BMW x5 water in rear footwell?

ballinloughan

Hi Folks,

Anyone experienced water somehow getting into the rear footwell on a 2004 x5? The door seal looks OK at teh bottom and there is no sign of water from above ... is it possible that there is water coming up through the floor?
any help appreciated ..

Owen

The best thing to do is sit inside the car, and have someone attack the door and surroundings with a power hose. See if you can identify where the water is coming in from.

crosstownk

Anytime I've ever seen water in a footwell it usually tends to be coming from above and just gathering in the footwell. I'm not familiar with the X5 but there is a chance that this leak could be coming from under the dash and simply dropping and running back to the footwell which is probably the lowest point. Usually water flows down and leaks originating from below the floor are quite rare. It's more likely to be along the lines of the famous VW water ingress caused by a poorly refitted pollen filter housing which results in water getting in just below the windscreen and gathering in the rear passenger side footwell and sometimes making sh1t of electronics that are mounted in the front footwell.

Another possibilty is leaves/debris blocking the drains of the plenum chamber - the chamber below the windscreen but under the bonnet. Blocked sunroof drains could also be a potential culprit.

L-M

I've seen this happen in many a Range Rover from sitting on the lot. Sometimes opening the door a massive gush of water would fall out. I never actually followed it up to see a cause for it. Must be another thing besides the engine they shared :P

rebel.ranter

The e39 5 series suffers from this problem, I have a 5 series that had this problem. The cause is the inner membrane in the door has come away from the door allowing water to get in between the door & door panel. I didn't believe it myself until I re-sealed the membrane & now my problem has gone away. It requires the removal of the door panel.
Here is a youtube on how to remove the door panel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y25x6gIIgPE

Just re-seal the foam membrane joint to the door & the problem should go away.

I wager a bet that it is the same issue.

Discussion on e39 issue:
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=164891

ballinloughan

Thanks all.
Will let you know the outcome.

daithihalton

I had it in an X3 the rear windscreen washer jet is supplied from the main windscreen washer bottle the supply pipe goes from the main washer bottle in the engine bay and runs inside the car there is a connection under the carpet around the handbrake area, had to remove the seats and carpet took out about 5 liters of water, might be worth looking at !

Dazzy

I've an X5 and when I bought it there was water in the right hand side boot compartment (Petrol Tank Side). Garage fixed it and said the water was coming in through where you fill the tank.
Might be worth checking to see if the leak is coming from the boot.

DanFindy

Could be the drain pipe for the sunroof i had that problem in an A4 before, i also had the same problem in a rangerover but it had been wrapped round a pole before it passed through my hands and poorly fixed i took it as a trade in unfortunately:(

eastmeath

My '05 X3 has sprung a leak inside, which I'm sure is coming from the windscreen washer reservoir (as it hasn't been raining and the smell in the car is of windscreen fluid).

I've googled and apart from discovering this thread, I've discovered others which confirm that it's the pipes that have split/perished that are leaking now. One quote a person with the same problem got was for st£1800 to have a BMW dealer remove the drivers seat, carpet and centre console to get at the pipes, repair them, dry the carpet and put it all back together again.

This is a shocking sum and represents too big a chunk of the cars current worth. Does anyone know if it's possible to simply disconnect the rear washer element permanently (so that there would no longer be fluid running through the car). Perhaps through replacement of the reservoir with one that just has a windscreen outlet? Would the BMW dealer tell me, if I asked, do you think?

I can't bear the thought of spending hundreds (that I don't have!) to fix a rear screen washer - I only use it about twice a year! We get enough rain the rest of the time, and can just use the rear wiper then - does a better job!