Hi @Cheryl you'll need to have somebody fix the route cause which is normally the 3rd brake light seal. Fitting the internal boot lid cover will just trap water until the cover is soaked through.
Boot lid lining?
- Thread starter Derek
- Start date
The seal itself from BMW will only be a few £££, not sure how much though, give your nearest dealer a ring. Fitting can be a bit fiddly so some folk put a small bead of black sealant around the edge also, seems to work.
Amazing, thank you. Is this something I could potentially do myself? Are there any videos/images on the forum anywhere I could use as a guide? Thanks
Hang on, I'll find one ......
BMW Z3 3rd Brake Light Gasket Replacement
BMW Z3 3rd brake light gasket replacement Article reproduced with permission from Paul Lynch A common complaint with leaks on the BMW Z3 seems to be in the boot and specifically around the third brake light – the root cause for this is because...
zroadster.org
Pleasure. Plenty of folk around your area so hopefully somebody will see your threadThat’s great, thanks for your help. Looks a bit too fiddly for mewill see if I can find the part and someone to come and sort it for me, thank you!
Hi Cheryl, welcome from me too near Lincoln. If you can get the high level brake light sealed you won't need to spend money on the carpet lining on the boot lid, unless you want to. Once you get that fixed be aware there are other common water ingress points in a Z3 boot. Namely the radio aerial grommet on the rear wing and the rear light seals on the bodywork.
Tony.
Tony.
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Hi Cheryl, welcome to the group.
This is a great group full of very clever people (not me I'm afraid - still learning! ;-) )
- Joined
- Nov 25, 2012
- Points
- 178
- Location
- Newport, South Wales,UK
- Model of Z
- Z3 M43 1.8 (1999) and Z4 E85 2.5 (2003)
Agree with the others, leaks into the boot are usually down to a hardened aerial grommit or the high level brake light seal failing, both will allow water into the boot. Condensation on the boot lid inside surface can crop up, depends on where the car is parked and if the interior is already damp. Replacement brake light gasket from BMW cheap way to go but I did have a look on Realoem parts site, only shows the brake light unit with gasket at extortionate money. You will have to ask them if they can supply just the gasket. If you need a replacement aerial grommet get that from BMW, the ebay ones are higher price. Also need to get the correct one for your car as there are two types, one for early cars and another for wide body later cars.
No good fitting interior trim to the boot if the brake light is the cause of a leak you must fix that before covering the lid with a trim card otherwise its just going to get wet and soggy over time.
The pictures in this thread are what I did to my Z3 and Z4, used thin hardboard and covered it with thin foam followed by grey van lining material. All stuck down using an aerosol glue contact adhesive. The Z3 trim cover was fitted to the boot lid using plastic press in trim fasteners holes around the boot lid were used to instrall the fateners. The Z4 had to be fixed in using shortened self tapping screws so they didn't contact the outer boot skin and cause dents it was just a matter of drilling through the trim panel at suitable locations around the boot.
What I found on Realoem site here
No good fitting interior trim to the boot if the brake light is the cause of a leak you must fix that before covering the lid with a trim card otherwise its just going to get wet and soggy over time.
The pictures in this thread are what I did to my Z3 and Z4, used thin hardboard and covered it with thin foam followed by grey van lining material. All stuck down using an aerosol glue contact adhesive. The Z3 trim cover was fitted to the boot lid using plastic press in trim fasteners holes around the boot lid were used to instrall the fateners. The Z4 had to be fixed in using shortened self tapping screws so they didn't contact the outer boot skin and cause dents it was just a matter of drilling through the trim panel at suitable locations around the boot.
What I found on Realoem site here