X3 Water Leak Passenger Side

[walovej]

I have a 2004 X3 2.5 that I purchased in September. I had a water leak coming from a crimped gasket in the sun roof (or somewhere) that was backing up with water and causing it to leak inside the car, down the passenger support beam. The dealership supposedly found the crimped gasket and fixed it. I thought that was the case, until yesterday that is. I had a ton of water gushing in. After numerous calls to local dealers and one to BMW of North America to file a complaint, I dropped the car off to see if they can fix it this time. Anyone had similar problems? If so, what was done to correct it?

[ChadEbert]

That's one problem we haven't had with ours. We went thru a miriad of issues for the first few months of ownership and after several run arounds from the dealer, I sent a three page letter to the service manager of the dealer and was treated like a king and they finally corrected everything I'd been attempting to have fixed.

Sorry you're going thru this, keep me posted and let me know if BMW cooperates. I'm curious to know the outcome.

Good luck!
~C

[walovej]

My X3 is still in the shop for the water leak on the passenger side. The problem has been isolated to the sunroof drainage tube but the shop is on hold for the repair until the engineers in Germany find a solution. I'm probably not going to get the car back until next week. I have an X3 loaner car though so I'm really not sweating things too much, I'm just hoping it gets fixed and fixed right this time so I don't have to deal with this anymore. Apparently this is a fairly widespread problem with the X3 so keep an eye out.

[BMW_4.4i]

Originally Posted by walovej

Apparently this is a fairly widespread problem with the X3 so keep an eye out.

I have not heard of this problem until just now. I too have an X3 with the nice (very large) sunroof and have never had a problem. Infact, the vehicle has been problem free for the 5000 miles I have on it. I do wish you the best of luck with yours and I am glad they gave you a loaner X3. Please post a conculsion if you could - I too would be interested in hearing the outcome.

[bimmerdave]

I have a 2005 X3 with panarama roof that has been almost fixed once. There was a puddle of water behind my passenger seat. I took it to local BMW dealer and they said they had to order a new sunroof part and install. I got the car back nearly 2 weeks later and not only was the puddle still behind the passenger seat but there is now a leak on the headliner near the tailgate on the driver side. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrghhhhhhh . . . . anyone else had any issues with this recently?

[HikinTech]

BMW knows about this problem, and the new sunroof cassette should have fixed the issue. Which leads me to believe that it was not installed properly. I am assuming that you X3 is back at the dealership. Good Luck, let me know how it goes.

[Mike99PA]

My 2004 X3 has been leaking since 05/07 when BMW replaced the door seals. Now ever every time a heavy rain comes my SAV becomes a water vessel. First it was the drivers side front window. Next the passenger rear. Then again the drivers front with the rear floor as well. Now the passenger front has leaked and in each case BMW replaces the vapor door barrier seals and sends me on my way. Not to mention the excessive water in the cabin of my car over the year. I know alot of electrical wireing in the passenger area of the car in addition to the sub- woofers under both front seats may be damaged as well. What to do? I did contact BMW Customer Relations to see what happens next! And my warrenty will soon expire this Friday!!!!

Not So Happy With My BMW Now!

[Lindzybird]

I just brought my 2006 X3 to my BMW dealer for the saturated passenger floor, both front and back. They told me that they can't find anything wrong and are now making me nervous about having a car with water damage. Do I really have to be concerned with the mold and smell? Will this be a problem when I go to sell it? Any feedback?

[Lindzybird]

Originally Posted by HikinTech

BMW knows about this problem, and the new sunroof cassette should have fixed the issue. Which leads me to believe that it was not installed properly. I am assuming that you X3 is back at the dealership. Good Luck, let me know how it goes.

My dealer doesn't seem that aware of this. Is there anything official I can cite?

[Moppie]

Originally Posted by Lindzybird

I just brought my 2006 X3 to my BMW dealer for the saturated passenger floor, both front and back. They told me that they can't find anything wrong and are now making me nervous about having a car with water damage. Do I really have to be concerned with the mold and smell? Will this be a problem when I go to sell it? Any feedback?

If you dry it out properly you won't have any problems.
I had an old prelude that had a blocked drain in the sunroof, and flooded the car.

After taking all the carpet out, and drying it properly, I never had any odour problems.

Hope BMW can fix it this time though.

[JustJay]

Background:

I have a 2004 X3 with 70k miles on it (although this fix will work on any leaking sunroof). I purchased this vehicle new (it was a program car). My X3 never lived outside (it had always been garaged) until I started spending extended periods of time with my fiancé two years ago (my work requires only an internet connection and an airport).

Once it lived outside, the car started leaking after every heavy rain (and when I say leaking, I mean all I needed was the koi to have a once worth $50k now worthless piece of…German engineering become an upscale pond using the floor of my vehicle). It has been in the shop numerous times since. Over the last two years, I’ve spent hundreds in having BMW blow out the panoramic sunroof drains (they eventually showed me how to do it) and hundreds more in replacing the driver’s door vapor seal. Nothing has resolved the leaking. So, I put on my closet engineer hat and came up with the following workaround. My fiance is an engineer and was impressed by the effectiveness of this workaround. (Not meaning to pat myself on the back, but desperate times leads to desperate measures.)


The Fix:

First, let me say that this workaround is 100% effective. It is also very inexpensive ($150.00), but it may not be All That for everyone.

What I did was find a location that installs 3M Paint Protector film, also known as the Invisible Bra. I've used the Invisible Bra product on all of my BMW’s so I had a company called Tint King install a sheet of the 3M Paint Protector film across the top of my car. (Actually, they installed two sheets with about a 1/4” overlap at the sunroof seam due to the size of the panoramic sunroof - as well as about 4" around the edge of the sunroof, totally sealing it from the elements. See pictures below.)

The film is completely see through (you would never know it was there) so you can open the shade and get full sun. You can also see out the sunroof as if you were looking through glass alone. You cannot, however, open the sunroof, which is why this workaround may not be for everyone. But, for me, that is more than acceptable.

I was lucky enough (or unlucky enough) to have tornadoes rip through the area - along with another round of torrential rains the tornadoes brought with them - the day after my install which allowed me to test my workaround. The car interior was completely dry.

I used Tint King (in London, Ontario – I am an American who spends much time in Canada, as my finace is Canadian. Tint King did a GREAT job and the car has not leaked during any of the subsequent rains, including the one that brought the tornadoes. There are Tint King locations throughout the US and Canada (I used Google). You seriously cannot tell the film is on the top of the car. It is crystal clear. (The film is also 100% removable should you desire to remove it at a future date.)


Pics:

Sorry for the reflection of the car's interior. I snapped these with my cell phone right after installation and there's not much to see other than gray and blue sky.






Note that the remaining water from the installation has completely dissipated and the film is flat and perfectly installed. They couldn't initially squeegee out that bit of water due to the lip around the sunroof.



An Unconcerned BMW of North America:

When I called BMW of North America to ask them to help me out with drying the underside of the mats (IOW pay the labor to pull up the mats and dry the vehicle once and for all), they told me tough luck. I need to eat my German engineered crap sandwich and enjoy it. The cost for BMW to dry out the flooring under the mats is more than $600 which is all labor.

I was told that BMW is completely unaware of any leakage problem in their vehicles and it was my responsibility alone if I wanted to dry out the cabin floor. I tried to get some pages of a manual to show how to pull up the carpets so I could do it myself and was told to check YouTube (I couldn’t find one that applied…if anyone has some help/instructions for pulling up the front cabin carpeting it would be greatly appreciated.) I was told that there were no design problems causing leakage and too bad for me.

I told her I was a three time BMW owner (new 2001 X5, new 2004 X3, used 1999 318ti) and was looking to get a new car in the upcoming months and that I had a hard time justifying buying another BMW when I didn’t feel that they were standing behind their product in what is obviously, reading all the BMW boards, a design flaw. Enjoy my turd sandwich was the only response.

Additional Information:

A couple of other things; the installed carpets show no sign of mold (something I won’t know fully until I can lift those carpets up). The BMW floor mats molded badly. Once I removed them, the smell immediately went away. I will not be replacing the BMW mats. I am going to solely replace my ancient WeatherTech rubber mats.

As an added bonus, the cabin is much quieter now that the 3M Paint Protector film is across the top of my car. It used to have more wind noise than I would like with the shade fully open. No more.

Lastly, my vehicle is older (though I am the only owner) so I probably have little leg to stand on in a class lawsuit, but I think that owner’s experiencing this disaster with their once worth tens of thousands of dollars but now worthless pieces of…German engineering should band together to get some kind of compensation. Seriously, who is going to purchase my or your leaking BMW disaster? In my eyes, this is unacceptable for a premium brand.


Now that I no longer have the leaks, I will keep this guy until it’s time for me to get a new car and then I will probably give it away to one of my friend’s kids or donate it to a good cause.

Sorry for the length of this post.

[zeozaza]

JustJay thx for the detailed information and workaround, i love the panorama sunroof, but hate the leakage and it seems as if i have the same issue, the water killed my battery in the back and then the bluetooth, and the smell of the mold and the wetness is just horrible. So i am considering your fix!!
But lets say i change my mind, will the tint film get stuck and ruin my paintjob?

[JustJay]

Originally Posted by zeozaza

JustJay thx for the detailed information and workaround, i love the panorama sunroof, but hate the leakage and it seems as if i have the same issue, the water killed my battery in the back and then the bluetooth, and the smell of the mold and the wetness is just horrible. So i am considering your fix!!
But lets say i change my mind, will the tint film get stuck and ruin my paintjob?

Nope. It's the same stuff they use for an invisible bra (which I've had on all my BMWs to keep rocks from damaging the front end). Totally removable. And now, this much time later, it's still crystal clear and the inside is completely dry and mold free.

Crappy we have to do a workaround, but it works and its held and with barely 80k miles, I'm not wanting to replace it just yet. This allowed me to hang on to it longer.

[TempDavis]

I too have the same situation on a 2007 model.
I complained to my Mercedes loving friend today and he said a mouth full.
"You buy a BMW for PERFORMANCE NOT RELIABILITY!!!!"
Dang I thought, he is so right. These things drive like a bat out of hell and break like an old lady.
I had not thought about the film but did consider caulking the crack with black silicon and disconnecting the power switch. The dealer and a sport shop wanted $3000 to replace all the cassettes. They don't seem to want to replace individual parts. I believe this is because the labor to get all the interior out is 10 hours. If I were repairing it myself and spent that much time on it, I would put all new parts in since they are made of plastic and fiberglass crap that don't last. Just imagine spending the weekend pulling the interior out and rebuilding the roof and putting it all back together just to have another part break or the new ones break prematurely because the tracks were worn or cracked etc etc.
My car mildewed in the carpet front and back on passenger side. I treated it with a no chlorine mildew killer and it smells no better. So I checked on the carpet/pad kits for front and back. $1500. DANG! So if I do it myself it will cost about $3000 to fix this car and if I pay someone it will cost about $5000.
My wife will not even ride in it it smells so bad.
I hate BMW.
Buy a Lexus, Accura, Infinity ....