discussion BMW F30 Water Leak Passenger Footwell

[double-n]

Hey all, I've got a pretty bizarre problem with my F30 330d. I've got water leaking into the passenger footwell, but it does not seem to be directly correlated with rain or the car being washed. Last week Thursday the car was washed and it was pulled 10 meters into the garage. On Monday everything was well - no smells inside. It didn't rain on Monday and the car didn't come anywhere near water.

On Tuesday however (yesterday) when I got into the car the smell of wet carpet immediately hit me. I felt around the carpets and the passenger side footwell was soaked. What's even weirder is that the vertical carpet at the bottom of the footwell (the part that covers the firewall) and the vertical carpet next to the transmission tunnel is also soaked in places.

So I put some fans in the car overnight and managed to dry the carpets I would say 80%. However, when I stopped at the office this morning the carpets were soaked again and I can see where the water droplets was running down in the footwell at the firewall. Again, no rain and no water close to the car.

The car is going in to BMW Menlyn to have it checked out, but at this point the problem is breaking my brain. What on earth can be the cause of this? Anyone else experienced this?

 

[Nick]

Could be a leaking heater core or pipe.

 

[double-n]

Could be a leaking heater core or pipe.

Hmm ok so then the water leaking into the cabin would be engine coolant?

 

[Riaad]

Hmm ok so then the water leaking into the cabin would be engine coolant?

Coolant should dry white and crusty on the carpet...will definitely leave a mark.

Is it not condensation or water from running the AC whilst driving ?

 

[double-n]

Coolant should dry white and crusty on the carpet...will definitely leave a mark.

Is it not condensation or water from running the AC whilst driving ?

Doubt that it's condensation, the carpet is completely soaked. As if someone had dumped a glass of water in the footwell. There is definitely no residue and I just had a taste of the water, I don't taste anything funny. But I don't regularly taste my car's coolant so I can't say if it would taste any different

I just took this photo. You can see the water running down the carpet. The carpet right at the curve of the firewall/footwell is soaked. The carpet where the frame rail of the seat ends next to the transmission tunnel is also wet (you can see it looks a little bit darker).

 

[Dr Evil]

Could be a blocked gutter. They usually get blocked with leaves etc if not cleaned out.


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[Nick]

Hmm ok so then the water leaking into the cabin would be engine coolant?

yup, its all one system.

Or maybe a RAT chowed a window washer pipe up near the wiper blades, that would leak in the cab too.
OR your car manifests H20 like a MAGE in the world of warcraft.

 

[momo1]

my guess is your gutters are blocked
clean with compressed air, my brother had the issue on his E90

 

[General.Massacre]

Hi there

It will be the drainage grommet for sure.

Recall Notice Water Drainage Grommet

Recall Notice Water Drainage Grommet

f30.bimmerpost.com

read this, seems to be a issue, check with the dealer, or see if you can get to it, that hread should give you a start if you want to research and investigate further.

Good luck.

 

[MR_Y]

Could be:
1. Blocked drains in windscreen cowl.
2. Sunroof (if fitted) drain pipe being clogged. Not sure of F30 architecture, but some Volvos have the drain pipe in the A Pillar and it runs past windscreen cowl area.

 

[Solo Man]

I was going through my car's motorplan history and saw this drainage grommet on the system being removed. I remember on the E60's it was also a problem and i have removed three or four drainage grommets of them on my cars and friend's cars.

 

[double-n]

Hi there

It will be the drainage grommet for sure.

Recall Notice Water Drainage Grommet

Recall Notice Water Drainage Grommet

f30.bimmerpost.com

read this, seems to be a issue, check with the dealer, or see if you can get to it, that hread should give you a start if you want to research and investigate further.

Good luck.

Ha this may be the problem. I phoned BMW to find out if this recall has been done on my car, and according to their records it was done during 2016 at BMW Bedford. But my car has never been to that dealership, so it may be that someone messed up...

Could be:
1. Blocked drains in windscreen cowl.
2. Sunroof (if fitted) drain pipe being clogged. Not sure of F30 architecture, but some Volvos have the drain pipe in the A Pillar and it runs past windscreen cowl area.

Forgot to mention I already checked the sunroof and that's not it. I poured some water into the channel and it poured out of the holes on both sides of the car (inside the door jams).

Thanks for all the feedback everyone

 

[double-n]

So I took my car to Ross Duncan last week to fix this. It took them all day to diagnose, but the problem turned out to be the AC water drain. They cleaned it out with a compressor and the problem was fixed. I had no idea the AC generated that amount of water!

 

[MR_Y]

So I took my car to Ross Duncan last week to fix this. It took them all day to diagnose, but the problem turned out to be the AC water drain. They cleaned it out with a compressor and the problem was fixed. I had no idea the AC generated that amount of water!

Glad to hear it's sorted.
Will keep this in mind for future reference

 

[jared.t.naidoo]

Cleaned my ac drain this past December, had the same problem.


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