E30 Convertible Folding Top Compartment Drain Fix
Tags: convertible, water-leak
Updated: December 20, 2022
I noticed a lot of condensation in my E30 after it rained a lot overnight. I checked the folding top compartment and water was pooling up inside and leaking into the interior. After some research, it seemed like the drains that are supposed to prevent water from sitting in the compartment were blocked so I set out to unclog them. In the process, I found a lil rusty surprise so I also patched that up too.
Here's the driver's side corner of the compartment that had water in it
How to clear the drains in the folding top compartment
Note: I chose to remove the top because I wanted to completely clean the gunked up area. You can unclog the drains without removing the top but it may be difficult to reach.
Removing the Top
- Remove the rear seats - The bottom bench piece is only held in with clips. Just pull upwards and it should come out - Remove the back portion of the rear seat. There are two 17mm bolts at the bottom. Once you remove those, pull upwards and it should come out.
- Remove the rear door panels - (for manual tops) First you'll need to remove the handle trim. Slide it towards the rear of the car and it should pop out easily. - Remove speaker cover panel. Just pull it straight out - Remove the two screws in the top corners (not the 4 screws for the speakers) - Pull back the part of the door seal that is in contact with the rear door panel
- Remove 2 of the nuts that secure the folding top.
- Remove the last nut and bolt that secures the folding top
- Disconnect the sensor
- remove the top
Clearing the drains
- Here's what it looks like once the top is removed
- Close up picture of the drain - a piece of broken plastic was stuck inside and it was clogging up the drain.
- Clean out the drain - remove obstructions - use compressed air to clear anything else blocking the drain
- note the 3 sets of square spacers. These help fine tune the position of the top to ensure the rubber seals are lined up.
- I used the compressed air from my bagged E90 ;^)
Repairing Rust Hole
The passenger side drain was in worse condition. Water sat too long and a rust hole formed so water wasn't being drained properly. This isn't a real fix, it's just a temporary one until I have time to weld it up.- Close up of passenger side drain - Instead of going down the drain, water would fall into the rust hole which led it into the interior
- Water flowing into interior - this area is behind the rear door panels - If the folding top compartment drains don't work properly, water leaks into this area - water flows in the direction of the arrow - dirt and grime built up over time as the water and crap in it bypassed the drain (evidence of water leaking in) - to check if your drain is working properly, spray some water into it and make sure water isn't flowing into this area
- Plugging the rust hole - sand the area near the rust - spray anti rust primer - plug the hole with some seam sealer
- I also used rtv to seal the black circular plastic plug
