Water/Condensation on the boot lid

Rui Almeida

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Joined
Aug 16, 2016
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44
Hi there everybody,

Anyone can tell if this is normal on a z3 boot lid? I know it's getting really cold around here but even with wormer weather I was getting a bit. From here I am finding water laying on the upper area of the boot flor towards the centre of the car and don't if they are related.

Any advise would be appreciated :)
Thanks

IMG_7752.webp
 
Just had a good look. It looks like is pretty common as long as you have some water ingress on the area. I will check the left hand side or even remove the whole boot carpet to investigate because I actually found some water on the centre area beyond the carpet towards the centre of the car
Thanks
In the centre of the carpet sounds more like the centre brake light leaking to me.

Tony.
 
In the centre of the carpet sounds more like the centre brake light leaking to me.

Tony.
In the centre of the carpet sounds more like the centre brake light leaking to me.

Tony.
Hi Tony,

I think I will stop by BMW tomorrow and get the third brake light seal and do it anyway but to be honest isn't the centre of the carpet that's wet...if you look from the outside will be further into the centre of the car on the edge of the carpet. Funny enough there's no other carpet that is wet so I will strip the whole thing and check for leaks and do the seal at the same time .
 
Hi Tony,

I think I will stop by BMW tomorrow and get the third brake light seal and do it anyway but to be honest isn't the centre of the carpet that's wet...if you look from the outside will be further into the centre of the car on the edge of the carpet. Funny enough there's no other carpet that is wet so I will strip the whole thing and check for leaks and do the seal at the same time .
Sorry if I misunderstood, but one thing is it will eliminate one of the possible causes if nothing else. Good luck with finding the problem.:thumbsup:

Tony.
 
Hi I did have this problem, I found that water was coming in around my rear lights. Running down in to the battery tray. This seem to make the whole boot damp and water would collect on the under side of the boot. I removed the rear lights and cleaned all the rubbers on them, and replaced them. The leak stopped and the wet boot lid disappeared, no problem since.

Simon
 
Hi I did have this problem, I found that water was coming in around my rear lights. Running down in to the battery tray. This seem to make the whole boot damp and water would collect on the under side of the boot. I removed the rear lights and cleaned all the rubbers on them, and replaced them. The leak stopped and the wet boot lid disappeared, no problem since.

Simon
Good info Simon!

Tony.
 
I think I will stop by BMW tomorrow and get the third brake light seal

Facelift zeds do not have a seal on the 3rd brake light, you will need to remove it, clean it up and put some silicone sealant in there to stop any leaks.
 
Facelift zeds do not have a seal on the 3rd brake light, you will need to remove it, clean it up and put some silicone sealant in there to stop any leaks.
I spoke with my local dealer and they told that but I end up ordering a early model gasket to try to adapt but now that I saw your post I just called them to see if its possible to cancel it. Where do you apply the silicone then? On the bottom of the light that will be in touch with the body?

Thanks
 
When you take the light of there is an indent in the bootlid where the light sits, run a small bead of silicone around here and reattach the light. Then wipe off any excess that has been squeezed out.
Will do. Will also strip the all boot carpet to understand and see if there's any leaks.
 
Yesterday while I left a heater fan inside the car to help to dry it out I found the carpet behind the roll over bars where the soft top sits quite wet. Just on the passenger's side. I also have a bad corner on the window that I never replaced as I am fitting an hardtop in a couple days. Couldn't feel any wet around that corner though so I am just wondering if could have been another reason for that carpet to be wet. Any other critical points to look for that would justify this area being wet?

ps: I know I could just dry it out put the hardtop and see how it goes but because I am still trying to find some help to fit it I don't want to get stuck with this leak and then need to remove it again.

Thanks in advance to everyone.
 
Yesterday while I left a heater fan inside the car to help to dry it out I found the carpet behind the roll over bars where the soft top sits quite wet. Just on the passenger's side. I also have a bad corner on the window that I never replaced as I am fitting an hardtop in a couple days. Couldn't feel any wet around that corner though so I am just wondering if could have been another reason for that carpet to be wet. Any other critical points to look for that would justify this area being wet?

ps: I know I could just dry it out put the hardtop and see how it goes but because I am still trying to find some help to fit it I don't want to get stuck with this leak and then need to remove it again.

Thanks in advance to everyone.
Sounds like you might have a blocked roof drainage channel on that side.theres a thread on here somewhere
 
A common cause of a wet rear 'parcel shelf' carpet is the fabric of the hood shrinking back in the corners from the black plastic beading that runs around the window. The hood fabric in the corner then lifts away and holds any water in the little trough that is created. As the zip in the corner is then exposed the water held in the 'trough' then leaks in past the teeth of the zip and onto your carpet.
 
A common cause of a wet rear 'parcel shelf' carpet is the fabric of the hood shrinking back in the corners from the black plastic beading that runs around the window. The hood fabric in the corner then lifts away and holds any water in the little trough that is created. As the zip in the corner is then exposed the water held in the 'trough' then leaks in past the teeth of the zip and onto your carpet.
Wonderfull I am glad that's the reason because that's exactly what happened on mine. Had new window to be fitted but just fitted the hardtop yesterday and was sure that the whole soft top and parcel shelf area was dried before I fitted.

Today is day for water test and wind noise test and some adjustments if need.

Also will be an interesting day trying to find why the heater blower doesn't work and keeps blowing fuses.

Thanks Synclare
 
Sounds like you might have a blocked roof drainage channel on that side.theres a thread on here somewhere
Will check now with the hardtop on but to be fair don't believe is a blocked channel as I clean them up once a week.

Thanks
 
Hi guys,

After a morning of checking and striping the boot I managed to put some silicone as seal on the holes where the third stop light fixing points are.
After checking the whole boot finally found the possible reason for all the condensation, left hand side corner down the bottom of the wheel arch well pretty soaked. Removed that unit on the bottom and dried out the whole area. Checked for incoming water as it rained over nigh and could't find anything.
Any ideas ? Couldn't find any water marks around the base of the areal but will probably pour some water on the outside tomorrow and see. thanks
 
Is this the area down the far left side under the light and the power hood pump.
If so its your ariel grommet leaking normally but could be an ill fitting rear light.
Alot have issue with the ariel grommet and the pocket holds your alarm tilt sensor so most experience alarm issues as the unit gets wet.
 
Is this the area down the far left side under the light and the power hood pump.
If so its your ariel grommet leaking normally but could be an ill fitting rear light.
Alot have issue with the ariel grommet and the pocket holds your alarm tilt sensor so most experience alarm issues as the unit gets wet.
What you called pocket do you refer to that area on the left? Is that unit down the bottom a control unit for the alarm?
Will try to do the arial grommet as it looks pretty cracked. Is it the outside one the cause or the bigger one on te inside?
Thanks
 
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