320i 1995 Convertible leaking issues -advise pleas

[marc-james]

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Hi I dont know if any of you people have had problems with Water ingress into BMW e36 convertibles....

first of all last year i had a leak in the passengers corner fomr the seals -so i got a specialist to the job -he replaced all the seals ..... and still no joy -leaks still ... so i basically wasted 250 quid on selas going round the front and side rims of the hood i dint need...... I DID RESOLVE THIS PROBLEM BY SPRAYING THE HOOD WITH FABRICIL which you can get fomr HALFORDS FOR £3.

but now I have another problem.... I have alsways notcied a bit of water ingress into the boot -but now to my horror witht the bad rain recently i notice the boot is soaked and the passengers foot tray is wet....
again to my shock and horor this lunch time i removed the loveley leather seats to realsie they are soaked and about half a pint od water was resting under them -i imagine this water is sliping in from the boot -possibly and then running down the seat into drivers tray? -im not sure though -it could be from the hood storage section where it all comes from -i notice that gets full of water when it rains ?

I dont want to go back to this specialist and get another job done i dont need. Also is this water ingeress going to damage or rot my car?

Any ideas would be great!


To the chappy whos looking to buy a convertible look for these main things....

-NOISE FROM VANOS UNIT ? -NOSIY VANOS UNIT OR TIMR CHAIN?

-Spray hood for leaks -these can be expensive jsut to investigate -and its usually trial and eror costing you £ -I GOT A PROBLEM HERE MYSELF >>> HELP!!!

-WATER PUMP IS ANOTHER ISSUE

the engines are solid in bms and its a great car!

[Furious]

where is the leak this time? same place? sometimes around the windows they leak, i saw my mechanic fix this on a 328ci and it looked pretty easy, something to do with the window not aligning properly all the time, but once you open the door and then close it, it appears to be all ok, check that first, secondly im gonna state the obvious and ask if you notice any holes in the top (even the smallest, may not be able to pick it up with your eye) lastly check the seal around the top of the windshield, that could stillbe the problem or the problem again.

[marc-james]

thanks for responding furious..

the windows hood seem sgenerally fine i think....

but this problem seems to be water coming from wither the boot or the compartment where the hood is stored when the roof is down.

i opened the roof compartment today half way (even though it was raining) and noticed water had got into there -but i dont know if that is expected -or should ibe water tight

also the boot is soked even to back the back of the boot(which is where the seats would be resting against) and also even the tray in the lid where the tools are kept?

WEIRD! cant figure it out...

[Furious]

ah the boot (trunk) i bet your getting water through the storage compartment or the trunk run-off, check the seal on the trunk (rear part) see if there are any rips

[marc-james]

yeah thats what weird the rubber seal around the trunk (or boot as we use here in the u.k) seems fine..... but water must be getting in fomr there somewoew as the tools kit is always soaked....

i think eqully water is getting into the hood storage compartment as it was lik e aswimming pool in there earlier -but i think there is vents where this water can escape to outside the car...

thanks anywya for your help.....
what do you drive?