california sunroof water leak

[james tracy]

I have water coming into the trunk area on both sides and the headliner gets wet on the back left.I checked my drains on the sunroof and they seem to work properly or at least water drains out the bottom. Does anyone have any idea where my problem may be or how to fix it?

[1996 328ti]

I believe the front drain should be just in front of the lift pads. My right front carpet ws getting soaked. I brought it to a windshield repair shop and they stuck a wire somehere along the chassis rails and water started pouring out once the leaves were cleared.
You might want to lift the car and run water on the windshied to see where the water is coming out of.

[james tracy]

I think I have finally discovered where my leak is coming on my california sunroof. The outer rubber seal has shrunk up slightly in the rear corners and was allowing water to come in. I temporarily put black electrical tape over the edges of the seal in back and the leak has stopped. I checked with the dealer about replacing the seal. The cost was about $600. I think I am going to lift the edge of the seal and put in a fine bead of silicone in using a medical syringe. I also found a leak in the seal at the top of my hatchback and repaired it by pulling the seal up and putting silicone under it.

[318tidom]

I have the answer you seek. I had the same problem, and I had nightmares about it for weeks before I finally fixed it. The good news is, your BMW dealer will replace the seal for free if it has separated at all in the middle rear where the two ends of the seal come together. HOWEVER, having the dealer simply replace the seal DID NOT fix my leak! This problem was about a 10 on the piss me off/how to fix this scale..... right up there with "my driver's side window keeps popping out" problem. Just send me an email if you want info on either of these problems. Happy to help if I can.

[tipsyaj]

So you got them to replace it for free ? Is your car under warranty ? I've noticed that the rubber surrounding the cali roof on my ti is showing a gap on the center of the left side of the top ... I'm wondering what I need to do to get this replaced without having to pay ... lemme know what you said and whether you were still under warranty.

[318tidom]

My car was not under warranty. In the rear of the car, where the two ends of the california roof seal come together, the seal will sometimes separate, leaving about a 1/4" gap. If that is the case with your seal, BMW will replace the seal for free, regardless of whether or not your car is under warranty. BMW calls this a "service bulletin". Hope this applies to your car. Check your car, then call your BMW dealer and see what they say. The guy at my dealership didn't know anything about it until I told him to look at the service bulletins regarding the california roof.

[tipsyaj]

Question:

Are service bulletins similar to recalls in that if a service bulletin is placed on a problem you have, they have to take care of it, warranty or not ? Found a site with a list of all the service bulletins, it was a pretty long list ...

[1996 328ti]

Not. Once the warranty is over, it is over. You might find a dealer willing to do it as a courtesy but that would be money out of their pocket. The only thing that was extended, AFAIK, was the cat on the 98. At least if there is a bulletin it should be easier for a tech to do the repair since it is a known problem.