E34 sunroof water leak. pool in the backseat

[Mordan]

Hey

after not driving my E34 for a while, the car is park in a gentle slope, rear of the car downslope.

the backseat behind the driver is soaked in water and there is a pool of water down where you put your feet.

There is not water coming from the roof. It is dry. i thought maybe the sunroof. I poor water in the sunroof so it goes does not go inside the car but inside the roof and couldn't see the water coming down any drain.

Where is the water coming inside the car???

I found a post or two here about it http://www.bimmernut.com/forum/showthread.php?p=301328
and http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/363460

What I get. my drains are blocked. compressed air them. where is the water supposed to come down? and who did the water came inside the car if the roof inside the car is dry ? only the backseat seat (where you put your ass) and the feet well.

thank you for your input.

[russiankid]

There are 4 drains for the sunroof. Two up front, and two in the back. They are located in the corners. Water comes out under the car somewhere. What you need is a coat hanger to unclog them.

[Mordan]

There are 4 drains for the sunroof. Two up front, and two in the back. They are located in the corners. Water comes out under the car somewhere. What you need is a coat hanger to unclog them.

should I remove the seats and carpet to check for rust? it has been wet for a while I guess.

[Ross]

There is a very heavy foam pad beneath the carpets that potentially holds a lot of water. I'd definitely take things apart and dry it out.
Be careful using compressed air on the drains, if you blow the hoses off of the sunroof cassette you will need to remove the headliner to reattach them. A wire might be better.

[bubba966]

I used weed eater line to run down my drains to clean 'em out. Just stiff enough to unclog the hoses, but soft/flexible enough to not damage the hoses.

[Mordan]

hey

somes news. I don't understand about the hoses you are talking about. For the front, I see 2 holes for draining the water. no problem there! However in the back ouch!

I poured water in the back of the sunroof opening again. I couldn't trust any wire/ find any holes there. There must be one though because some of the water found its way to the ground.

Ok like 1/5 of the water dribbles down on the street but the rest of the water disappeared until I saw it falling from the rear reading lamps and some of it was also seeping through the fabric of the ceiling ! WTF???? how do I repair that ****?

:(

EDIT: do I have the replace the water hose #17 on this graphic http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=HA11&mospid=47367&btnr=54_0150&hg=54&fg=05
?
how easy would it be?

[Mordan]

There is a very heavy foam pad beneath the carpets that potentially holds a lot of water. I'd definitely take things apart and dry it out.
Be careful using compressed air on the drains, if you blow the hoses off of the sunroof cassette you will need to remove the headliner to reattach them. A wire might be better.

yea trying to remove the seeping humidity. for removing the pad, you have to remove the front seats. guess what? I can't remove the passenger seat's seat belt because the Torx14 bolt cannot be accessed with a ratchet. I need to buy a flat Trox14 spanner damn it.

I also broke my back when trying to remove the bloody back seat back (also soaked in water). they say you have to apply some force when pulling hard up. I think I will try to remove the armrest and pull from the center.

[Elekta]

if weed eater won't auger it a guitar string will also work, also brake cable or some sort of stranded wire.

GL

[Mordan]

if weed eater won't auger it a guitar string will also work, also brake cable or some sort of stranded wire.

GL

man plz tell me how a guitar string will help water gushing from the rear reading lamp ? :) there must be a big hole somewhere.

I decided to remove EVERYthing.

[tim eh?]

i did a test writeup here.

http://pages.videotron.com/tupm/sunroof.htm

maybe some of the photos might help.

[Mordan]

i did a test writeup here.

http://pages.videotron.com/tupm/sunroof.htm

maybe some of the photos might help.

thx mate. good write up. photos help. how secure are the hoses? I don't see any hose clamp.

[tim eh?]

thx mate. good write up. photos help. how secure are the hoses? I don't see any hose clamp.

that's as far as i got i'm afraid... but somebody here accidentally plugged a drain when they were doing something to the floor pan i think.
i believe you can access them through the side kick panels.

it sounds like the rear drains are clogged somewhere around the sunroof otherwise the water wouldn't be up as high as your maplights.
get some high pressure air through there man! it's hard to reach those rear drains.

NB there are 4 torx bolts for the back seat backrest. it's only the bottom bit that you pull up... sorry 'bout your back.

this is what i did to dry the front carpet, didn't have to take out the seats but it took a while to dry... like 3 days.
http://www.bimmernut.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5169&stc=1&d=1227998142 http://www.bimmernut.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5172&stc=1&d=1227998897

[Elekta]

man plz tell me how a guitar string will help water gushing from the rear reading lamp ? :) there must be a big hole somewhere.

I decided to remove EVERYthing.

Because your drain is clogged and the water is pooling in the tray your sunroof slides in and overflowing into your headliner and working it's way down. I bet if you park at a different angle you could make the water come out somewhere else on the inside....if it can't go down and out your drain tube it's going to end up inside the car...and the water really doesn't care where gravity is taking it at some point. I used to get a drip on the drivers side windshield trim until I augered out both front tubes.

GL

[bubba966]

I used to get a drip on the drivers side windshield trim until I augered out both front tubes.

I got into my car one morning after work and found a bit of water on the dash on the passenger side and saw that it came down the windshield trim. This was after a seriously heavy rain. Tested the front drains and found them clogged. Ran the weed eater line down the drains to push the crap out. Then all was good.

[Mordan]

There is a very heavy foam pad beneath the carpets that potentially holds a lot of water. I'd definitely take things apart and dry it out.
Be careful using compressed air on the drains, if you blow the hoses off of the sunroof cassette you will need to remove the headliner to reattach them. A wire might be better.

I removed the back seat back! ouch the trick was not documented on Bentleys and the info on the net was not fitting my seat. No force was needed at all. I had to unscrew plastic crap that folds around the head. soon pictures!

I removed the carpet in the back. totally soaked! however the front carpet is also soaked. Do I have to remove the heater core in order to remove the front carpet??? :(