Driver's carpet SOAKED!!

[jht3]

friday morning i found a couple of inches of water in my drivers floorboard, mostly by the gas pedal

needless to say, i was not happy. i've been dealing with water getting into the car on that side after strong thunderstorms for a while now but never that much. i parked it at 2am and was back in it at 8am. sometime during that window, it rained hard. i'm pretty sure i closed the door all the way, but i'd just worked 16 hours on 5 hours of sleep so things are a bit blurry. for that much water to get in there, i think it must be worse than just a small trickle

as part of my attack on the water ingress, a few weeks ago i secured the door dust shield to the door using lots of duct tape, sealing up any gaps or places it wasn't sticking anymore. i also snaked out the door drains. i tested my handiwork with a hose, and was satisfied. since the water was by the as pedal, i'm thinking i have an issue somewhere else now

where else should i look? most of the threads on here deal w/ the pass side

i've already removed my seat and pulled the carpet back as best i can, and i'm probably going to yank the whole carpet out

[Magnus]

Bro, have you searched? We get this very same condition every 1.5 months.

http://www.s14.net/forums/search.php?searchid=56777

http://www.s14.net/forums/search.php?searchid=56780

[jht3]

well those search links don't work. and yes, of course i searched. look at my post count, i'm not exactly new here

nearly every existing thread deals with heater cores and elephant drains, neither which apply here. there was one applicable thread, but the pics no longer work and they were the meat of the thread

is there a cowl drain on the drivers side i've overlooked? are there sunroof drains on the front (i know about the rear ones)? something else? the water seems to pool up worse right by the gas pedal

[Magnus]

i'm not exactly new here

No-doy-aina.

Near your pedals? Break-out the flash light and see if the water
is entering from the firewall area above the pedals. There's a large
rubber grommet areawhere the wires pass through to the fusebox.
Check to see if that has popped-out/failed.
Also, The water may be entering through your windshield?

[///Mflossin]

that much water...I'd guess windshield.

[jht3]

windshield was replaced 4 years ago by the previous owner. i've seen no issues with it though. where should i be looking?

carpet is starting to dry out now that i pulled it up and have been toweling up the excess and squeezing it from the padding. what a huge pain this is

[UK215M3]

i'd say a big rusty hole in the bulkhead.

[///Mflossin]

windshield was replaced 4 years ago by the previous owner. i've seen no issues with it though. where should i be looking?

carpet is starting to dry out now that i pulled it up and have been toweling up the excess and squeezing it from the padding. what a huge pain this is

If the windshield was replaced 4 years ago without incident up to this point that is a little bit different. You'd likely have seen something by now but I guess the best/only way to see if there are real issues is to remove the dash. That is a painful thing to do but it may be your best shot. I, personally, have never had sunroof drains clogged but there is also a possibility that they could be.

[evostorm]

Have a look here. Hope this may be of help. You may not need to get the welder out quite yet;

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=61649&highlight=

[Marco]

Hi all,

Despite browsing this great forum for years, only just signed in!

JHT3, I had a similar problem, checked everything even had front screen removed and replaced. Finally found problem was in the drainage channel in the scuttle - the seam was letting in water which soaked the sound proofing in the engine bay which rusted through the fire wall and dribbled water down into the pedal area!

You'll need to push a screwdriver along, as the seam looked perfect on mine, or take out carpet and some soundproofing to find the leak above the pedals.

Good luck

[Magnus]

It could be the window seal isn't on properly.

Break-out the hose and try and recreate the issue on a much smaller scale.

[Stan10]

I'm in a similar situation right now and I'm having a hell of a time locating exactly where the water is getting in. I've narrowed it down to water getting in from below the scuttle panel by simply using a watering can and pouring water in different areas that might leak and checking inside after removing the center console pieces.

In my case it looks like water is somehow getting in around the heater core..still haven't quite solved it :(

[Marco]

Stan10,
If you are pouring water in through the scuttle vent by the windscreen wipers and water is getting in, then this may be getting into the vehicle via the heater area, however if it is draining OK, then this shouldn't happen and I would refer you to my earlier post.
Took me months to find the leak and my car is stripped out inside for track work!

[njboy]

I have major leaking problems too. My car has leaks in the trunk and on both driver and passenger sides. I've never owned a car that leaks as much as this M3 (what up BMW?). Frustrating to say the least. I have searched but many of the links/threads really don't encapsulate all the M3 leaking problems which I would think would be identified in one thread by now. If I get all my problems solved I'll post all my findings for others to use.

[Marco]

NJboy,
Yep, e30 m3's can be like sieves!
Problem areas are:-
Sunroof (draining holes blocking)
Windscreen (not bonded properly, corrosion where bonded)
Rusty scuttle/firewall
Elephant trunk blocked (not allowing scuttle area to drain - water may come in via heater matrix area)
Leaking rear window area (wet rear footwells)
Leaking rear lights ( wet boot/trunk)

Sure someone can add some new ones, but this should get you started.
By the way, the carpet is very thick and foam backed, so stays wet for ages unless taken out of the car.