E61 Touring Discussion The touring is also known as the wagon version of the 5 series.

Water in trunk

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Old 10-22-2008, 06:37 AM
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My Ride: BMW 530 M Sport Touring 2005, Silver grey, automatic gearbox, Active Steering, Storage Pack, Panoramic sunroof
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All,
Guess what! three months after repair and the water is pouring in again, 5-6 cm in the battery compartment. Just some dl in the spare wheel comparment, with some electronics.. So now the battery gets drained, cruise control siezed to work, active steering faulty, rear hatch won't open. great..
It's on it's way to the garage this friday. Seems like there's at least one more source where the water leaks.
Anyone knows where the cruise control unit is placed? As it has stopped working, it could be water there aswell.

Fredrik
Old 10-23-2008, 03:37 AM
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Had the same problem on my 2005 E61. Garage replaced sunroof and large numbers of electronics and motors, (costing about ?5000 sterling!) which was covered by an extended BMW warranty. The mechanic told me that this was probably caused by the design fault of the panoramic sunroof and associated drainage system, which was rectified on cars built from October 2005.
He also said that the another known source of water leakage into the boot area was from beneath the floor pan, another design fault supposedly fixed by the time my car was built (February 2005) but he advised me to look regularly in the spare wheel compartment for signs of water, and to bring the car back in should I get any further water intrusion.
He said there is no way for the garage to test the floorpan soundness, but if I did see any water then they know how to fix it (ie it is a known problem) and BMW will cover it under warranty, but I had to demonstrate that there was a water leak before BMW would authorise this further repair.
What a nightmare.
Old 11-05-2008, 07:45 AM
  #13  
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The battery was completely drained, had to call a mechanic with a portable battery, no problems to start the car. Drove to the dealer. They said the battery was empty due to some "intelligent" sensor connected to negative on battery. According to them this had nothing to do with the water in the trunk. Also, they weren't able to find out from where the water came from. The water is clean, I might add, thus coming from above, probably not from underneath the car.
So now I have to watch out for water in the trunk everytime there's rain..
Old 10-20-2009, 10:52 AM
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This just happened to my 2006 530xiT as well. The dealer informed me a clogged sunroof drain caused the spare tire compartment to fill with water, which shorted out a computer module. Fortunately the car's still under warranty.
Old 11-11-2009, 10:18 AM
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My Ride: 2010 VW Passat Wagon 2.0l Tsi Grey/Grey Budapest 18" Lost to HPFP issues: 08 535i sport pkg Lost to Dreaded E61 Sun roof leaks: 07 E61 530Xi
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I just had this happen on my wagon too. I literally had it for less than 24 hours....

Ida or what ever her name was dumped over 4+" over Monday night on the Bham area....
Sure enough there was 3-4" of water in the batt and wheel well in back....

Yeah!
Old 11-13-2009, 03:21 AM
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I just unblocked the drains myself having had the same issue. It's simple and quick to do: Full details in this thread: https://5series.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=81070
Old 02-10-2011, 12:27 PM
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Facebook group for victims

Welcome to join my facebook group uniting all victims of BMW sunroof leaks

The Facebook group's name is 'BMW paranormal sunroof' and you are welcome to join and post your pictures and feedback.

This group is primarily meant for owners of a BMW with a 1st generation (2005) panoramic sunroof and that are suffering from leaks (in the rear, due to clogged drains).

I am curious about the global scale of this problem.

Best regards and thanks for joining!
Old 02-17-2011, 06:05 PM
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My Ride: 2007 530xiT: CPO purchase in 2008, used by a BMW exec previously, and like-new when I got it. Compared to my other cars, at first I thought it felt heavy and steering was too heavy. Now, I really enjoy driving it in town and on the freeway. On my
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You will NOT believe what happened. Some of you know that I put together a fully illustrated DIY on how to remove the SureClog valves from the panorama sunroof rear drains in this forum. I was pretty confident I was ahead of the game regarding a flooded trunk.

I drove back to SF 1800 miles from Dallas a couple of weeks ago. While in Dallas and Amarillo, TX, the wagon went through ice, slush, snow storms. I was able to thrash the car in 4WD in an open field in 6 - 8 inches of snow (and it was FUN). Somewhere after leaving Texas, I got a TPM Malfunction error. Other than the warning, there were no other issues with the car and I got home no problem. 3 days later, I go to start the car, dead battery. I jump the car and aside from the TPM Malfunction warning, still no other issues. 4 days later, I restart the car without any problem to go to the dealer to fix the TPM sensor. I mention the jump start.

When I get the car back, the Service Advisor tells me the rear trunk flooded and damaged a bunch of modules and the damaged modules sent erroneous signals to the KGM which prevented sleep mode which caused battery to drain. The technician used tracing powder and drove the car in the rain and verified a leak in the RR (right rear) INTERIOR VENT. The RR INTERIOR VENT is a 8" x 3" plastic part that is located in the body cavity just behind the rear wheel about under the fuse module. There is no motor to this part and it's suppose to open by air pressure when the car is under way, and closes when the car is standing. I inspected the defective RR INTERIOR VENT and the rubber flap was indeed messed up. I'm not convinced by the SA's explanation and am trying to understand how this part really works. The technician's notes are very detailed so there's some legitimacy to his findings. Another mystery design.

Anyway, here's what they replaced (part numbers available by request):
1 battery
2 relays
1 LCPA module
1 tailgate control unit
1 air supply control
1 RR INTERIOR VENT
1 RDC module

Thank goodness I was under warranty. I've been monitoring this flooded trunk issue for a couple of years and I don't think I've ever read about an INTERIOR VENT issue as a cause. But there you have it, another great design and another way for water to flood your trunk.
Old 02-19-2011, 02:41 AM
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Wow those things must be awful.

Ive removed the sureclog valves and after 3 months, like you, its bone dry.

Bearing in mind the vents probably dont do a great deal other than allow a little air to circulate, they are probably worth sealing up with some silocone.

You've got a significant list of items replaced there. Mine doesnt have a warranty, I cant wait to have to fork out on it!
Old 02-19-2011, 06:30 AM
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Originally Posted by yeewiz
You will NOT believe what happened.
The technician used tracing powder and drove the car in the rain and verified a leak in the RR (right rear) INTERIOR VENT.
I don't understand how the water can get from that vent to the spare tyre mould.
AFAIK the vent is below the level of the trunk floor, so water would have to "jump" over the battery and over a metal barrier to reach the spare tyre mould.

The only scenario that I can imagine is that water slowly (over months) filled the battery compartment, and then when you drive, water splashes out of the compartment, each time a small portion flows into the spare tyre mould, and over time it fills enough to drown the modules.

Does that roughly tie to what they explained to you and your own observations?


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