[timmo65]

Hello,
I had the issue a few months back with the water spraying in to the boot when the tail gate was raised and cleaned out the active spoiler drain holes as mine were blocked.

A couple of days ago I had to get something from the boot tray under the boot floor and notice it was damp and on further inspection saw about 1cm of water in there. I took the liner out today to see this...



I dried it out but I cant immediately see where its coming from. I assume its not the active spoiler blocked holes unless its been there months and Ive cleaned out the 2 side runs here ...


Im also not sure if these should come out as I damaged one trying and cant see it in the parts catalogs. Is it intended as some kind of drain plug ?



So I have left some paper towels in there and will await further rain - shouldn't take long. Failing that its hose pipe time.


Maybe its the boot lid seal itself ? anyone else have this ? any ideas where else to look ?

Thanks

[Billfitz]

I wouldn't remove that plug, that would allow water to come in. Probably the only way to track it down is by sitting in the car while someone hoses it down.

[WhiteCollarMetalHead]

I dont have personal experence with this on the GT, but lived the nightmare with my old VW. I would be suspect of the sunroof drain when seeing this. Check item #3 in the diagram here, https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=54_0461 . Again, no specific experence just trying to think of potential problem points. It looks like the sunroof drains are setup to drain down the channels on either side but its a location that could be leaking above the headliner and down into the trunk floor. On my VW the "C" pillars were fabric and you could see the staining of water, our GT's have the vinyl / plastic material that wouldnt soak up water the same way, harder to diagnose without pulling this apart.

I wonder if having the spoiler drains "clogged" with sitting water in there, it could have leaked past the gasket at all and made its way in? Mine have clogged before and would dump water when you opened the hatch but I never investigated beyond cleaning out the drains under the spoiler

Hope you figure it out!

[timmo65]

Thanks for looking.
I don't have the pano roof so assume I won't have those drain holes either ??

I ran the hose over it today then it absolutely bucketed down so I got in the boot. Its odd I didn't see any really obvious sources of drips but I did see a tiny bit here and there. I can't see how that could fill up the storage tray as much as it did unless its been happening over years. This is possible as I don't know how I would have seen it.

I have a feeling its the boot seal that may be allowing it in as it seems to be coming in from the corners where that odd plastic cover is right by the lights. To be honest I can't be sure. I think I will maybe reseat the boot seal adding a bit of petroleum jelly and keep an eye on it. Maybe a bit of foam in there to stop any possible sloshing!

Also note to self and others - when in a work team chat clarify further when you say you are taking a break and are going to sit in the boot of your car while setting up the hose.

[Billfitz]

Once it gets in there it's going to take forever to evaporate out. I wouldn't use petroleum jelly on seals and gaskets, but you should treat all of them regularly with a seal and gasket conditioner.

[timmo65]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

Once it gets in there it's going to take forever to evaporate out. I wouldn't use petroleum jelly on seals and gaskets, but you should treat all of them regularly with a seal and gasket conditioner.

Thanks I will look for something - was contemplating a bead of silicone sealant under it !

[admranger]

Gummi pflege

nextzett 91480615 'Gummi Pflege Stift' Rubber Care Stick - 3.4 fl. oz

Amazon has it.

[Yyveel]

For example I had a problem with a trunk gasket. It’s super hard to seat it properly. I saw on your 3rd photo that you missing bolt/stopper

[raptor14]

We had unfortunately a very similar issue with our F34 twice this year, once in August and once in December. Both times the day before we had pretty strong rain.

In August the dealer was needed as the amplifier was completely gone and by this we recognized it as it was painfully silent in the car. They did not really found the root cause but the pipes from the pano roof seems to have been blocked. They cleaned them and all was good until December.

This time the amplifier was not gone just temporary not working. But they still did not found the root cause.

It cannot be linked with the active spoiler, this water is just not getting anyhow inside. It has to come from another spot.

Please update if someone finds a possible spot where the water is coming inside.

[Olliehh]

I’m dealing with this exact problem... only thing is the water got into my battery and amp compartment also! My amp now doesn’t work so now I have no sound at all in my car. I’ve replaced the popped fuse taken the amp apart and cleaned with contact cleaner and still nothing! BMW charge £1230 for a replacement amp! Check your battery and amp compartments!

[admranger]

Originally Posted by Olliehh

I’m dealing with this exact problem... only thing is the water got into my battery and amp compartment also! My amp now doesn’t work so now I have no sound at all in my car. I’ve replaced the popped fuse taken the amp apart and cleaned with contact cleaner and still nothing! BMW charge £1230 for a replacement amp! Check your battery and amp compartments!

Bummer. Can you find an amp from the salvage yard? I’d replace with one if the dsp aftermarket solutions if I had to spend 1230 pounds sterling!

[joshio93]

Hi, timmo65 , did you get anywhere further with this?

I'm currently having exactly the same problem. Had huge amounts of water in the boot (battery almost submerged). Somehow the only thing that seems to have gone is the amp.

I've had it all dried out and the garage believes that the leak was all from the drains under the spoiler. (In fairness, I have never cleaned them out in the year that I have owned the car).

I'm now on the search for a new amp to avoid paying £1200 from dealer. They seem to be very hard to find second hand, does anyone know a good place to look? Alternatively, is there an aftermarket replacement for the Harman Kardon amp? A few people I have spoken to seem to think I have to replace with the HK one as it also has fibre optic to the head unit etc.

admranger , you mentioned DSP aftermarket solutions, any further info on this?

New to the forum but have read several posts on here in the year I've owned the car and seems like a really helpful place to be!

Thanks

Josh

[admranger]

Originally Posted by joshio93

H
admranger , you mentioned DSP aftermarket solutions, any further info on this?

Josh, not sure how cheap it is where you're at, but here's one potential solution (I haven't checked to see if it fits your system so do that).

Look here: Match Up amp

and here:Bimmer Tech amp

[Olliehh]

Originally Posted by joshio93

Hi, timmo65 , did you get anywhere further with this?

I'm currently having exactly the same problem. Had huge amounts of water in the boot (battery almost submerged). Somehow the only thing that seems to have gone is the amp.

I've had it all dried out and the garage believes that the leak was all from the drains under the spoiler. (In fairness, I have never cleaned them out in the year that I have owned the car).

I'm now on the search for a new amp to avoid paying £1200 from dealer. They seem to be very hard to find second hand, does anyone know a good place to look? Alternatively, is there an aftermarket replacement for the Harman Kardon amp? A few people I have spoken to seem to think I have to replace with the HK one as it also has fibre optic to the head unit etc.

admranger , you mentioned DSP aftermarket solutions, any further info on this?

New to the forum but have read several posts on here in the year I've owned the car and seems like a really helpful place to be!

Thanks

Josh

Hi josh, I’ve only just today got sound back in my car. I bought a used amp from eBay from a US seller because even with the extortionate (£140) shipping fees charged by ebays global shipping programme it was a lot cheaper than anything I could find In Europe.

enter the part number for your amp into realoem and it should bring up a list of all versions of that amplifier. If it’s no longer being made realoem will tell you what part it was replaced by (superseded by). Make a note of the superseded by PN and all other part numbers that are listed as ‘bilatterally exchangeable’ these are the ones guaranteed to work in your car without any additional coding. Personally I couldn’t find one so I went for a part that had a date of manufacture that’s as close to mine as I could find.

Luckily it works great!

I also had to replace a blown 40amp fuse from the fusebox in the boot just behind the back seats (there’s a flap
You just lift up). I think this fuse relates to ASD in the amp because before I replaced it I still had no sound from the new amp but strangely the car recognised it and stopped giving the ‘no warning tones message on my I drive’ and I had an error code saying the ASD couldn’t start because of low voltage. the 30amp fuse next to it is for the power to the amplifier. Check and replace both these if needed (there should be a fuse puller and fuse diagram in the fuse box).

Also yes you will need to replace with a HK amp the fibre optic cable is for your MOST bus system... you won’t get any sound if the loop Is broken.

If you’re based in the U.K. google a company called cartronics. They can repair ANY bmw amp 100% guaranteed (so the guy told me on the phone). They charge about £89 to diagnose however and won’t give you a price for the repair until it’s been diagnosed. I didn’t go for that option because I had already ordered a replacement amp before I found them.

Good luck! I’m so relieved I was able to fix mine without paying dealership labour and over a grand for a new amp. It’s actually a really easy fix once you’ve diagnosed the problem, it’s just a case of finding a suitable amp (and maybe changing a fuse!).

[joshio93]

Hi Olliehh , thanks for the response.

Had a local BMW specialist try and fit an amp today but I think he had the wrong part and said it wouldn't fit. He also said that there is trace amounts of water back in there (have been driving the car for around a week since having it dried out, and boot seal replaced (and a £600 bill!)).

I'm now at the point where I'm thinking of just trying to get rid on we buy any car or something and just say that the sound isn't working. I can't replace the amp with the possibility of it just happening again.

Out of interest Olliehh , what was the issue with your Amp? Was it a water leak, and if so did you find out where from?

[Olliehh]

Hi josh,

I’ve just seen you’re message on eBay!

What I did before fitting a new amp was remove all excess water (check your battery compartment also if there’s water in your amp compartment there’s almost certainly water in the battery compartment also!) as it took over 2 weeks for the new amp to arrive I just monitored the situation over that time And so far it’s stayed bone dry and we’ve had lots of rain where I live. I’m still monitoring the situation now.

I can’t be sure where my leak came from but I live in the south east in the U.K., and we had a period of really cold weather a few weeks ago. It would rain/snow heavily in the day and then overnight any standing water would freeze, this caused my active spoiler to get stuck down and would trigger a spoiler malfunction message from the car when driving at high speeds. I poured warm water over the spoiler one morning in an attempt to melt the ice (which worked) but I think this is where the water came from. The water in my car was clear and clean which suggested it wasn’t coming from the road from blocked dranaaige pipes under the car like some people report. I’m 90% sure it was melted ice and the water I had poured over the spoiler (as the amp stopped working 2 days after I poured water on the spoiler, and I identified the problem 2 days after that so in total it was sat in water for about 4 days).

If you had any issue with your spoiler being frozen down it’s likely that as the block of ice that froze your spoiler stuck melted... it seeped into the boot compartments (I managed to get a look at it and it was quite large blocks of ice! It certainly would be enough to damage the amp of it ended up in the amp compartment as water).

Even if you haven’t noticed any issues with your spoiler it doesn’t mean it hasn’t been frozen (because it only raises if you drive fast enough and it doesn’t trigger an error message from your idrive if it doesn’t attempt to rise). if you had heavy rain followed by temperatures cold enough to freeze standing water your spoiler almost certainly got frozen down!

I can’t guarantee this is what’s happening with you but I would recommend doing investigations yourself if you can. Because that way you can check regularly and be sure of what’s going on. Try hosing the car down to simulate rain.. immediately after you do that open the boot and check both amp and battery compartments to see if you see any signs of water ingress. If you don’t you can be sure it’s not rain water. If you’ve had cold weather and rain it might be meltwater.

[joshio93]

Originally Posted by Olliehh

Hi josh,

I’ve just seen you’re message on eBay!

What I did before fitting a new amp was remove all excess water (check your battery compartment also if there’s water in your amp compartment there’s almost certainly water in the battery compartment also!) as it took over 2 weeks for the new amp to arrive I just monitored the situation over that time And so far it’s stayed bone dry and we’ve had lots of rain where I live. I’m still monitoring the situation now.

I can’t be sure where my leak came from but I live in the south east in the U.K., and we had a period of really cold weather a few weeks ago. It would rain/snow heavily in the day and then overnight any standing water would freeze, this caused my active spoiler to get stuck down and would trigger a spoiler malfunction message from the car when driving at high speeds. I poured warm water over the spoiler one morning in an attempt to melt the ice (which worked) but I think this is where the water came from. The water in my car was clear and clean which suggested it wasn’t coming from the road from blocked dranaaige pipes under the car like some people report. I’m 90% sure it was melted ice and the water I had poured over the spoiler (as the amp stopped working 2 days after I poured water on the spoiler, and I identified the problem 2 days after that so in total it was sat in water for about 4 days).

If you had any issue with your spoiler being frozen down it’s likely that as the block of ice that froze your spoiler stuck melted... it seeped into the boot compartments (I managed to get a look at it and it was quite large blocks of ice! It certainly would be enough to damage the amp of it ended up in the amp compartment as water).

Even if you haven’t noticed any issues with your spoiler it doesn’t mean it hasn’t been frozen (because it only raises if you drive fast enough and it doesn’t trigger an error message from your idrive if it doesn’t attempt to rise). if you had heavy rain followed by temperatures cold enough to freeze standing water your spoiler almost certainly got frozen down!

I can’t guarantee this is what’s happening with you but I would recommend doing investigations yourself if you can. Because that way you can check regularly and be sure of what’s going on. Try hosing the car down to simulate rain.. immediately after you do that open the boot and check both amp and battery compartments to see if you see any signs of water ingress. If you don’t you can be sure it’s not rain water. If you’ve had cold weather and rain it might be meltwater.

I had ALOT of water. Battery was almost completely submerged. Amp was in a shallow pool, and it had spilled out into the main boot section (like original pics in this post). Problem with mine was that the sound went in mid Jan, 2 days after that we had a baby and my car sat on the drive unused for 3 weeks before I got it looked at. So I'm assuming in that time the situation only got worse with the car being static for so long.

I'm gonna head out now and take a look at it all and see if it's still wet. I've also contacted cartronics as you recommended so that sounds like a viable option too (thanks!). I'm also going to check some of the other MOST bus fibre optic cables etc do double check everything else.

Weird thing is I have had 0 warning lights or messages what so ever on the iDrive. The Idrive has also stopped getting some comms, (I assume because amp is unplugged and fibre optic circuit is open ended) things like: Doesn't keep the time, Idrive doesn't show fuel range, avg consumption or speed etc etc.

[Olliehh]

Originally Posted by joshio93

I had ALOT of water. Battery was almost completely submerged. Amp was in a shallow pool, and it had spilled out into the main boot section (like original pics in this post). Problem with mine was that the sound went in mid Jan, 2 days after that we had a baby and my car sat on the drive unused for 3 weeks before I got it looked at. So I'm assuming in that time the situation only got worse with the car being static for so long.

I'm gonna head out now and take a look at it all and see if it's still wet. I've also contacted cartronics as you recommended so that sounds like a viable option too (thanks!). I'm also going to check some of the other MOST bus fibre optic cables etc do double check everything else.

Weird thing is I have had 0 warning lights or messages what so ever on the iDrive. The Idrive has also stopped getting some comms, (I assume because amp is unplugged and fibre optic circuit is open ended) things like: Doesn't keep the time, Idrive doesn't show fuel range, avg consumption or speed etc etc.

Yeah I had water in my storage section too.. a LOT of it. Be careful when handling any fibre optic cables try not to bend them (you’re MOST ones will always be green). I had no issues with anything other than the radio and media (both were just blank, they displayed nothing at all). Sat nav and telephone still worked but obviously there was no sound. But they would start up and operate fine.

It all depends what extras you have in your car and what order they’re connected, that’s what determines what will be affected. From my research if I remember correctly in the f34 the first device in the MOST loop is the dvdplayer/tv tuner if you have one(installed above the amp attached to the side of the car you can’t miss it, it’s not the thing that looks like a small hard drive I believe that’s for the navigation which isn’t on the MOST loop) from there the signal goes to the amp, from the amp to the commsbox (I had a Bluetooth unit in mine connected to a separate fibre optic system not the MOST one, from what I understand the Bluetooth unit was replaced by a commsbox in later models) and I can’t remember what’s after those but the signal ends back at the head unit.

Anything connected after the amp won’t be working.

I didn’t have any warning messages as such but when I turned the car on my idrive displayed a message saying ‘no warning tones’. If I selected Ok it would go away until I next started the car.

I’m guessing you’re model is later than 2015 as it sounds like you have a commsbox?

[Billfitz]

Maybe we need to consider bilge pumps?

[joshio93]

Originally Posted by Olliehh

Yeah I had water in my storage section too.. a LOT of it. Be careful when handling any fibre optic cables try not to bend them (you’re MOST ones will always be green). I had no issues with anything other than the radio and media (both were just blank, they displayed nothing at all). Sat nav and telephone still worked but obviously there was no sound. But they would start up and operate fine.

It all depends what extras you have in your car and what order they’re connected, that’s what determines what will be affected. From my research if I remember correctly in the f34 the first device in the MOST loop is the dvdplayer/tv tuner if you have one(installed above the amp attached to the side of the car you can’t miss it, it’s not the thing that looks like a small hard drive I believe that’s for the navigation which isn’t on the MOST loop) from there the signal goes to the amp, from the amp to the commsbox (I had a Bluetooth unit in mine connected to a separate fibre optic system not the MOST one, from what I understand the Bluetooth unit was replaced by a commsbox in later models) and I can’t remember what’s after those but the signal ends back at the head unit.

Anything connected after the amp won’t be working.

I didn’t have any warning messages as such but when I turned the car on my idrive displayed a message saying ‘no warning tones’. If I selected Ok it would go away until I next started the car.

I’m guessing you’re model is later than 2015 as it sounds like you have a commsbox?

Nah mine is a 64 reg so probably same setup. Just been out and had a fiddle. If i plugged the amp back in everything else started working again as normal (except sound). Also I could see a light inside the amp (assuming its the fibre optic), so I think that completed the circuit again.

I've unplugged it again so I don't short any fuses etc but have left the fibre optic plugged in and that seems to make the other bits work that had stopped.

Also no more water in there which I was pleased to see! Gonna try the cartronics thing and hope for the best. 2 days ago I was gonna get rid so now I'm optimistic!

[Billfitz]

The fiber optic light comes from the HU, so it doesn't mean the amp is OK.

[Olliehh]

Originally Posted by joshio93

Nah mine is a 64 reg so probably same setup. Just been out and had a fiddle. If i plugged the amp back in everything else started working again as normal (except sound). Also I could see a light inside the amp (assuming its the fibre optic), so I think that completed the circuit again.

I've unplugged it again so I don't short any fuses etc but have left the fibre optic plugged in and that seems to make the other bits work that had stopped.

Also no more water in there which I was pleased to see! Gonna try the cartronics thing and hope for the best. 2 days ago I was gonna get rid so now I'm optimistic!

Billis right! If you have a light coming on in ur amp it means your amp is fine! That’s good news! Mine had no lights, Do you have a scanner that can read the fault codes?

If not don’t worry check the fuse box in the boot by the back seat. You’ll have to remove the floor to expose the storage compartment and it’s just to the right behind the little cubby hole storage underneath a flap.

Get the fuse diagram out and the fuse puller and identify all the fuses for ur hi if system. It seems the 40amp for for your ASD has blown replace and you should be good to go! It’s less than £2 for a double pack of 40amp fuses from Halfords.