Your fleet running reports

[tim]

I leased it for him as a first car as I'd had a tit full of used cheap cars after my daughter's Mito

Predictably it was faultless only needing a litre of oil, a pair of tyres and a minor service. Insurance was peanuts at £2200 for 19 months given it's a new sporty albeit 80bhp car and everyone in the household used and enjoyed it.

Did you lease it in your name, and how does that work with insurance for your lad if the car isn't registered to him? It's an interesting idea (we're a year from needing another car in the household so starting to think about options)

[Jobbo]

If you lease a car, it's invariably not registered to you anyway so I doubt that's an issue.

[Carlos]

As Jobbo suggests is doesn't matter as long as it is appropriately insured for him and me.

He would have been unable to lease it himself anyway as he was a minor and not allowed regulated finance.

[Alex88]

*breath deep and do not scream*
This evening I was greeted by this


After a deep breath and some screaming I started searching for the source of the Nile.

The water was coming in from the bonnet release catch and as I was parked on a slope it pooled down to the rear footwell.

I removed the pollen filter trim and could see the brake reservoir area was flooded. The bonnet release cable entry point to the interior sits 5mm higher than the drain

However the main drain on these is higher up - it collects water from the windscreen cowl, then goes onto the pollen filter trim, then goes off into the wing drain. And here I found my problem and I’m unsure how to proceed

FFS, that's annoying. I remember dealing with this BS on my 650i. Despite the clever leaf catcher thing on the front drains, they were always full of shite and I made it part of my routine maintenance to frequently keep them clear. I used to use an air compressor down the drain on both sides and blow all the crud out. It's amazing how much would be in there, and it wasn't like I was parked near a tree or vegetation.

Despite my efforts, the rear drains did get blocked. They had no filter/traps and were just open holes unsurprisingly, it got blocked and chucked a ton of water into the boot, which went straight to the boot well, which houses the battery. The water was about as high as the terminals!

I can't quite remember the exact setup, but its damn frustrating that your attachment thing has lost a clip and causes such a headache it takes ages to dry it all out.

[Mito Man]

FFS, that's annoying. I remember dealing with this BS on my 650i. Despite the clever leaf catcher thing on the front drains, they were always full of shite and I made it part of my routine maintenance to frequently keep them clear. I used to use an air compressor down the drain on both sides and blow all the crud out. It's amazing how much would be in there, and it wasn't like I was parked near a tree or vegetation.

Despite my efforts, the rear drains did get blocked. They had no filter/traps and were just open holes unsurprisingly, it got blocked and chucked a ton of water into the boot, which went straight to the boot well, which houses the battery. The water was about as high as the terminals!

I can't quite remember the exact setup, but its damn frustrating that your attachment thing has lost a clip and causes such a headache it takes ages to dry it all out.

The front water diverter design doesn't make much sense, it seems both over engineered and fundamentally flawed. I still can't get over the fact that the lower drain hole isn't at the lowest point and higher than the hole that lets the bonnet cable into the cabin.
One bit of luck I had was buying a wet/dry vacuum a few weeks ago. I got about 25 litres of water out but every few hours it pools up again. The insulation feels about an inch thick so it will take a while. I'm just going to drive it a lot every day so the AC does its thing and it doesn't get mouldy.

[Matty]

Having had 3 cars that leaked water - most recently being the Giulia, I feel your pain. It was minor on the Giulia, but it used to absolutely *piss* water into my Bora.

Are you pulling the interior apart? because I was shocked at how much water the insulation under the carpets held when I took the interior apart - and how long it took to dry out

[Mito Man]

I'm hoping not to. I have a small dehumidifier in the woods that I use to dry out freshly sawn boards, tomorrow evening I can collect it and I'm hoping that pulls out whatever moisture is left.

[Jimexpl]

Having had 3 cars that leaked water - most recently being the Giulia, I feel your pain. It was minor on the Giulia, but it used to absolutely *piss* water into my Bora.

Are you pulling the interior apart? because I was shocked at how much water the insulation under the carpets held when I took the interior apart - and how long it took to dry out

And people think it’s just old Land Rover defenders that let in water…

The sunroof drain holes on our X5 do a brilliant job of filling the boot and front passenger footwell if you don’t keep them clean!

[jamcg]

I remember my old sportka used to leak water into the engine compartment and would divert it nicely onto the coil pack so you got horrendous misfiring when it rained

[Ascender]

Good old internet forums... someone saw me asking about winter tyres on thew m3cutters forum and messaged to say he had a boxed, unused set of the CS wheels I was looking for so got them with a very good saving off the RRP.

Got them fitted yesterday so now just need to get some winters sorted.



Had to pop out with all the dogs today so chucked them in the wagon now it has a boot/seat liner and it worked a treat. With the seats down and the luggage net up behind the passenger seats there really is a good chunk of room in there.



Which then made me think about other "dogs in M cars we've owned".

[V8Granite]

It’s the sensible and smart way to travel !

Dave!

[Jobbo]

Did they enjoy travelling in the Dakar, Mike?

[Mito Man]

That's cool that the M3 still has the lifting glass. I thought BMW got rid of it to save money. Or maybe that's on the new 5 Touring.

[V8Granite]

The lifting tailgate glass is such a brilliant design, all estates and SUCs should have it.

Dave!

[Jimmy Choo]

I'm hoping not to. I have a small dehumidifier in the woods that I use to dry out freshly sawn boards, tomorrow evening I can collect it and I'm hoping that pulls out whatever moisture is left.

The E60 has an identical drain system which caused an identical issue. I used a long pipe cleaning brush and the hosepipe to unblock it and flush it out. A couple of days with the dehumidifier inside and it was good as gold. It's not caused a problem since.

A friend discovered her boot had filled up with water when she had to stop suddenly and her son yelled because the water came under the seat and into the back of his legs. She rang me up in a fluster about it and I had to sort it out.

[Mito Man]

It's fortunate that BMW don't fit control modules on the floor of the chassis like many others do!
I had water fill the spare tyre area in my Mito. Only found out about it after it started to stink really badly. Apparently the rear glass wasn't fully sealed. They also forgot to fit the AC drain pipe so the inside would get wet too.
Defender is parked under cover in all circumstances because I spent too much on it's interior to get ruined

[integrale_evo]

Does the current 3er have a luggage net built into the load cover?

Out old e46 had it and it was brilliant, take the cover out and slide it into brackets on the folded back of the rear seats and pull the net up to recesses in the roof.

X5 has neither anywhere to store the cover, nor a built in net / dog guard. You have to buy a separate one which hooks with elastic between seat backs and roof, and have to roll it up and store it in a separate bag when not in use. Feels like a big step backwards.

[Ascender]

Did they enjoy travelling in the Dakar, Mike?

I don't think any of them have been in any 911 actually. They're just too big really... I can see how the front seat could be quite comfy for a smaller dog - see Chris Harris' videos.

And yes, the tail gate top opening glass thing is just so simple and genius, I don't know why more cars don't have it.

@integrale_evo Yes, the luggage net on the load cover is fantastic when used with the seats down - whether its for dogs or carrying stuff and you want to protect the back of the seats/things flying through into the front. I had a full shower screen door thing in the last Touring.

So for four dogs... perfect. Space for them all to lie down.

[Delphi]

It's fortunate that BMW don't fit control modules on the floor of the chassis like many others do!

Common issue for Porsche Boxsters is people not cleaning the front and rear drain holes regularly which causes water to enter the cabin and pool under the passenger seat where the Body Control Module sits.

[Mito Man]

Car is all dry now. My drains were fine, just the plastic trim clip missing allowed it to lift and bypass the main drain. I think a lot of it is also just aging plastic going hard and not sealing as well. The X5 isn’t much better but comparing to my mums car which has been in a garage all its life the plastics feel supple like a car tyre. Compare to my car which feels like a hard plastic with no give.