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Water ingress e89

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Montymillar
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Water ingress e89

Post by Montymillar » Sat Apr 22, 2017 10:17 am

I have noticed that areas of my boot are often wet. The left hand side small plastic liner well and the tool pouch that sits in a foam housing.
When Sytner Romford replaced the right side rear lamp under warranty I looked at this further and found that under the boot liner panel the foam cradle that houses the roof motor and pump was afloat. There was around 25mm of water in the boot (3litres?). There does not appear to be a drain but there is a grommet under the car that i pushed out and the water drained.
The thing about this that has annoyed me is the having had to replace the motor and pump on my earlier e85 you would have thought BMW had learned something about protecting the motor and hydraulics on the e89. Water ingress is an inevitability at some point in the cars life so to sit the roof motor/pump in a foam cradle that absorbs water (think sponge) is a poor design.
My solution was to replace the foam £17.60 from BMW. Got a piece of 1.5mm butyl rubber sheet 700mm x 500mm (very flexible) and laid this in the metal well. I then laid the foam cradle in the foam sheet allowing the edges/flaps of the butyl liner to rise upward forming a water proof case to the foam. You can do all of this by simply holding the pump/motor clear in the palm if your hand while you use the other hand to manoeuvre the parts into place. I finally wrapped the edges away from the contour of the boot well and taped the liner with gorilla tape.
I may, or may not, have any further leaks but if I do
1. The water will run out of the boot via the grommet I removed.
2. The pump/motor will keep clear of water separated by the butyl liner wrapping.
The whole job took me 30 minutes and cost £6 plus £17.60 for the foam cradle. I replaced the cradle because I didn't want to wait for the old one to dry.
I'm confident that this will prolong the life of the pump/motor.
[email protected] if you want more info/pictures.
Last edited by Montymillar on Sat Apr 22, 2017 3:51 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Water ingress e89

Post by Maniac » Sat Apr 22, 2017 11:47 am

I admire your have a go attitude. So there should a thread on here already about this. Leaving the pump sump with the grommet out might under spray conditions allow water in as well as out maybe? Also isn't the pump raised up on a stand in case of water ingress? Mine is. It's better to resolve the leak, which is either the recall on vents wasn't done, there's a leak around the lamp seals or around the boot edge seal. I and others have made a number of suggestions in the other thread that you might want to read as it's helped solve this issue for others.

We do agree however that to sink a device that could suffer due to water ingress clearly hasn't been learned from.

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Montymillar
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Water ingress e89

Post by Montymillar » Sat Apr 22, 2017 12:19 pm

The grommet hole is partially shielded by a steel pressing around the diff housing. I'm a retired design engineer and assessed all if this and don't believe water will get In. It will also allow the boot to breath. I may just put a felt pad between the hole and the pressing.
I believe stopping water from getting in is first but seals will deteriorate. Years ago I was involved with tractor design and Hella. We as Ford would insist they add a drain hole to the lamp body because things that are designed to be sealed will eventually leak. It was a good design policy.
I have had both rear lamps replaced in the last 12 months by BMW and hoping the water ingress is fixed for the moment.
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Water ingress e89

Post by cmp999 » Sun Apr 23, 2017 7:11 pm

Hi Montymillar, I had my 2011 Z4 in the dealership 3 times to try and solve the water in the boot problem. I had my rear lamps and seals replaced, then they removed the rear bumper and replaced some vents and the 3rd time they said that sealer was missing around a chassis leg and this was allowing water into the boot. The problem now seems to have stopped :thumbsup: water did not enter when the car was parked in the rain, it entered when I drove in the rain or on wet roads, this is why the dealership struggled to find the leak when doing a wet test.

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Montymillar
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Water ingress e89

Post by Montymillar » Tue Apr 25, 2017 5:14 pm

Thanks for the info. I will try to establish where the water is coming in now I have protected the pump and motor. Both my rear lamps and seals have been replaced due to LED failures.
I'm hoping the lamp was also the source of water ingress. Time will tell.
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Water ingress e89

Post by Smartbear » Tue Apr 25, 2017 5:37 pm

Montymillar wrote: Tue Apr 25, 2017 5:14 pm Thanks for the info. I will try to establish where the water is coming in now I have protected the pump and motor. Both my rear lamps and seals have been replaced due to LED failures.
I'm hoping the lamp was also the source of water ingress. Time will tell.

Hi, the seals on the back of the rear lamps are particularly fiddly to install correctly & leaks will still occur if the fitter hasn't been meticulous installing them, dietcokeman posted about these with some pics pointing out the correct way to fit them :thumbsup:
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Water ingress e89

Post by Andy Waine » Tue Apr 25, 2017 7:32 pm

If you have had new lights fitted either by yourself or by BMW, there was a redesign in 2012 and it is likely the new version will have been fitted. There is a difference between the originals, 2009 through 2012, in that BMW removed the third bolt that holds the light in place. On earlier E89s there is a hole in the bodywork for the third bolt to go into; this needs to be grommetted and covered in silicone. It is the third hole where the water gets in as the water drops down from above and through the vacant third hole and into the boot. I have replaced both rear lenses as the originals got water in them. This then led to a boot full of water as the OP suggests. I can't recall any suggestions on this forum of post 2012 cars having water ingress. Since I did this repair 12 months ago, not a drop of water has got in and I regularly check, just in case. Hope this helps.
Andy. :)
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Water ingress e89

Post by Watson » Sun Feb 07, 2021 5:03 pm

Sorry to drag up an old thread but you only tend to read them when you have an issue
Having owned a E85 I was aware of issues with roof motors but thought the E89’s was in a safe position , how wrong could I be
Just discovered 3 inches of water in battery/ roof motor void in boot
Looks like I got there just in time the roof motor had started to rust thanks to being sat in wet foam

I have sanded it down and hammerited the casing just need to order a new foam housing now and remove the grommet
It is worth a quick check to ensure your roof motor is dry
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Water ingress e89

Post by maxman » Sun Feb 07, 2021 6:56 pm

Timely reminder to check the out of sight area in the boot :thumbsup:

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Water ingress e89

Post by ric19 » Sun Feb 07, 2021 9:06 pm

I bought one of the foam cradles direct from BMW yesterday for £21 .. there were 2 more in the country so if you want one be quick

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Water ingress e89

Post by ric19 » Sun Feb 07, 2021 9:08 pm

QQ how do you get the grommet in the boot out, do you remove the battery ?

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Water ingress e89

Post by Pondrew » Sun Feb 07, 2021 9:18 pm

maxman wrote: Sun Feb 07, 2021 6:56 pm Timely reminder to check the out of sight area in the boot :thumbsup:
Honestly, this place is making me paranoid.
I had to go and check mine! I braved the howling gale, -20 wind chill and swirling snow and looked with the aid of a head torch (the boot light has to be the most pathetic thing I've seen on any car ever. BMW didn't exactly go overboard with that little convenience).

Dry as a bone thank f*ck. One less job to do at least. BTW sorry to anyone who has water ingress but "I'm alright Jack". :o
All good things come to those who wait. I'm really impatient which explains a lot.

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Water ingress e89

Post by Smartbear » Sun Feb 07, 2021 9:32 pm

Pondrew wrote: Sun Feb 07, 2021 9:18 pm
maxman wrote: Sun Feb 07, 2021 6:56 pm Timely reminder to check the out of sight area in the boot :thumbsup:
Honestly, this place is making me paranoid.
I had to go and check mine! I braved the howling gale, -20 wind chill and swirling snow and looked with the aid of a head torch (the boot light has to be the most pathetic thing I've seen on any car ever. BMW didn't exactly go overboard with that little convenience).

Dry as a bone thank f*ck. One less job to do at least. BTW sorry to anyone who has water ingress but "I'm alright Jack". :o
You can add an led strip to improve the boot lighting :thumbsup:
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Water ingress e89

Post by Pondrew » Sun Feb 07, 2021 9:40 pm

[/quote]You can add an led strip to improve the boot lighting :thumbsup: [/quote]

That's a very good idea. As it happens I have 5 metres of 12v dc led strip left over from illuminating my recently installed wardrobes. I think I will wait until the weather warms up a bit though! :)
All good things come to those who wait. I'm really impatient which explains a lot.

F31 320i. Good car.
E89 20i Now fully dried
Z3 'free litre'. Project and a half. Complicated!
Mazda3 sold
Tatty old R56 Mini Cooper. Money pit!

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Water ingress e89

Post by Watson » Sun Feb 07, 2021 10:04 pm

ric19 wrote: Sun Feb 07, 2021 9:08 pm QQ how do you get the grommet in the boot out, do you remove the battery ?
As far as I am aware it’s from underneath behind the diff protector , not found it yet but is reachable apparently?
Gave up for today will have another go tomorrow

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