Water coming in from inside door panel

[Tom corden]

Hi there. Just found water coming down from bottom of inside door panels. My i3s is just over 3yrs old and only done 14000 miles. Can anyone help with where water is leaking in. Regards Tom c

 

[alohart]

Hi there. Just found water coming down from bottom of inside door panels. My i3s is just over 3yrs old and only done 14000 miles. Can anyone help with where water is leaking in. Regards Tom c

Some leaks originate around a poorly-installed windshield. If the windshield isn't original, that would be a possible source.

 

[ksnax]

Dealing with a similar leak I cannot figure out. All of my door seals seem to be in great condition, but moisture keeps accumulating under the rear seat in the area my tool is pointing to. It's not wet anywhere but that little trough with no moisture above or below that area with the most recent moisture being from the last 2 days. I had thoroughly dried everything out the prior week.

 

[Mondomensch]

Maybe try leaving the rear seat out for a bit and see if you can spot the path of the water by checking frequently. Maybe it is moving to the trough from an adjacent leak somewhere. Covering the area with something like paper towels might make it easier to spot.

 

[BarryM]

Dealing with a similar leak I cannot figure out. All of my door seals seem to be in great condition, but moisture keeps accumulating under the rear seat in the area my tool is pointing to. It's not wet anywhere but that little trough with no moisture above or below that area with the most recent moisture being from the last 2 days. I had thoroughly dried everything out the prior week.

I take back my comment in another thread when I said water couldn't leak into the rear seat area as the windows don't open

 

[ksnax]

I take back my comment in another thread when I said water couldn't leak into the rear seat area as the windows don't open

I may have stumbled onto the issue from another somewhat recent thread here from a former BMW Tech:

The area under the rear hatch plastic inner trim has a bit of a well in the carbon frame that can collect water. In my case, I know my hatch seal was a little dirty with debris along the top and wasn't properly installed along the lower section. I fixed that last week, but when I pulled the lower trim area apart yesterday to check, there was water in that well.

What I think is happening is that it doesn't leak forward until it either fills - or when I hit the brakes. I'm not clear on the exact path for that, but the seat well is the only place water is ending up.

We are getting over a half inch of rain here in the next day, so I'm going to keep checking it. I am hoping what water was in there yesterday is just leftover from the previous rains.

The fix is super easy with drilling some small holes. I'll wait to see what happens with the rain, but do that if water is still coming in.