X3 E83 WET REAR PASSENGER FOOTWELL CARPET

[D3NO_L]

Good Afternoon All!

Looking for a bit of your wisdomley advise please (Sorry if I am flogging a dead horse with this post)...

When taking out the carpets yesterday to hoover them, I noticed that the rear passenger side footwell carpet was very wet indeed?  It was most noticeably wet near the rear part of the back left footwell carpet where it starts to rise up towards the bottom of the back seat bench?

I did have the car jet washed on the Saturday, but all of the windows were done up tight, plus I do not have a sunroof which would be the obvious culprit for a leak?

Any assistance/comments would be appreciated please. ???

Dean 

[jagr]

A common way you get a wet rear carpet is the rear washer pipe comes apart and soaks your rear drivers side. BMW in there infinite wisdom connected it in the car so don't use rear wash till you are sure it isn't frozen.

My old X3 had that happen luckily under warranty, hasn't happened on current one yet...


As yours is leaking passenger side I would check your door seals as there is probably a gap there. If there isn't you may have to remove the door card as the membrane behind it could have come unstuck.

[X5Sport]

Could be a defective vapour barrier on that door.  Water runs past the outer window seal but gets into the car if there is a hole in the plastic sheet behind the door card.

[Huxsta]

I had wet carpets in our old x3 due to rear washer pipe becoming detached. Easiest way to check is push the stalk, if water pours over rear screen then that's not the problem. In which case I would go with the plastic vapour barrier as mentioned. Good luck.

[D3NO_L]

Ok thanks for the advice all... I'll try and do a bit of investigation this weekend. Hopefully it too much of a  headache to get to the bottom of.

[mikesmith2939]

My wet rear carpets were due to a tiny hole in the glue like substance that holds the vapour barrier on the front drivers door.

The best thing to do is strip out the door cards and front seat then get some one to soak the outside with a hose whilst you sit in the car looking for the water coming.

[D3NO_L]

Good idea thanks Mike!
It's very frustrating at the moment with this wet weather as it's still happening so need to get it fixed asap, but I can't look to fix it because on the moody weather!  >:(

[D3NO_L]

Update... I have managed to find the source of the leak (photo attached)... it's coming in from between the edge of the door card and the door itself. Looks like this is a vapour barrier fault?

[X5Sport]

Very common.  It's only a polythene sheet held on with foam tape/glue and if it gets disturbed then we get wet feet!

[D3NO_L]

I'll have to start searching you tube for how to get the door card off and fix the vapour barrier. Only problem is the early dark nights and wet winter weather. Might have to take a day off work... Still better than xmas shopping with the mrs! Ha

[Huxsta]

There is the option of using the genuine adhesive to make the repair, alternative is good old silicone sealant. Works better in my opinion as it remains more flexible. I bought the genuine for an Indy to repair a rear door and 2 yrs later same problem again ..............6 yrs later, a bit of Diy and good old silicone still holding up to the job.

[D3NO_L]

Just a bit of information I tought might be useful for others with "wet carpet" issues... Once you have found and fixed the leak, if you dont have visable standing water and its just wet/damp rather than pulling up all the carpet to try and dry it out, stick a few bags of dry 'boil in the bag' rice on and around the damp area... Leave it for a few days and the bags of rice will become wet after absorbing as much of the water as possible... Keep repeating until the bags are still pretty dry after a day or so.