Rear footwell is wet E39

[aarondrs]

My nearside footwell on my 530i E39 is wet. It looks like it may have been for a while.

What could this be? The door seals are all OK and I cant see anything obvious. Any one else seen this?

[Denis O]

Most likely the plastic membrane behind the door card. It's common so whip the door card off and you'll see if the membrane has become unattached or someone has been in there to change speakers or the like and just ripped it off and left it off.

Not sure you can tell if door seals are shot. I have an XKR which has a lake in the rear nearside footwell and it's definitely coming through the door seals but to my eye they look fine. £585 to supply and fit both (2 on each door) stopped me in my tracks I can tell you.

[Mark_J_W]

This happened on my previous E46 318i. Turned out as Denis suggested to be the membrane in the front door. It had perished for some reason and was allowing water to get in during heavy rain, it also made the car very prone to condensation and a bit smelly.

I can't remember what it cost but it wasn't very expensive/difficult to replace. Good luck!

Edited by Mark_J_W on Thursday 17th December 17:51

[Beamish]

Had the same problem on my E39 Touring.

As already suggested it was the membrane behind the door card which had come loose at it's lower part. The menbrane itself was OK but it is attached to the door with a sealer which had become ineffective and thus allowed a gap. I used some silicone type sealant to re-attach the membrane where it had come loose and have had no further problems.

Hope this helps.

Dec.

[aarondrs]

Thanks all for your help. I will be checking this out at the weekend. Car passed MOT today with new rear anti rolll bar bushes required and had four new Avon ZV5 tyres fitted at the same time. Good job with the snow we've had!!

[bramley]

aaron - don't suppose you're ever in the cheltenham area are you? I've got loads of butyl tape that I bought from BMW to fix my door membrane, you're welcome to some of it if you want.