Strange water leak on back seat floor

Hi,
water has appeared a few times on the back pass side floor. Not a window or roof leak. Someone has mentioned it could be a heater coil? Any suggestions? I've got a 2001 525i.

Thanks!
Mariko

Common E39 issue. Lot's of threads on the subject...Search is your friend. Here's one:

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=164891

Vapor barrier seal leak. Been there, done that. Go to the dealer and buy a roll of the the 3M rubber sealer tape/rubber gummy stuff.

Now, here is the easiest way to fix this. First, spray the door, window and seals and get everything wet with your garden hose. Open and check the door jam, there should be some water in there, that is good, now you can trace the source. Remove the door panel, and rather than remove and completely reseal the vapor barrier, simply look around and find the places where it is leaking, you may need a drop light or flashlight to see clearly. Then, when you find a leak, tear a long peice of the tape (at least two or three inches longer than the area affected, and work it into the seam/seal and squish it down under the foam vapor barrier real good. Use your thumbs to press hard and smooth it out. Do this everywhere you see water or wetness. While you are at it, wet and inspect your other doors, you will probably find them leaking, though not enough to cause water on your floor, but if there is water at the bottom of the door jam, that is bad! Fix it. The dealer would completely remove the vapor barrier and reseal, and they were not 100% sucessful, but I did my "patching" method and had better sucess.

Good luck.

Originally Posted by 540 M-Sport

Vapor barrier seal leak. Been there, done that. Go to the dealer and buy a roll of the the 3M rubber sealer tape/rubber gummy stuff.

Good luck.

Darn..! I ripped the whole barrier off and having a tuff time glueing this thing back on. I called the dealer and they said the glue comes as part of the new part. My barrier is s till good. I tried black silicon and it just aint sticking for me.

A great thread here. Pictures and instructions in page 4.

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e39...d-water-4.html

Originally Posted by x13alle12x

Darn..! I ripped the whole barrier off and having a tuff time glueing this thing back on. I called the dealer and they said the glue comes as part of the new part. My barrier is s till good. I tried black silicon and it just aint sticking for me.

Get the proper sticky rope 3M stuff from the dealer, and when you press it down, press hard and get every spot nailed down or it WILL leak. The rope can be bought seperately. Dealer is misinformed.

Mariko

I have the same problem, did you get yours fixed?

Just sealed mine 2 days ago, took me about 1.5 hours per door. The most difficult part was cleaning the old sealent, I've noticed that the easyest way is to use sealent to ....remove sealent.
Roll some of it into a ball and tap it along the old one.

You do not need to buy the 3M from the dealer, I found it at Kragen for $14 enough for both doors.

I am having the same preoblem your guys are having, and the issue i am trying to solve is that i have water accumulated under the carpet on the rear floors. I removed the rear floor mats and there seems to be a lot of water accumulated under the carpet. I press on the floor and wate comes out of the hole in the carpet. How do you remove the water? I really dont want to drill the bottom of the car!!!! I guess I could remove the carpet but that seems like a lot of pain. I noticed underneath the car there are two plugs right under where the water is accumulated. I wonder if I can pull this plug and the water will come out. Anyone had this problem?
thanks

I have not heard about draining through these plugs. One thing is clear; you need to reseal the vapor barrier in the rear doors. i used towels and pressed them into the floor; left the windows open for a couple days too. also a wet vac works wells on puddles.

I had the same problem a few months ago. It is easy to get underneath the carpet. You have to remove rear seat and remove the bolt on each side to take out the panels holding the carpet.

I put some large object underneath the carpet and let a fan blow air directly underneath to completely dry out the carpet (especially the noise insulation foam that soaks up a lot of water). I got a suggestion from one of the forum member to put baking soda underneath the carpet after it is dry to remove any odor or avoid mildew.

One of members posted this http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...7&postcount=10

I had the same issues in my car. I tried the black goo, but it was black goo and it has a horrid brith defects warning on it. My wife, who was pregnant at the time, drives teh car most of the time. I had to find an alternative. I went and bought a tube of GE pure silicone calking. Superrior in every to the black goo because it remains soft after it drys. Did both Vapor barriers and i havent had a problem since. I live in Seattle/Tacom area where it rains all the damn time. Not a drop has leaked in the car. I would advise GE Silicone instead of BMW or Autozone Black Goo. Its cheaper too.

Has anyone ever tried LePage's Acousti-Seal vapor barrier product? It's supposed to never skin over. Pretty messy to work with lol.

- rear vapor barrier seals that allow rain water to fill the rear footwell (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

Easy fix. Go to autozone and buy BLACK window silicone. But the whole tube for the caulking gun. Remove interior door panels and seal up the gray/black weather shield. You will see where the adhesive let go. Very easy fix

Here's how one guy fixed the problem: