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1999 E36 Z3 - softtop leaking

8K views 9 replies 6 participants last post by  camelnuts 
#1 ·
hi all,my mate has recently bought z3 and doesn't know much about cars so i'm helping him out as i'm a fairly competant(ish) lol !!! diy mech,we have done a number of jobs on car service,anti rollbar link arms etc,but the car is leaking like a sieve ???
boot area has a lot of condensation on inner bootlid we have sealed the bootlid light but after rain inner lid is as bad as ever any common faults before we strip out boot completely ??(battery was swimming in 3" water)
also water seems to soak right thru roof skin and drip on driver seat (quite badly) again any common faults and or can roof be treated with scotchguard or fabsil or something similar or not ?? any ideas anyone
in fairness he has bought a lovely original car but it needs tlc-incidently this forum is awesome,full of info for home diy stuff,we have read up loads as neither of us has owned beemer b4,im vaux fan but thats just me?? lol
hope u can help,ta chris and rich
 
#3 ·
I'm sure I saw a thread on here a few months back about using silicone at the end of the A pillars to stop leaks (seals are insanely expensive from the dealer)..

And the boot leak, probably worth unblocking the drain holes so the condensation/can waiter can leak out. There's also a draining channel that can get blocked with leaves/debri and cause water to run into the car, so probably worth a look.

Other than that i'd recommend the Autoglym hood kit - been using it for the past couple of years and just recently bought my second pack yesterday and re-proofed my roof :thumbsup
 
#6 ·
softtop leaking



ta altreed,yeah read that ! thanks tho but we dont think thats the problem(we think),water seems to soak straight thru skin??? will treat it roof
also we had to pressure wash around boot seal to clear muck and grime and water now drops into channels and comes out bottom of rear wings,but we will force compressed air down channels to make sure,but there seems to be a lot of condensation inside bootlid so much so that when u slam boot down water pisses out of bootskin channels out over the rear bumper
 
#9 ·
If you open the roof, and take a look at the top/end of the A-pillar rubber seal, you'll see an indent/plug which can crack around the edge. Water running into the windscreen discharge channel that should head south and away is channelled along the side of the car and exits at the first join of the soft top and onto the seat.

Best stuff to use is Gorilla glue. Expensive for the amount you'll use, quite literally a dot, but does the jobe better than anything else...
 
#10 ·
Roof like a sieve

Hi, (virgin member here) did you ever resolve your roof leak problem? Just bought my first soft a couple of month ago. It appears that the roof is completely covered front to back with condensation. The boot lining in fact is not too back actually (only very slight condensation). This is spoiling the driving experience having water drip on your head whilst driving.

I've seen the thread regarding placing silicone in the pillows at the top of the windows where there is 2 rubber bungs/grommets?!?! Im going to place some black silicone in these but as regards to the roof is this just a case of treating the roof with some of the renovo or auto glym??

Or is it a case of driving around like a local thug having to constantly wear a hoodie??

Any help would be massively appreciated.
 
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