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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > BMW E90/E92/E93 3-series General Forums > General E90 Sedan / E91 Wagon / E92 Coupe / E93 Cabrio > Passenger door sill plate leak



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      02-18-2013, 10:37 PM   #1
Snyperx
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Exclamation Passenger door sill plate leak

All,
Hoping someone can help here. I got to my car after work and noticed that the carpet was wet on the front passenger side floor closest to the door. In looking closer I noticed water was dribbling in on the door sill plate seam closest to the front of the car. I have no clue where the water is coming from. I checked the door seals and they seem fine. Does anyone have an idea? Please help. Thanks.
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      02-19-2013, 10:34 PM   #2
07lilredwagon
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sounds like it could be your windshield....or possibly the cabin air filter housing cover is not seated and sealed properly...

have you had a new windshield put in recently?....

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      02-20-2013, 11:42 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Snyperx View Post
All,
Hoping someone can help here. I got to my car after work and noticed that the carpet was wet on the front passenger side floor closest to the door. In looking closer I noticed water was dribbling in on the door sill plate seam closest to the front of the car. I have no clue where the water is coming from. I checked the door seals and they seem fine. Does anyone have an idea? Please help. Thanks.
On E39s and other earlier bimmers this means it's the seal inside the door. On E39s this is a "they all do that (eventually)" problem. It involves pulling the door skin and resticking the foam vapour barrier/sound insulation back to the door frame with butyl tape or similar sealant. No matter what water gets inside the door and in certain situations can't drain as fast as it accumulates. The vapour barrier is supposed to keep the water in the door until it can drain but when it becomes unstuck water comes into the car at the door sills.

Not sure if this is a classic E90 problem or not. I'm guessing not since no one posts about it often. That would be the first thing I'd check. The sill logo plate is a wet zone. There is no critical seal there to keep water out of the car.
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      02-21-2013, 10:50 AM   #4
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Well i ran my car through the wash yesterday and and as soon as the wash was done I jumped out and opened the passenger door. I could definitely see water dribbling out from between the door panel and door skin. I picked up some new door panel clips and plan on pulling the panel off and looking at the foam sound/water barrier and resealing.
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      02-21-2013, 11:43 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Snyperx View Post
Well i ran my car through the wash yesterday and and as soon as the wash was done I jumped out and opened the passenger door. I could definitely see water dribbling out from between the door panel and door skin. I picked up some new door panel clips and plan on pulling the panel off and looking at the foam sound/water barrier and resealing.
"Cool". I say that not because it's nice that you have a leak, but that it's good that you know what it is.

On my E39, there wasn't much to break about the clips. I'll be interested to see some pics of how different the E90 might be. Sill logos are a different story, those clips seem to break when you look at them funny, but you shouldn't need to remove that.
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      02-21-2013, 05:12 PM   #6
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Check the door drains first!....they are located along the bottom edge of the door...there should be 3 or 4 of them. they are probably clogged with leaf debris, dirt or other stuff...a plastic trimmer cord material or similar will not damage the paint and you can run it up in there to clean it out....

The vapor barrier alone was not designed to hold water at bay in liquid form...just moisture.....if the water has gotten up that far because it cant drain...you have a potentially bigger problem...like eventual rust and electrical gremlins....


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      02-21-2013, 09:02 PM   #7
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Just got done popping the door panel off. I did not see drain holes on the bottom of the door, but did see two grommets that were about the size of $.50 pieces that I popped out and examined. What was odd is that there were no holes in them indicating they were for drainage. I did not find any debris in them either.



I did find that the bottom of the vapor/sound barrier was in fact detached from the black urethane caulk/sealant. I pressed the foam back on, but will probably be pulling the panel off again and heating the sealant with a blow dryer and reattaching. Didn't have time tonight.
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      02-22-2013, 05:26 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 07lilredwagon View Post
Check the door drains first!....they are located along the bottom edge of the door...there should be 3 or 4 of them. they are probably clogged with leaf debris, dirt or other stuff...a plastic trimmer cord material or similar will not damage the paint and you can run it up in there to clean it out....

The vapor barrier alone was not designed to hold water at bay in liquid form...just moisture.....if the water has gotten up that far because it cant drain...you have a potentially bigger problem...like eventual rust and electrical gremlins....


JP
Yes, it is designed to hold liquid, but not for a prolonged period When I posted I assumed the drains were checked. I should not have - good point.

The drains cannot keep up with high water volumes (car washes, torrential rain) and the vapour barrier is meant to hold it back.
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      02-22-2013, 05:27 PM   #9
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Quote:
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Just got done popping the door panel off. I did not see drain holes on the bottom of the door, but did see two grommets that were about the size of $.50 pieces that I popped out and examined. What was odd is that there were no holes in them indicating they were for drainage. I did not find any debris in them either.
The drains are at the seam weld, not in the bottom of the door. Look at the very edges.
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      04-18-2013, 12:12 PM   #10
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I ended up finding a small tear in the sound insulation/vapor barrier (See pic) that was allowing water to get in. I tried patching with some Gorilla tape, but no go. I have ordered a new insulation piece.

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      04-18-2013, 12:14 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by Surly73 View Post
The drains are at the seam weld, not in the bottom of the door. Look at the very edges.
As for the drains, the only hole I could find in the door seam was one toward the back of the door close to the 'B' pillar. Should their be more drains along the seam?
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      04-26-2013, 08:36 AM   #12
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UPDATE: My new door liner came in as well as the 3M Window-Weld (same stuff dealer uses). Put the new liner in and will be taking it to the car wash this weekend to test for leaks.
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      05-14-2013, 10:47 AM   #13
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UPDATE2: Car wash test successful. No more leak.
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