Street Flooding

[mcasemo]

My 1995 325is was parked on the street this morning in New Orleans while the street flooded. It got about 13" deep on the passenger side, , which was the deepest side due to the slope in the street. The muffler (driver side) was not under water when I got to it.

Starter works fine, and it tries to start, but dies after ~20 seconds. I'm towing it to get looked at (and have insurance), but just wondering what type of damage I may be looking at. Water line shown in picture.

[atanakin]

insurance company might total it. make sure you buy it back if they do.

[Starmavin]

The exhaust is most likely full of water and is just making it hard to start even though it wasn't under water it can still get in. Turning it in to the insurance company might have been a mistake, depending on what they do, your car might get "flood title" making it hard to sell... And that sucks considering flooding like that is very trivial.

[mcasemo]

damn, damn. I tried to get it to my regular, honest, mechanic, but he was not answering (maybe flooded as well), and we are heading out of town for christmas, and I had to try to get it taken care of and off the street. called the local dealer and my insurance agent, but it's still out in front of my house because every tow truck in the metro area was taking care of the other stranded folks.

Should I try cranking it in the morning and working the water out of the exhaust? Try to cancel the claim and wait a few days? Will that hurt?

Thanks!

[Starmavin]

It won't hurt it, water at that level isn't near anything critical. Just make sure your battery is fully charged, e36s don't like to start on a low battery after sitting for a while.

[BeachBunny]

Originally Posted by atanakin

insurance company might total it. make sure you buy it back if they do.

That's... um... not good advice.

Mcasemo, I would cancel the claim until you have a number from your mechanic.