Sunroof Drain Clog - Flood

I too was frustrated as the boot got flooded in my 545i Touring (E61). It is the left back tube that comes of at the top. Twice it has been refitted. Now I have drilled a hole in the boot at the lowest point, so water can drain out. Not very pretty or advanced but cheaper than paying for fried electronics. I now have to avoid driving in ponds - I will have to live with that. Any other risk ?
All the best
Kenneth

Finally happened to my '06 530xi wagon...flooded tire well and fried the electronic compartment after I parked on my driveway during a recent rain storm. In short, BMW manufacturer, public relations (resolution unit) and the SF BMW dealership - all rejected my claim and denied any liability on leak damages due to "external factors". I'm stuck now since I don't have auto comprehensive insurance coverage. Much needed help and advice from anyone, please??? My car is still with the dealership and they said the repair estimate would cost around outrageously $15K. Thanks, Wallace from SF/Ca

Dan, hope your wagon is doing well now. However, mine (same type of wagon) isn't. Please see my new tread posted today (12/10/12). Any suggestion and/or your professional advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks, Wallace

$15K? That's almost what the car is worth. I feel your pain...

May be you can source the parts yourself, replace them, and have BMW reprogram everything. That's the only option I can see...

$15K is easy to hit when you are talking about a wiring harness, sensors and modules, programming, carpet and padding... now add the labor. I was at $14k+ the first time and insurance didnt total the car... at that time they were looking for 80% of the total value... funny since I only paid $17k for the car when i bought it! I couldnt imagine not having comprehensive like wallace06wagon though... these cars are way to expensive, and having gone through this twice, its way to much of a risk for a few bucks more monthly on insurance.

Wallace, Ouch! Sorry to hear it's so expensive. Do you have homeowners insurance? Since it happened in your driveway you may be able to file a claim there. By the way, when this happened to me, the damage was only $4k I think, though BMW picked it up. Do you have another dealer nearby you can take it to for a second opinion?

Is this video from someone here? My apologies if that isn't an E60, I can't make out what model it is.

Looks like an E90 touring.

Hi Folks. Just had a similar water problem after heavy rains from hurricane Sandy. I have an '04 530i. Water leaked into the trunk and fried the PWP power module; took out the radio and no heads up display. After two trips to the dealer they finally found all four sun roof drains clogged. They had to take off the rear tires for access to blow air up the drain hoses to clear them. The module and radio were replaced, roof liner cleaned and an ozone generator was used to partially eliminate the odor of burned plastic caused by the fried module. Only $3700 but covered under insurance as wind damage from hurricane Sandy. Lesson learned - keep the drains clear.

Just wondering if/how this damage happens if your sunroof is closed?

I am not sure if its been mentioned here or not, but how can I check if they are clogged or not. The temp is now way below the freezing point so I am not worried about water damage but its a good idea to check before the spring.

Originally Posted by 7amadabmw

I am not sure if its been mentioned here or not, but how can I check if they are clogged or not. The temp is now way below the freezing point so I am not worried about water damage but its a good idea to check before the spring.

Yes, it's mentioned many times: park car with nose down and pour water in front vents and see if they drain and then vice versa for rear vents. Recommend you wait until it's above freezing...

The sunroof was closed. Dealer indicated the sunroof is not water tight necessitating drains to guide the water away from the seal? On the first trip to the dealer, they said the water was coming in from a plastic rivit on each side along the top edges of the trunk lip. This explaination seemed strange but I thought BMW should know about these issues. Their explaination didn't explain the water stains on the LR passenger headliner.

Originally Posted by grimloktt

Yes, it's mentioned many times: park car with nose down and pour water in front vents and see if they drain and then vice versa for rear vents. Recommend you wait until it's above freezing...

Thanks. Will check it out once the weather warms up.

Only pour water in the OUTSIDE drain channels...

Originally Posted by Phoenix1

Only pour water in the OUTSIDE drain channels...

You mean the outside ones that lead to the trunk, right beside the sunroof?

Yes, but there are channels - both inside and outside. The outside channels are meant to drain the sunroof to both front and rear R/L drains. You can pour water in the inside channel, but it will drain INSIDE the car by the footwells - a mistake I made ONCE (Lol)

Originally Posted by Phoenix1

Yes, but there are channels - both inside and outside. The outside channels are meant to drain the sunroof to both front and rear R/L drains. You can pour water in the inside channel, but it will drain INSIDE the car by the footwells - a mistake I made ONCE (Lol)

Cool, good to know. I wish there was a drawing the showed all these channels

Originally Posted by wallace06wagon

Finally happened to my '06 530xi wagon...flooded tire well and fried the electronic compartment after I parked on my driveway during a recent rain storm. In short, BMW manufacturer, public relations (resolution unit) and the SF BMW dealership - all rejected my claim and denied any liability on leak damages due to "external factors". I'm stuck now since I don't have auto comprehensive insurance coverage. Much needed help and advice from anyone, please??? My car is still with the dealership and they said the repair estimate would cost around outrageously $15K. Thanks, Wallace from SF/Ca

Get your yourself an attorney. One with big cajones. You may want to find one that specializes in class action lawsuits, and he/she drives a Mercedes or Lexus.

I had flooding and ultimately it dissolved much of the wiring below the passenger seat, causing major electrical problems.

Morristown BMW originally diagnosed it as doorside vapor barrier, which they fixed for a hefty price.

I was parking my car outside constantly, so more flooding occured. Morristown BMW suggested I replace vapor barrier on other door and other electrical repair (quoted $2,500)

Denson automotive replaced the door side vapor barrier, eventually diagnosed the sunroof draining problem, replaced some wires below the passenger seat, and tuned up the car for $1,300.

Bottom line, flooding in the 530i is relatively common Morristown BMW (probably other dealers) will charge you and arm and a leg to replace items in your car, but don't have the ability to diagnose problems.

Many times, the problem is just a drain that you can fix yourself.

Originally Posted by racooper3

Get your yourself an attorney. One with big cajones. You may want to find one that specializes in class action lawsuits, and he/she drives a Mercedes or Lexus.

Take a look at this attorney

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vince_Megna

I was thinking about selling my 3 series wagon and get a 5 series wagon. Just not sure what I would get into maintenance wise . So far from searching forum I may just stick with the 3 for now.

Originally Posted by White05X3

A friend has a 530xi wagon. Apparently his sunroof drains got clogged and flooded his electronic compartment, causing a malfunction. Has anybody else experienced this? I have done a search and come up empty.

Thanks!

my car is in an independent shop since BMW dealer never takes an ownership of this design flaw!they have fixed this problem before and never brought a long term solution.
Furthermore they want more of my money......

Hello All,

We have just acquired an '09 528 for my wife and an '09 535Xi (wagon) for me. After reading about the sunroof drain issue (and having had similar issues on both of our previous E39s), I attempted to test the drains on both of our cars yesterday. Either they are both fine, or they both have problems in all four corners... Basically, I poured water in the outside tracks while having the cars on an incline (I did both directions). The water disappears quickly and seems to drain out in the door jambs in front of the front doors, and from an unknown place right behind the rear wheels. In both cases, the water seems to just "come out of the body" somewhere. Are these the correct locations for the water to drain, or do I need to look into this further?

Thanks!

\ Henrik

Originally Posted by Nafiz Korustan

my car is in an independent shop since BMW dealer never takes an ownership of this design flaw!they have fixed this problem before and never brought a long term solution.
Furthermore they want more of my money......

My indy fixed the problem except for the airbag warning light.

He doesn't want to touch that problem.