WET rear door panels?!

[Kalevera]

Guys -

Today I pulled my rear door panels in order to reglue them and replace the lock solenoids.

Once I had them off, I noticed that the bottom...10% or so...is wet on each panel, with signs of them being exposed to water for a while.

I checked all of the seals...they seem fine. I checked the front doors to see if they had the same problem - they seem fine (and the seals up there are in worse condition than the rears). I'm pretty sure that it isn't normal for them to be wet, but I don't know where to start troubleshooting.

Is there some kind of tube, like the sunroof drain lines, that can get clogged? The car sat for a long time before I owned it...perhaps something got clogged with debris?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[shogun]

at the front and at the end for draining the water out from the door which comes down thru the slots between rubber and window. (This is what I know from my E32, but I guess it will be the same.)
Under the door there are these mud flaps/sills, just where they end there are these holes. This water also runs into these flaps and corrosion starts. Here is a pic from my car where I just started to repair the corrosion.

[Kalevera]

Shogun -

I checked all of that stuff but still can't explain it. Maybe the seals are deceiving me

My car is from the south and has no rust -- the lower door sill plastic mouldings are in fine condition. The weird thing is, they don't seem to be wet, while these other areas ARE -- the water (actually, ICE - it's ~25 degrees here so it all froze) seems to end up on the metal door sill, closer to the seat than to the outside. I'm thinking that there must be some seal that just isn't making contact anymore, and I can't see.

I may have to do the bucket of water test.

Best, Whit

[GAGE308]

Ive Noticed that as well...MINE were BAD...and then BADLY repaired even before I got to it...It seemed the "L" shaped panel was the most of my concern...SO...I Removed them..made a Template out of the bad wood...Bought some leather....replaced them...using a Hi strength 3-M adhesive...My WHOLE door panels were Tan...SO I thought I would Mix some Black in there(since there is SOME other Black in the interior I thought the contrast would do it good...SO...It Looks GREAT...I have ALSO replaced the Leather around the shifter,,,,with BLACK,,,sems to have REALLY made a difference....I WILL say..it wasnt a SUPER EASY Job...making the templates was the hardest...a little trial and error and then Boom...came out great...I'll see if I can find my disk of before and after pics...IF you are interested.
Don

[GAGE308]

Oh...LOL...To ANSWER your question...I think My damage was from windows being left open....since I havce Owned the car...Ive detected NO Moisture at all in the ppanels