Author Topic: Pesky Trunk Leak??? (Read 4749 times)

318idol · « **on:** October 09, 2007, 10:52:29 AM »

Hello, all...

Living in Portland, OR means rain. And rain mixed with e30s usually causes a leaky trunk. Like mine.

Water pools in the jack well. Now before everyone suggests antenna gasket, taillight seals, trunk seal, truck lid closing adjustment,and/or sunroof drain tube, let me say I've checked them all, and all are perfect.

Where else could the water come from? If I park the car on the level and it rains for several hours, there will be a couple tablespoons of water in the jack well.

The only thing I haven't done is pull out the trunk carpet/lining and pour water on and see where it's leaking. The car is a really nice 1991 318i 4-door.

Thoughts?

Gary

Wise Old Dog · « **Reply #1 on:** October 09, 2007, 11:17:45 AM »

Mine only gets water in it when I park with the rear end higher than the front end. So I have drilled a small 1/8" hole in the lowest point of each well, and painted the exposed metal in and around each hole. I don't have any more problems with water in the well.

318idol · « **Reply #2 on:** October 09, 2007, 11:19:59 AM »

Thanks for the "treat the symptom" solution. I've considered that. But where the water comes in is the real puzzle.

ak96ss · « **Reply #3 on:** October 09, 2007, 12:48:41 PM »

Rear window seal. Or the seals for the 'wings' on the side windows. Or, less likely, the side window seals. My bet is one of the first two - I had the same problem, and it was the seal for the back window.

318idol · « **Reply #4 on:** October 09, 2007, 01:41:28 PM »

Rear Window Seal? Sounds like a bad, expensive fix. I would need to confirm. Wouldn't want to pull the trigger on that fix until I knew that was the problem.

ak96ss · « **Reply #5 on:** October 09, 2007, 02:10:22 PM »

Get in the trunk with a flashlight and have someone you trust (

close the lid and spray water all over everything.

318idol · « **Reply #6 on:** October 09, 2007, 05:28:23 PM »

And...if you're a bit claustrophobic?

christophbmw · « **Reply #7 on:** October 09, 2007, 07:13:58 PM »

Quote from: ak96ss;35315

Get in the trunk with a flashlight and have someone you trust ( close the lid and spray water all over everything.

werd^^^ thats what i did.

Cristian G in Oz · « **Reply #8 on:** October 09, 2007, 07:25:16 PM »

My car was doing this.

I traced it to the spot weld on the hinge bracket on that side. The weld had pulled through the skin and when the bootlid was open the spring action pushed the weld back into the hole. When the lid was closed the spot weld was pulled down opening the hole.

I fixed it with a dob of silicone sealant on the spot weld and closed the lid for the night.

Leak fixed.

Hope this helps.

Cristian

Shocker · « **Reply #9 on:** October 09, 2007, 11:27:43 PM »

Get new seals for your tailights and problem fixed!!!

gearheadE30 · « **Reply #10 on:** October 10, 2007, 08:36:13 PM »

There is a vent under the side of the rear bumper that enters the body right here. There should be a little rubber flap on it, and my flap had gotten torn off, presumably when the previous owner had done some body work. I put a new part in from a junkyard car and there is no more water.

318idol · « **Reply #11 on:** October 12, 2007, 12:54:47 AM »

Where is the flap, you say? Under the car? Inside the truck? Would that explain water entering the car when it isn't moving?

silverblades181 · « **Reply #12 on:** October 12, 2007, 09:24:57 AM »

Check for a small hole on the sides of the trunk where the gasket is (left side obviously). I saw several E30s with a very small whole there and I spoke to a BMW tech and he said it was very frequent and cause the water in the jack area.

gearheadE30 · « **Reply #13 on:** October 12, 2007, 03:20:21 PM »

The flap covers the trunk vent. If you take out the trunk liner you can see the back side of it. It exits just behind the rear wheels and is hidden underneath the bumper. Frankly, I doubt that this is your problem, although it is worth a shot.

EN318isPDX · « **Reply #14 on:** October 12, 2007, 03:55:39 PM »

my idea for this problem was that perhaps someone shut something in the lid and it could have bent the lip in which the seal sits on. since it could channel the water right into the trunk from under the seal, this seems plausible