Passenger side carpet wet/ damp

[ttr]

Hi all,

Noticed condensation on the screen last week and this, finally got time to look tonight and passenger side carpet is damp.

I Park nose down, drive slopes circa 20-30 degrees, cars not moved for 3 weeks as not had a moment due to work and other stuff on.

I suspect it’s water ingress, given its not stopped pixxing down here for weeks!,,,,,

It’s not loosing fluid nor screen wash.

So , my car has no sunroof and windscreens original.

What is the priority checking, I gather I should;-

Check drain holes at the bottom of the door ( I think they are clear btw will run a wire up anyway)
Check drain holes under bonnet- assume they are at the top of the bonnet and it s the gap that runs down the side of the wing.
Check door seal integrity ( I know they are ok as I silicon sprayed them a few weeks ago to stop door sticking in the cold)
Check door card inner seal ( understand from here these can leak)
I do not think it’s the rear screen wash feed.- given no loss of screen wash.

Anything else to check - I hate water leaks in car - makes my ocd twitch more.

Cheers for any and all advice.

[sleepyfolk]

Just to let you know you’re not alone, I’m trying to find a fix for my drivers side!

[ttr]

Cheers sleepyfolk

It’s a right royal pia!

It’s drying out quickly but not the point, frustrates me knowing it’s likely to happen again.

On a week of with any luck next week so the hunt will begin.......had an Orion 1.6 ghia I back in the day and that bugger leaked, never did trace it. Then a Range Rover which besides using parts from the Allegro parts bin and fell apart each week anD that also leaked due to an ill fitting sun roof - least that got sorted eventually.

Never expected the X5 to leak in fairness....heyho

[X5Sport]

Worth checking the scuttle drains are open too (in the area below and ahead of the front screen).

[ttr]

X5sport

Cheers actually popped out tonight and from a quick inspect I am pretty sure the water is coming in via the passenger side door seal.

The rubber seal is a one piece construction with material on the inside, that was soaked wet. It was soaked in the bottom corner of the door ( bottom hinge side of the door in the bend where the door cill trim piece meets the upright - hope th,t makes sense)

The seal is intact with no rips, and does not look distorted.

It could be a red herring and the water tracking to that point then dripping in to the carpet but it’s a starting point.

Any ideas as the seal looks fine , I pulled it off and re seated it in the vain hope it was simply not seated - doubt it though.

Is it simply trying a complete new door seal - I hope not as do not fancy the cost but needs must if it sorts it.

Checked the two rubber bungs in the bottom of the door, pulled these out and dry as a bone, so think that’s good news.

Will check scuttle but will need a bit more direction on where to look if possible. Is it the area the front wing meets the upper door section under, where the bonnet hinge is located ie corner of windshield . Is it simply a hole the water drains into ? Where does it drain out underneath is there a cavity or plug I can look for if testing the drain with water.

Cheers again for all the reply’s

[sleepyfolk]

I’ve got a clip missing that should hold the rubber door seal at the end furthest from the hinge, not sure if that’s my problem though, have ordered the clips from CotswoldBMW so time will tell.

[ttr]

Eh up all,

Well I’m pleased to announce I think I’ve found the leak.

Last night I put some paper towels down as well as a dusting of chalk, checked just now and you can see trace of water comming from the door panel bottom right in the hinge corner ( exactly where the damp seal is located)

Then moved the door panel and drip ran out from behind.

I’m now fairly positive this is where the water leak is coming from, plus it backs into all the information on the site - thanks to the forum.

My next questions given I’ve time of next week

Any tips or links to door card removal
Anyone done it - how hard and any special tools needed
Owt likely to break taking it off - clips etc and should I buy spares in advance
Any tips on sealing it up - tears with gorilla tape / waterproof tape and sealing to the door with sikoflex black

Thanks again all, the info on the site and feedback is priceless with stuff like this. - makes in possible to run a car like this.

Cheers in advanced

[X5Sport]

A few on here have done it so a search might find what you need.  A look at Realoem might give you a clue about the fixings that exist so you’ll at least have some idea of where the delicate parts are 

[sleepyfolk]

Door panel removal guide here https://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticl ... cement.htm pretty straight forward - I’d say grab a cheap set of trim removal tools of eBay or somewhere - I’ve found them to come in pretty handy so far. And also, order some of the door panel clips off BMW - they’re cheap as chips and every time I’ve bought them off eBay I think they’re crap for one reason or another. There’s 2 slightly different ones holding the card on if I remember rightly.

This is the page from RealOEM that will give you the part numbers for the door card bits http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showpar ... Id=51_3820

[ttr]

sleepyfolk

Cheers for that.

Got the trim tool removal kit already in my tool kit and they are useful

Will look at your links to get a better view on how to before i start - thanks for that

Looking to start next week, once the cards of I aim to check and confirm the water leak location just to be sure!!

thanks again

[X5Sport]

It’s frequently the plastic membrane behind the card detached from its sticky bead holding it to the door itself, and therefore allows water in.

[ttr]

Cheers x5 sport,

Done some digging with sleepyfolk links and a trawl of t’web.

Got clips on order from dealer at £0.54 each ( to a Yorkshire man that’s a fortune)

It looks fairly logical, seems to me the trick is slowly away, the door handle cable looks odd to detach and I recon I will pop the door card first before Unclipping, do not want to risk not being able to get the card off and be able to reconnect the handle.

So what you are saying, and the photos I’ve seen, once the plastic door cards off look for rips/ tears in the foam moisture barrier as well check the edges where they are bonded to the metal door frame. I understand it’s a mastic BMW have used. Assume then if I use sikoflex it will reseal, it’s bonds most stuff at work and better than most silicone I’ve used for durability and bond strength. If it’s a tear I will seal with waterproof gorilla tape or similar and bond with sikoflex after.

I only hope my diagnosis is correct, cannot see the water comming from anywhere else other than a fail in the door seal itself  but it does appear unlikely.

Will see if I can test with the door card removed but unsure if door will close and open with no handle attached, guess I could do that from the outside.

Cheers again

[sleepyfolk]

Don’t worry about the door handle cable, it’s quite easy to clip on and off and obvious once you get that far, just remember to be careful with the various cables - there’s a little cable for the orange light that lights up the door handle, and the puddle light etc etc - double check they’re all unplugged

[ttr]

Well to update my thread….
Thanks to all the tips and advice I managed to get the door card off ….eventually!!
I flew through the plastic trim pop clips they came off with ease as did the interior trim pieces, I fought for a good 35 minutes with the X”!!ly clip that secures the door pull in the centre section – wow that’s a pig to shift. Eventually through wiggling and easing it came off but left the black plastic lug in situ – no problem just removed and refit on the door card.

The foam membrane was loose especially around the edge where the apparent leak was, but no rips or tears, the foam had simply come away from the black butyl putty.
I heated the putty up with a heat gun on lowest setting , I also ran Sikaflex black around the edge as a double check just in case the putty let go again and resealed.
Rebuilding was easy, just took my time.

No water ingress to date so keeping my fingers crossed

I did also check out the scuttle drains but need some help?
Where the hell are the drains, I looked on the realoem site and can see the pictures but cannot find them.
I striped out the micro filter and cleaned down the bottom, also removed the two plastic side pieces to get a better look but still could not find anything that looked like a drain ??? (see pics)

Anyone help me out with a picture of where these are,, just want to check that are clear ?
Pictures as always ( my mate was exhausted after that and needed a lay down)

Lessons I learnt:-
Pop the bottom puddle light out and disconnect first before removing door card, same for window switch
I eased the top of the door card trim off the clips using the plastic trim tool as this was easier than pulling forwards (especially as the centre clip would not shift)
I placed a stool with towel under the door trim card so it did not drop suddenly when it came free
Watch out for the plastic pop clips they do break no matter how careful you are and buy spares ( thanks sleepyfolk)
Watch out for the illuminated door connection, I bust mine in the fight with the centre clip, despite having the door card supported. This was fixed using 2 part clear epoxy resin , carefully building it up so it bonded and supported the joint. Worked a treat.
If its cold and you use Sikaflex put it where its warm in the house ( boiler room etc) it flows far better and the grab strength improved.

Hope this helps someone

Cheers

[sleepyfolk]

I discovered that someone had been in my drivers door before and ripped the vapour barrier in a couple of places, and it wasn’t stuck down along one edge. So I’ve stuck all that back together, re-glued the top black plastic trim to the door card, clipped the lower rubber door seal back in that had a clip missing and put the card back on with new clips.

Certainly sounds better when I close the door, no rattles! Time will tell on the water ingress