[gkroegman]

Hello all, I've got an issue!
I've had the car for a couple of months and only just noticed this problem, so I don't know if it's been there the whole time.
Water comes into the driver door.
This is the culprit.

When water gets into the area with the red circle in the next picture, it doesn't escape properly.

It leaks into only one spot, to the interior side of the door seal.
I took out the black plugs in the bottom or the door and verified that it's completely dry inside. What it looks like it's doing is running down the door seal, somehow it gets to the interior side and evidently won't go back out. The next pic is where it leaks.
Just this one spot, nowhere else. It's not the vapor barrier, this I know because of where the water gets in. It the window is sprayed, everythings fine, nothing gets in. But it's that spot I circled in red in the second picture that's the issue.

[gkroegman]

I took the door panel off and found exactly where the water is coming out of the door and where it's going in. I am still stumped on how to fix this, especially now.
In picture 1, I circled where the water is coming into the car. It's that ONE hole. See picture 2, it seems like the bolt on the bottom of that seal is rusted, so evidently this has been happening for some time. It looks like water runs along the door hinge seal, goes into the inside of the door, runs along the wires, and shoots out the hole into the interior of the door panel.
The moisture barrier does not affect this at all, since water is coming in from the hinge seal.

[ykolin]

i have exactly same problem but on the passenger door.
i even went to the dealer, and all they did was reapplied black silicone mixture to the barrier inside the door since in my case the water was coming in that section where silicone is attached.
Unfortunately, it was a timely fix. Cause in a couple of months this problem appeared again.

I did not fix the problem cause after i did a search i found out that it was a pain in the butt to fix. I did some cleaning and rubber conditioner that help a bit, but not much.

If you still want to fix the problem, ideally you need to buy a new exterior door molding. However, before that i would try to clean the molding. pull down your window and get some cleaning spray, windex should be ok, and try to clean that plastic/rubber piece from dirt. I used a tiny flat screw driver and a piece of cotton rag to clean that section. Or try to use some rubber softener/condition. BMW uses shitty rubber sealers and it's recommendable to use some conditioners. if this wont help then you better to buy a new molding and replace it. What happens is that with the time rubber tends to shrink or harden, and it does not stay on the window as it used to be.

[Meeni]

I had the same and regaling the vapor barrier solved the issue for me

Note it is normal for water to flow inside the door, the inside plastic foam trim must be sealed completely.

[gkroegman]

Thanks for your reply, I thought this would be an anomaly.
I am just fearful that water leaking into a hot car (I live in the south) will create the perfect environment for mold to grow.
I ended up trying to use FlexSeal in the door hinge seal and around the vapor barrier, to encourage whatever water DID get in to make it's way down to the weep holes on the bottom of the door and leak out like it's supposed to.
That didn't help :/
Next thing is I want to try diverting water from that location altogether. Since I can pinpoint the place where it gets down into the door I'm going to get some type of moldable rubber and use an adhesive to route water somewhere else. I'll be using the same stuff to correct the annoying whistling coming from the driver mirror.

Honestly, I thought BMW was supposed to be ubiquitous with reliability and quality. From my own personal experience and from reading the issues on this forum, I am disappointed. Next time I will know to buy new and stay new, that way whatever problems happen will be corrected by a dealer under warranty.

[bmwsinceday1]

Originally Posted by gkroegman

Thanks for your reply, I thought this would be an anomaly.
I am just fearful that water leaking into a hot car (I live in the south) will create the perfect environment for mold to grow.
I ended up trying to use FlexSeal in the door hinge seal and around the vapor barrier, to encourage whatever water DID get in to make it's way down to the weep holes on the bottom of the door and leak out like it's supposed to.
That didn't help :/
Next thing is I want to try diverting water from that location altogether. Since I can pinpoint the place where it gets down into the door I'm going to get some type of moldable rubber and use an adhesive to route water somewhere else. I'll be using the same stuff to correct the annoying whistling coming from the driver mirror.

Honestly, I thought BMW was supposed to be ubiquitous with reliability and quality. From my own personal experience and from reading the issues on this forum, I am disappointed. Next time I will know to buy new and stay new, that way whatever problems happen will be corrected by a dealer under warranty.

dont worry about mold 'growing" inside the door- it is ALWAYS in there- heck, we breathe it every minute, especially in FL. Mold shouldnt be your concern, RUST should be.

Dont this get you down- BM or not BM, cars arent perfect, and rain will eventually destroy it all. As long as the drain holes in the bottom of the door (all doors) are unblocked. Still, cant stop rust forever. Even with galvanized sheet metal doors.

[Meeni]

You have cleaned the evacuation gutters under the hood, right ?

[gkroegman]

The water flow is completely bypassing the vapor barrier and exiting into the vehicle through one of the door clip holes, which sits about 1 inch below the vapor barrier. I would not be concerned if water was just inside the door, everything there looks normal.
Its entering through the door hinge seal, rusting it (see pictures!), traveling along the wire brackets, and instead of flowing to the bottom of the door and exiting out of the drainage plugs, it's jumping out of the hole in the picture. It has nothing to do with the vapor barrier, I'm completely positive. It's all in the pictures, just look where the vapor barrier is and where I've indicated the water is exiting the metal door frame and leaking into the car.

As for the mold, I'm not worried about it inside the door. I'm worried about it because the passenger foot well is made of cloth, which is what's filling up with water - not the door. Standing water + cloth + heat = potential for black mold. This is a potentially serious health hazard! Not to mention that when water sits inside the vehicle on a hot day, some serious condensation forms throughout the entire interior of the car which will eventually become problematic.

No, I have not cleaned the evacuation gutters under the hood. I've never even heard of that, manuals and a google search won't even return what the heck that is. Nothing under the hood is causing this. I can take a glass of water and pour it along the door trim in the precise spot and replicate the problem. I had someone hose down the entire car while I was sitting inside and with the exception of this crappy seal on the door hinge, it's all water tight.

[freon480]

door gasket seals are common on e90s ive replaced a dozen so far. sunroof drains I have not seen clog. oddly enough at 215k I have not seen either on my own car cause issues yet.

[Peewah]

Originally Posted by gkroegman

The water flow is completely bypassing the vapor barrier and exiting into the vehicle through one of the door clip holes, which sits about 1 inch below the vapor barrier. I would not be concerned if water was just inside the door, everything there looks normal.
Its entering through the door hinge seal, rusting it (see pictures!), traveling along the wire brackets, and instead of flowing to the bottom of the door and exiting out of the drainage plugs, it's jumping out of the hole in the picture. It has nothing to do with the vapor barrier, I'm completely positive. It's all in the pictures, just look where the vapor barrier is and where I've indicated the water is exiting the metal door frame and leaking into the car.

As for the mold, I'm not worried about it inside the door. I'm worried about it because the passenger foot well is made of cloth, which is what's filling up with water - not the door. Standing water + cloth + heat = potential for black mold. This is a potentially serious health hazard! Not to mention that when water sits inside the vehicle on a hot day, some serious condensation forms throughout the entire interior of the car which will eventually become problematic.

No, I have not cleaned the evacuation gutters under the hood. I've never even heard of that, manuals and a google search won't even return what the heck that is. Nothing under the hood is causing this. I can take a glass of water and pour it along the door trim in the precise spot and replicate the problem. I had someone hose down the entire car while I was sitting inside and with the exception of this crappy seal on the door hinge, it's all water tight.

I have the exact same problem on rear passenger door and the hole for the clip is EXACTLY where the water is passing through. The clips come with a spongy o-ring around it which i believe is there to provide sealing however, as it gets wet, overtime it flattens out which not suppose to happen (maybe i got the bootleg version). Anyways, i plan on putting some silicone around the grommet in place of the spongy o-ring and monitor.

[bspeedracerb]

If anyone else is having the same issue as OP…the water is getting in from the lower side mirror foam seal behind the mirror not the door hinge. Take off door trim, remove mirror assembly, remove lower window trim, clean & replace door seal, add a small bead of the sealant of your choosing (i used Geocel 4500) to the foam mirror seal, reinstall mirror assembly & let it set for a little. Should be good to go.

[bspeedracerb]

Yes your door stop bolts will be rusty but that’s not the point of entry for the water. It just collects there. I’ve been cursing this leak for years & finally took the time to trace it. Hope this saves someone the time.