[Hugo L.]

Ugh... I'm taking my car in for a service this week (bass cutting off randomly from the sound and alignment that they have to redo as they can't seem to get it right the first time - ever), so I figured I'd remove my Bimmertech amp to make sure they didn't blame the bass issue on this.

Well, as I was removing the power cable, I noticed a solid 1/8'' of an inch of standing water in the bottom of the trunk (in «front» of the battery, if you will). My driveway is slightly uphill, so there is probably more behind it.

Mind you, we were out on vacation for two weeks and it rained a lot, but still, this is NOT normal.

I managed to soak it all up with paper towels and left part of the trunk trim unclipped to allow easy access to recheck it this week before my appointment.

Judging from the dampness of the inner insulating material, the leak came from the driver side rear, probably near the taillight.

It *seems* like the rubber moulding/weatherstripping was not properly squeezed onto the sheet metal, so I slammed it back on as best I could and applied some gummipflege-type stuff on the moulding/weatherstripping.

I then sprayed some water and put my hand back where I thought the leak was, but so far it's hard to tell, as everything is damp anyway.

I really like that car from a driving standpoint, but reliability-wise, it's lightyears away from my GLK. Hell, even my 2014 Fiat 500 is rock solid compared to it...

[Ravenous666]

How old is the car?

Do you have a panoramic roof?

Sharkfin antenna is also a possibility.

[Hugo L.]

It's a 2021 with the sunroof, but there is no humidity on the headliner. Thank god it's still under warranty...

[dvrmstrng]

I haven’t had my 2021 for that long yet but like 3-4 of my SUVs have had sunroof drains clog that pooled water in that location. Could that be it?

[hrf]

When you open trunk on X3 water pours in and gets to the holes on the right and left. This is a design flaw, the water pasage below rear window makes water pout into the trunk.

[ContactPatch]

Originally Posted by dvrmstrng

I haven’t had my 2021 for that long yet but like 3-4 of my SUVs have had sunroof drains clog that pooled water in that location. Could that be it?

Probably, here is the sunroof drain map if you need it.

[Hugo L.]

Originally Posted by hrf

When you open trunk on X5 water pours in and gets to the holes on the right and left. This is a design flaw, the water pasage below rear window makes water pout into the trunk.

I have noticed the same thing on my car, but it had been sitting idle for almost two weeks, so it wasn't that.

Originally Posted by ContactPatch

Probably, here is the sunroof drain map if you need it.

Very interesting. By any chance, do you know where the drain exit is located on the body at the rear? That document only shows the one on the A-pillar.

[peeezy]

Originally Posted by Hugo L.

Very interesting. By any chance, do you know where the drain exit is located on the body at the rear? That document only shows the one on the A-pillar.

more info here… https://x3.xbimmers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1933117

[Hugo L.]

Turns out that the seal around the cargo area is leaking and needs to be replaced. Yet another appointment on July 9th.

Oh, and BMW can't align these cars for shit. After telling them they got it wrong the last time, they redid it and my steering wheel is STILL 2-3° off to the right. Which means if I set the steering wheel at 12, I end up in a ditch within 500 feet.

Ridiculous. Taking it to an indy shop in a couple of weeks.

[TXGrey]

This “leak” is known issue… I have a ‘21 X4, and if it’s going to rain when we are out and about, we take the wife’s Cayenne that only has the pano roof (no sunroof or shark fin)…. I’m only keeping this car for another year or so, so I don’t want to risk this sort of leak. I already had a warning light once that seems to point to this leak…. So now I’m super careful when I wash the car and only gently spray off the area around the shark fin. I know my sunroof drains are fine because the car is garagd both at home and at work. I don’t worry about driving in the rain because the water is more or less “moving” off the car except at lights.

Sucks too… kind of a blemish on an otherwise fantastic car.

Post Edit: My car is now out of warranty (as of a few days ago). I opted not to get an extended warranty because of the short amount of time I plan on keeping it; it wasn't worth the money invested IMO. The only major repairs I'm on the lookout for are the oil housing failure and a possible coolant leak from somewhere (a lot of plastic pieces). Other than those, I don't expect too much, especially since (as I stated) my car is garaged almost 100% of the time (i.e. not baking in the Texas summer sun nor getting rained on over and over again).

[lfdal54]

Originally Posted by Hugo L.

Turns out that the seal around the cargo area is leaking and needs to be replaced. Yet another appointment on July 9th.

Oh, and BMW can't align these cars for shit. After telling them they got it wrong the last time, they redid it and my steering wheel is STILL 2-3° off to the right. Which means if I set the steering wheel at 12, I end up in a ditch within 500 feet.

Ridiculous. Taking it to an indy shop in a couple of weeks.

I wonder if they're following BMW's procedure? Last I looked, that involved putting a weight in the driver's seat and resetting a steering sensor. I do remember someone saying their steering wheel angle was incorrect after an alignment due to the sensor(?) not being reset.

[ContactPatch]

Not a permanent solution, but if water is sloshing around in the battery compartment, place these in the leak area to absorb the water, until the leak is corrected.

[Hugo L.]

Originally Posted by lfdal54

I wonder if they're following BMW's procedure? Last I looked, that involved putting a weight in the driver's seat and resetting a steering sensor. I do remember someone saying their steering wheel angle was incorrect after an alignment due to the sensor(?) not being reset.

Funny enough, the indy shop I made an appointment with (hole-in-the-wall place that mainly fixes Civics and Corollas for 70 y.o. folks) told me right off the bat that these electric-assist steering racks needed to be reset prior to the alignment and that in some extreme cases, even with the reset, if the rack was at its adjustment limits, some people actually buy a different knuckle with added degrees of adjustment.

Originally Posted by ContactPatch

Not a permanent solution, but if water is sloshing around in the battery compartment, place these in the leak area to absorb the water, until the leak is corrected.

Not a bad idea. I might even use that just in case the issue comes back. My trust in the dealer being able to fix anything is growing smaller by the day.