Is this normal or a product defect ? Any suggestions ?

[Bob]

Manu wrote:

Floor under the pasenger seat of my 2002 530i became soaking wet totally unexpectedly. There is no leakage from the sun roof or the door gaskets. BMW dealer advises changing liner (?) appears a very expensive job with 4 hours of labor. Is this normal or a product defect ? Any suggestions ?

I'm having the same problem. Water appears to be entering through the back doors. Water gets inside the door and doesn't drain outside. Eventually with prolonged or very heavy rain it gets inside. I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has dealt with this issue.

[Chris California]

I am getting the same thing but on the drivers side.
Gosh I hope I don't have to pay 4 hours in labor charges for something that should happen "ultimately".
Please let me know if someone come up with a remedy.

[Anthony]

Same problem, 2002 530i water collecting on drivers side backseat floor after rain. Roof seems dry so only guess it is coming from the door. Still under warranty, will see what dealer says.

[mross]

I experienced the same problem. We had rain for the last few days and today when cleaning the rear of my car out I noticed that the floor mats and floor beneath mats were soaking wet! Not sure what the cause is but I assume it is due to the rain.

[VoY]

Same thing with my 2003 530i.
One mechanik told me that there are 4 hoses coming down from the sun roof and sometimes they fall off or get clogged. Did not fix my car yet but I will be loking for those hoses .

[sperry]

Same problem with my 2002 530i sport. Collect mainly on the rear driverside seat. It soaks quite heavily when left standing in heavy rainfall. From various tests at appears that the water is not draining out from the inner and outer door seals. It collects and flows into the carpet from above ( bottom of the door opening. ) If BMW know about this they are not admitting it, and will charge hefty amouts for new door seals, and even replacement modules beneath the carpets.

[Brian]

I have the same problem! I just noticed it. No water on the doors or upholstery, but the floor is wet behind the drivers seat.

[DuWayne Nash]

I have a 2001 and have a wet rear passenger seat floor after a good rain. Have taken it in i think twice to my local BMW shop and they said somehting about the glue or plastic not doing it's job. Was replaced the first time and it still leaked. I'll go with the door seals aren't wotking correctly. It hasn't rained enough here in Santa Barbara this year, but it will soon.

[skysky1]

530i 2001 Same problem here in Denver, where it rarely rains. It's like magic. If we have an extended drought at least I'll know where to find water.

[linda3d]

Look under the car to the slots where it is supposed to drain. Stick an untwisted wire hanger into those slots to clear our any debrie. Sometimes they get plugged up and thus the water collects. Hope it works for you!

[linda3d]

Under the side of your car are slots for water to drain. Try sticking a wire(Clothes hanger?) into them to unplug them.

[ArtB]

I have a 2003 530i and after some study have sourced the problem on my vehicle. Both rear doors have an external foam seal and an internal foam seal. As it rains, water runs off the roof to the car edge gutters, then rearward on the door seam and then down to the rearmost curved portion of the door. With an aged seal the water seeps inward, and at that, point is channeled between the seals. The water begins to collect between the seals in the bottom of the door openning, and rises until it reachs a small non-closure on the inner seal. From that point it blotters into the carpet. Hence a very wet carpet each rain. You can verify the occurence, by opening the door and witnessing water dropping from the door frame in a splash. I'm thinking of using a tightly stretch peice of packing tape to flatten and distort the outer foam seal and provide a air gap for downward drainage. This would test a theory that the seal could be easily modified without altering or harming the vehicle.

[howard]

I taped up the vents outside the car, under the windshield and the water stopped. the relay switch to change from outside air to circulating inside took a dive. the vents were open.

[pat]

I have a 2002 530i with the same water problem on the rear floor mats.

Has anyone had success in stopping the water?

Has anyone addressed the issue with BMW...it seems like this is a common experience

[mark]

I started to notice when the car turned 6. The same problem as described above 2002 530I. Soaked rear floor both sides after a rain.I am a BMWCCA member I will talk to them next. Thought I would look at a few forums first.

[Roger D]

Did anyone try this? Did it work? Or has anyone found anything that worked short of letting BMW work on it?

ArtB wrote:

I have a 2003 530i and after some study have sourced the problem on my vehicle. Both rear doors have an external foam seal and an internal foam seal. As it rains, water runs off the roof to the car edge gutters, then rearward on the door seam and then down to the rearmost curved portion of the door. With an aged seal the water seeps inward, and at that, point is channeled between the seals. The water begins to collect between the seals in the bottom of the door openning, and rises until it reachs a small non-closure on the inner seal. From that point it blotters into the carpet. Hence a very wet carpet each rain. You can verify the occurence, by opening the door and witnessing water dropping from the door frame in a splash. I'm thinking of using a tightly stretch peice of packing tape to flatten and distort the outer foam seal and provide a air gap for downward drainage. This would test a theory that the seal could be easily modified without altering or harming the vehicle.

[Jastinne McEwens]

Been hearing the same problem in other BMW forums. But what they usually do is replace the [url=http://www.thepartsbin.co m/sitemap/bmw~floor_mats~parts .html]bmw floor mats[/url]. I don't know how much it had cost them to have a replacement.

[Brad]

mark wrote:

I started to notice when the car turned 6. The same problem as described above 2002 530I. Soaked rear floor both sides after a rain.I am a BMWCCA member I will talk to them next. Thought I would look at a few forums first.

Mark any luck?? i have the same issue with my 02 525. I am not happy :(

[Brian]

Same issue on my 2005 X5- water collects under the rear driver side door- from what i have read and been told, there is a vapor barrier in the door that will often lose it's suction from age- many forums suggest a seal of sorts that can be purchased from a hardware store- don't have the specifics but still researchering- any additional info would help- however, i did locate the specific problem- small rear window on the driver side- water only seems to enter through there but the issue obviuosly lies within the door itself and this alledged vapor barrier i guess???