As above , wet carpet and knackered sensors. Took off door card and poured water on the glass water finding it’s way past the outer sills and then past the inner sill here , any advice on a fix . Thanks 
Water coming in here
- Thread starter Peter1450
- Start date
Perhaps the door drain holes are blocked, or - more likely - the waterproof membrane behind the door card has been reused, and is leaking. they are cheap enough to replace whenever they are disturbed.
Door drains are ok, it’s water getting in past the outer rubber sill particularly a gap on the puller base between the quarter light and the main glass.
Can the foam be resealed to the door inner with silicone?
Can the foam be resealed to the door inner with silicone?
You'll never stop water running down the glass and into the door. That rubber trim along the top of the door is not meant to be totally water tight.
Water drips from the bottom of the window into the door. But because of the angle of the inside panel of the door the water runs down the inside of that flexible membrane. You need to carefully peel that membrane off and stick it back in again also around the chrome lever in the middle of the door.
The problem is that people doing any work inside the door usually just put the membrane back on loosely not realizing how critical it is.
One of the car programs on telly doing up a z3 just stuck a bin bag in there when he found the membrane was gone.
Water drips from the bottom of the window into the door. But because of the angle of the inside panel of the door the water runs down the inside of that flexible membrane. You need to carefully peel that membrane off and stick it back in again also around the chrome lever in the middle of the door.
The problem is that people doing any work inside the door usually just put the membrane back on loosely not realizing how critical it is.
One of the car programs on telly doing up a z3 just stuck a bin bag in there when he found the membrane was gone.
Thanks Duncodin. Just seems really odd that so much water is able to travel inside the door. Appreciate it’s over 20 years old and the rubber ages and hardens but to expect a foam membrane to keep the water out of the car seems madness, but not as mad as putting expensive sensors on the floor, don’t suppose the designer was concerned what happened two decades on!
What have people used to reseal the foam membrane?
What have people used to reseal the foam membrane?
I used the black drain gutter sealing stuff on mine. Others use tiger seal but thats pretty hard to get off again.
Something like this https://amzn.eu/d/bcoPjDX but that for my roof, you want something of a thinner thickness.
I used a roll of butyl to seal the front scuttle panel as the guy who fitted a new windscreen obviously thought it didn’t need to be replaced!
Why I was thinking something silicone like was that I didn’t want to disturb the good parts .
Why I was thinking something silicone like was that I didn’t want to disturb the good parts .
I have recent experience of messing with the vapour barriers, so here's my two penneth if it helps...
The membranes on my doors were trash. They were all torn up, only stuck down in places (in fact the passenger's side one was only held in place with a couple of pieces of duct tape... wtf!?
Mine were too far gone, so I bought replacements from BMW Sopers Lincoln, they were £140 for a new pair, with the forum discount. I stuck them down with butyl tape (Amazon) which worked way better than I expected. However before I installed the new ones, I completely cleaned old adhesive and residue using Goo Gone (Amazon) and a plastic scraper. It took some real elbow grease, but by the time I was done you'd think the doors were fresh out of the factory! I also took the opportunity to grease up the door hinge and window mechanisms as I don't plan on removing those nice new membranes any time soon.
If you want to re-use your existing membranes, for god's sake use a hair drier or heat gun to soften any adhesive before removing them, those membranes tear like wet tissue paper!!
The membranes on my doors were trash. They were all torn up, only stuck down in places (in fact the passenger's side one was only held in place with a couple of pieces of duct tape... wtf!?
Mine were too far gone, so I bought replacements from BMW Sopers Lincoln, they were £140 for a new pair, with the forum discount. I stuck them down with butyl tape (Amazon) which worked way better than I expected. However before I installed the new ones, I completely cleaned old adhesive and residue using Goo Gone (Amazon) and a plastic scraper. It took some real elbow grease, but by the time I was done you'd think the doors were fresh out of the factory! I also took the opportunity to grease up the door hinge and window mechanisms as I don't plan on removing those nice new membranes any time soon.
If you want to re-use your existing membranes, for god's sake use a hair drier or heat gun to soften any adhesive before removing them, those membranes tear like wet tissue paper!!
Thanks John, great advice, not sure I want to remove them completely as apart from the obvious leaks they are in good condition.
It’s so frustrating as I took the car out today and she drives fine ( the lights on the dash freak my wife out) , it’s her car.
I found a sensor in the US that’s on it’s way so will see if that cures the warning lights ,but until the leak are sorted there’s no point as it will all happen again.
The DSC nonsense was only on the later Z3 according to real OEM it’s a shame it can’t be coded out?
It’s so frustrating as I took the car out today and she drives fine ( the lights on the dash freak my wife out) , it’s her car.
I found a sensor in the US that’s on it’s way so will see if that cures the warning lights ,but until the leak are sorted there’s no point as it will all happen again.
The DSC nonsense was only on the later Z3 according to real OEM it’s a shame it can’t be coded out?