Potential water damage - BMW Forum

vitorago · 10-14-2005, 02:00 PM

Five days ago we had torrential rains and as I drove over a very large and pretty deep accumulation of water my car stopped right in the water. Luckly some kids pushed me out of the water and no water came into the car. After a few minutes the car would not start and so I had it towed to my home. Some friends suggested that if I let it dry it should start. However since the problem happened we have not had a dry day yet. Finally today I moved the car in the garage where hopefully it can dry up. Right now the engine turns but it will not start. All the lights and controls in the car light up and everything seems to function except for the car not starting.

Any ideas/suggestions as to what may be the problem? tHas anyone had a similar experience? The car is a 530 2001.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

dyami · 10-14-2005, 03:31 PM

sounds like you flooded the engine. i would just let it sit in the garage for a few days and see what happens. hopfully there is no internal damage

sp0rky · 10-15-2005, 01:10 PM

If the car stopped - water got into the engine and locked it temporarily.
Usually this is one of the worse things that can happen to an engine and often requires engine replacement.

I can't tell how much water got in there, but if it was a good amount, I'd drain all of the oil and replace with fresh, pull the plugs, dry them off and crank with the plugs out to get anything that is in there out, etc.
My feeling, though - is that it still won't fire up - I can't say for sure, but I think it's something bigger than that.

vitorago · 10-15-2005, 01:48 PM

Quick update... today I tried starting the car and it did more than turning as it was doing yesterday... it almost started a few times... is this a good sign?

vitorago · 10-15-2005, 02:02 PM

I also checked the oil and it seems to be clean... no water droplets in it.

vitorago · 10-16-2005, 01:05 PM

I guess this time I got lucky.... this morning anfter a nice boost to the battery and after some initial hesitation, the car started and now it is running fine.

Thanks for the help.

dunkel · 10-16-2005, 06:24 PM

While these cars are not designed to be off road machines, most modern cars are able to survive a water puddle. As you found out, usually, you just need to wait for the water to clear out and you're good to go. But, as sporky said, it can sometimes be very, very bad. Glad yours didn't fall into that category.