Car Crisis Situation: Help/Advice Needed ASAP!!!

[webster]

so this morning i'm tucked in bed sleeping soundly when my neighbor rings the doorbell to let me know that my sunroof and all windows are open. last night we had a huge rainstorm and now my car's interior is totally, completely soaking wet. i mean standing pools of water in the door pockets wet.

so why did this happen? yesterday after work i noticed the car was unlocked. i never forget to lock my car so i was somewhat startled/confused. later yesterday i noticed that the car was having a delay in locking from when i hit the lock button on the remote key. also this morning when i went out to the car i noticed the pass side turn signal (the amber light that courtesy blinks when you lock/unlock the car) is on at all times.

so i pulled the car into the garage and unplugged the battery and she now sits as such.

my immediate concern is what to do for the sopping wet interior. i really don't want to ruin my pristine cloth/alcantara seats and interior. i also don't want to let the moisture to sit and allow mold to form. i had that happen to a previous car that got flooded up over the floor boards, and it ended up causing nasty mold and totalling the car (granted it was a POS 90s Maxima not worth $2k but still). the first thing i did was to take a bath towel and dry off as much of the plastic/vinyl surfaces in the interior. but i'm not sure what to do for the seats/door cards. hair dryer? go buy an industrial size dryer?

it's 40 and wet out which doesn't help either. ughhhhh...not what i wanted to be dealing with on football sunday.

[BlackNTan]

Wow what a mess. I'm sorry to hear that. I think I would get one of those heated fans from Home Depot and try to get the car as dry as possible today before any mold can grow. You may need to keep the doors open so the moisture doesn't get re-deposited in the headliner.

This happened to my convertible on several occasions. I left the car overnight and came back to find the windows and roof down without any input from my remote. I went to my local shop and the problem was with the door lock and the mechanism that performs the "all down" function when you keep the open button pressed down on your remote (you can also do it through the lock itself). They repaired the lock and that solved the problem.

Best of luck with the cleanup!

[zhpnsnv]

Oh man that is tough. I'm sorry. I guess do your best to dry and clean what you can, especially carpet-wise since the water will just hang out there. Then get it to a professional detailer ASAP and tell them you want everything deep-cleaned. I wouldn't wait until the mold smell sets in, which I imagine it will.

[danewilson77]

You could pull the seat and carpet and insulation that resides under it. Then dry it our with fans inside your residence.

[webster]

thanks for the replies guys.

from googling and searching it seems as the culprit is the driver's window module/lock assembly that gets corroded and sends fried signals. that seems like an easy enough fix.

more concerning is the carpet/cloth. one guy who had the same thing happen said he ran the heater with the doors closed for an hour. another person recommended pulling the entire seats/carpet out to dry off.

also i'm hoping no water seeps into any of the electronics (like MRS module right under center console). last thing i want is an airbag deploying in my face driving down the road.

[wsmeyer]

A wet/dry shop vac will get a lot of the water out of the carpet and seats. After that you're going to need heat and ventilation. As Dane said, taking them out might be the easiest and most effective.

William.

[echo46]

Happened to me this summer in the vert. I pulled the carpet and kept a fan blowing in it for two days. It worked and no mold. Be proactive, don't let it sit there and gather mold.

[Hornung418]

Remove the seats, pull the door cards, pull the dash, pull the dash support, remove the carpet. Take your carpet to a professional cleaner and have it dried completely. Wrap all of your cables in the interior with towels so they don't get ruined. Get two large industrial fans to pull the air in one side and out of the other. Leave them running for 24 hours. Service Master has some seriously high powered fans you can rent.

Sorry this happened, Wes. Shame your key fob failed you :(

[static667]

You could pull the seat and carpet and insulation that resides under it. Then dry it our with fans inside your residence.

^^This. It will be a pain in the ass but, it is your best bet.

[Ryans323i]

A wet/dry shop vac will get a lot of the water out of the carpet and seats. After that you're going to need heat and ventilation. As Dane said, taking them out might be the easiest and most effective.

William.

+1

Sounds like you've determined the problem. Definitely get pro active and start drying. Wet/dry shop vac, like William suggested, or hand held (Bissell Little Green Machine) carpet cleaner, or even just the hand tool on an upright carpet cleaner. I'd suck a much water out, pull the seats and carpet and run fans over the interior that's left. Also might take the center console apart and wipe up and excess water, if there is any. Very simple to get into there, here's a couple general DIYs: http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=734286, http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=968895.

[webster]

just got back from Home Depot. rented a carpet cleaner and carpet blower. also got an oscillating floor fan. gonna get started on trying to remove as much water as possible right now.

also called my shop's foreman, we are friends enough that he got right back to me, even on a sunday. i'm gonna schedule a tow to the shop first thing in the AM, they are going to pull the seats, carpets, and door panels to determine the extent of the water damage. depending on those results, is when i will or will not have to involve the insurance co.

pretty bummed right now. oh and it's 36 degrees and windy and wet out.

[Hornung418]

Hope it goes smoothly. Good luck!

From a GS3, this was sent.

[derbo]

good luck sir! that carpet insulation is like a sponge and will hold a significant amount of water. Hopefully nothing too major if it all is dried and taken care of.

[kayger12]

just got back from Home Depot. rented a carpet cleaner and carpet blower. also got an oscillating floor fan. gonna get started on trying to remove as much water as possible right now.

also called my shop's foreman, we are friends enough that he got right back to me, even on a sunday. i'm gonna schedule a tow to the shop first thing in the AM, they are going to pull the seats, carpets, and door panels to determine the extent of the water damage. depending on those results, is when i will or will not have to involve the insurance co.

pretty bummed right now. oh and it's 36 degrees and windy and wet out.

Sucks, Web.

Fingers crossed for minimum aggravation and maximum success.

[JupiterBMW]

The low temperature will actually work in your favor... It may take a longer time to dry out, but mold won't grow as quickly. Like others said, get everything out and soak/shop vac up as much as you can. Use bath/beach towels, they're very absorbant... The biggest thing, do NOT close up the car for any time. Leave it open to the air, and keep air circulating.

Stagnant air and/or warm air are what will create the mold... Take it from someone that lives in a hot/humid climate. Good luck.

[JupiterBMW]

Just read your other post. Taking the seats and door panels off is about 45 minutes of work, maybe an hour and a half if you've never done it. Don't pay for a tow for something so simple... If you don't have a garage, disregard everything I said in this post.

[Johnmadd]

I would take the kick panel and maybe also the door sill off and try and run your fan under the carpet.

[aurelius]

Also worth doing (and easy) is to remove the plastic discs covering the lower door vent holes. They face the ground on the lower door shell and can be popped back in once all is dry.

[echo46]

Yea, I agree, don't get it towed just carefully unbolt the seats and disconnect the electrical harness. Not that difficult. Then you will have easy access to deal with the carpet.

[danewilson77]

Disconnect battery prior to pulling front seats/door panels!

Sent from Williamsburg, VA USA

[nk_zhp]

Park the car somewhere where you have access to an electric outlet. Buy one of those portable dehumidifier. Place it inside the car and crank it. You can blow fans all you want but nothing sucks out moisture like air that has none in it. Periodically empty the water bin out of the dehumidifier.

At some point you will need to clean out the carpers using various carpet cleaning solution an a shop vac.

Good luck.

[webster]

thanks for all the responses guys.

i don't have the garage space to take the car apart myself, and it's gonna be dark soon. gonna let the experts handle it at the shop. they are going to pull the seats, carpets and door cards and have them cleaned and disinfected for mold. they are also going to inspect, dry and treat all the electrical wiring, harnesses and connectors underneath (starting to sound $$$). i was told whatever i do not to reconnect the battery due to potential threat of frying a module.

the carpet cleaner i rented ended up being a POS. went back to Home Depot and swapped it for a mini shop vac. tried to get as much water out as possible. the dehumidifier is a good idea, wish i had thought of that.

gonna let the carpet blower run for the next 3 hours or so, then run it back to HD. my plan for overnight is to leave the windows half cracked and keep fans blowing from the outside. can't leave the windows fully open or run the risk of stray alley cats using my car as a hotel.

[johnrando]

GL Wes.

[Sockethead]

thanks for the replies guys.

from googling and searching it seems as the culprit is the driver's window module/lock assembly that gets corroded and sends fried signals. that seems like an easy enough fix.

more concerning is the carpet/cloth. one guy who had the same thing happen said he ran the heater with the doors closed for an hour. another person recommended pulling the entire seats/carpet out to dry off.

also i'm hoping no water seeps into any of the electronics (like MRS module right under center console). last thing i want is an airbag deploying in my face driving down the road.

We had this same issue in the 135 last fall.... We'd come out and the windows or the sunroof would be open. Replacing the driver's side lock assembly fixed it but not before the interior got soaked with rain water. I just pulled it into the garage wiped everything down and ran a fan for day or two.... probably didn't have as much rain water as you though...

[Imola.ZHP]

Do you have full coverage insurance?

Your car has essentially now been in a flood, electronic components corrode over time after they have been wet. Think about a cell phone that gets wet, sure, you can let it dry out and it will work fine for a few weeks, but then the copper inside starts really corroding and it usually dies...

I would hate for a safety component to stop working... You should call your insurance company, make them aware of the situation and take it to a shop where it can be looked at and determined if there is any permanent damage... Power mirror controls, power seat controls, radio, HVAC, power window controls, etc, etc, etc, with the windows down and sunroof open, there is no telling what all has been exposed to copious amounts of water...

Best of luck!

[webster]

update:

the car was towed yesterday AM to the shop. they immediately removed the seats and carpets to examine the extent of water saturation. John the shop manager sent me pics as progress was made showing the work. he said the foam was not completely soaked thru which is good. some areas were pretty wet as expected. the car has been drying for the past 24 hours. i don't yet know if any of the electrical components are screwed up. overall he said it's not as bad as they feared and he is hopeful i won't have to involve the insurance company.

fingers crossed. hoping i get the car back today.

here is the last time i saw her. looks as if nothing's wrong. had to roll the windows up cause it was raining as it was being towed :facepalm

http://i46.tinypic.com/29l02dw.jpg

[johnrando]

Promising. Fingers crossed.

[Ryans323i]

Wes, it sounds like the shop is going to be able to handle things and it's going to be ok. Really great to hear.

[Sockethead]

Don't delay in fixing the door lock, you don't want to have to go through that again...

[Stu]

That is a terrifying scenario. Is there any way to prevent this? Can you disable the "all windows down" function on the lock mechanism?

[wsmeyer]

That is a terrifying scenario. Is there any way to prevent this? Can you disable the "all windows down" function on the lock mechanism?

You can with a programming cable. Not a bad idea if you live in wet climates and don't use that feature.

[wsmeyer]

Glad to hear it wasn't that bad and it's in the process of getting back to normal.

[Rovert]

You'll be fine. Last year I had a leaky vapor barrier on the driver side rear. I had no clue about it as I thought I was drying up the carpet surface for months and I'd deal with the leaky door when it got worse. I didn't know that the water was actually mostly going below the carpet where I can't see or feel it. A couple months later my friend helped me fix the vapor barrier and we took out my driver seat. Lifted the carpet and there was a pool of water dripping out of all the dense foam/sound deadening material. It was cold out too...about 40F.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-_XE_Zul-myw/T0ddET9l1LI/AAAAAAAACN0/hCKsUbe5RX8/s1024/P1020908.jpg

That's the water I sucked out from my mini vac and absorbing as much as I can with a super absorbant towel. When I was done with that the foam was cool to the touch but there was no water pooling at the lowest point of the foam so now it was my window fan's job to keep air moving to dry the rest up.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-CtxgkkkANU0/T0ddCogY5wI/AAAAAAAACNs/rtf7jdGTMHc/s720/P1020904.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-CtxgkkkANU0/T0ddCogY5wI/AAAAAAAACNs/rtf7jdGTMHc/s720/P1020904.jpg

Since I didn't do this in a damp/humid climate I didn't need to purchase a bucket of powdered dehumidifier for the interior. After a few days it was all good to go and no sign of mold. :) This is after having water stand in those areas for more than a month. Good thing there were no mosquito larvae....would have made for a swatty ride when they hatched!

[webster]

just got an update from the shop. $1548 total for parts/labor as a result of this nightmare. my insurance deductible is $500 for flood/water damage so i started a claim with State Farm. here is the detailed description of the work:


Inspect vehicle after windows came down over night by themselves for water damage.
Note: customer towed vehicle in, disconnected battery, attempted to dry as much as he could for protection.
---Remove both front seats for access, door sills, kick panels, and pull up carpet to find wetness. Allow interior to air dry while carpet is held off of floor.
---Reinstall carpeting, front seats, door sills, trim, and kick panels.

Sub-Total: $698.25

Replace drive front door lock actuator including remove and install door panel, trim, (4.8) and reseal vapor barrier (.4). Then clear fault memory (.8)
Note: No diagnostics can be done at this time to actually confirm this is the problem with the windows and sunroof opening automatically but this is the most likely cause. This is also the first thing recommended to be replaced in this situation to try and prevent this from happening again.

Parts: 51 21 7 011 247
Door lock actuator e46 cp L
$139.77


Sub-Total: $738.27

Note: Towing @ $85

Job Totals
$1,521.52
Environment
$15.22
Sales Tax
$11.53
Total Due
$1,548.27




set up a rental thru Enterprise and going to pick it up in half an hour. ZHP won't be ready for another couple days.

ugh. this has me suddenly a bit sour on my car. not gonne lie, i've been on autotrader today looking at potential replacement. started browsing thru M3s, 335is's, 135is's, Porshce Boxter/Cayman, and i realized: i don't want another car. i want MY car. i just don't want it to open all the windows during a rainstorm again :(

[Hornung418]

Thats great news though. Sorry it had to happen like that though. Shes ready to give you 100k miles of driving pleasure now :)

From a GS3, this was sent.

[BlackNTan]

I get exactly what you're saying Wes. The first time I saw all the windows down (after a 7 day trip) I freaked because there had been a minor dust storm and the interior was pretty dusty. I wondered if I had accidentally pressed the button on my key. Then when I saw the windows and roof all the way down in the morning one day I knew there was a real problem. By the time I got in with the shop, the roof went down 3 times and thank heavens it was not a rainy week. It seems that this is not an isolated problem.

I also think about newer, faster, more powerful BMWs all the time, but I keep coming back to the ZHP as being a fabulous car and even though crap breaks, I still enjoy driving this car. I also think the updated front is gorgeous and even though my car is almost 10 years old, it still looks great.

[danewilson77]

I get exactly what you're saying Wes. The first time I saw all the windows down (after a 7 day trip) I freaked because there had been a minor dust storm and the interior was pretty dusty. I wondered if I had accidentally pressed the button on my key. Then when I saw the windows and roof all the way down in the morning one day I knew there was a real problem. By the time I got in with the shop, the roof went down 3 times and thank heavens it was not a rainy week. It seems that this is not an isolated problem.

I also think about newer, faster, more powerful BMWs all the time, but I keep coming back to the ZHP as being a fabulous car and even though crap breaks, I still enjoy driving this car. I also think the updated front is gorgeous and even though my car is almost 10 years old, it still looks great.

What was the fix Johnny?

[Sockethead]

Replacing the door lock actuator fixes the problem. Wes, don't think that this problem is isolated to the e46 as we had the same problem with our e82.
E90s etc, all have the same issues and the nwere cars have electric water pumps... same issue as e46 but it will cost you $1500 to fix

[danewilson77]

Only one door lock actuator? Which one?

[kayger12]

Does disabling the comfort opening prevent this from occurring if the actuator goes bad?

If so, I'm definitely going that route. Comfort opening is certainly not worth this nightmare.

[echo46]

Great to hear. Sorry you had to pay that much but seems you found the culprit?

[LivesNearCostco]

Wes, love the look of your wheels.

[johnrando]

LOL at your new tag line Keith.

[kayger12]

LOL at your new tag line Keith.

Boss gets all the credit for that one.

I could sense him chuckling as he typed it, lol.

[Stu]

Shes ready to give you 100k miles of driving pleasure now :)

And she was so excited for it that she got soaking wet.













:shift

[webster]

yeah it seems replacing the door lock actuator is the solution. thanks for all the replies/thoughts guys. just hoping i get my car back in reasonable shape.

it still baffles me how such a fine automobile can be subject to such a quirky electrical glitch. oh well. life goes on.

in the meantime i got a SWEET dodge journey from enterprise. it's big and white and handles like a boat. has this diagonal sloping windowline that creates blinds spots at every angle. kinda looks like a child molester vehicle. handles like a boat and has some crappy putt putt 4 cyl. it's awesome. i'll get a pic up tomorrow.

[Sockethead]

Only one door lock actuator? Which one?

From what I've seen and heard from Kpro, it's the driver's side but I don't know for sure



Does disabling the comfort opening prevent this from occurring if the actuator goes bad?

If so, I'm definitely going that route. Comfort opening is certainly not worth this nightmare.

That's a good question Keith.... you would think that would be a good workaround but then again, it's a BMW so who knows... it's such a bizarre problem to begin with. :scratchinghead

[az3579]

Does disabling the comfort opening prevent this from occurring if the actuator goes bad?

If so, I'm definitely going that route. Comfort opening is certainly not worth this nightmare.

If I was to go by logic, I would say no. The comfort open is controlled by the GM5 module. Enabling/disabling that would just be a active/not active setting in that module that should only affect user input. He obviously didn't tell the car to open its windows during a rainstorm, so in this case the car overrided the user's choice. I could see it overriding the user's choice of not having the comfort open feature as well.

[alexandre]

Another possibility: it could be that the possibly failed GM5 erroneously "thought" it was receiving an "hold unlock on remote key" or "hold key in driver's key hole in unlock position" signal... Having comfort access disabled would mean that such a signal would basically do nothing. Are we sure it's an actuator problem vs a GM5 failure ?

BTW... There's a way to specify which windows you want to open/close in programming options. I have mine setup as open driver/passenger front, no sunroof or rears when holding unlock, and close all 5 windows when holding lock. Much less risk of flooding if it screws up and not that much of a hassle.

[Imola.ZHP]

I also think about newer, faster, more powerful BMWs all the time, but I keep coming back to the ZHP as being a fabulous car and even though crap breaks, I still enjoy driving this car. I also think the updated front is gorgeous and even though my car is almost 10 years old, it still looks great.

I couldn't have said it better myself... I'm always stalking 335i's, 135i's, etc, but can't ever pull the trigger... If I ever do, however, no trade will be involved, keeping my ZHP forever...

----

On topic, I'm glad you took it to a shop and had it looked at by a professional. Now we just have to hope that when they put it back together that it doesn't rattle from broken (or not installed properly) clips, etc...

I too, wonder if it could be a GM5 issue. Mine acted up for about two weeks, though the windows never went down on their own, and then one day it went back to normal...

[Sockethead]

Another possibility: it could be that the possibly failed GM5 erroneously "thought" it was receiving an "hold unlock on remote key" or "hold key in driver's key hole in unlock position" signal... Having comfort access disabled would mean that such a signal would basically do nothing. Are we sure it's an actuator problem vs a GM5 failure ?

Well that's kinda what happens... the GM5 receives a hold key in driver's key hole in unlock position" signal from the defective door actuator....if you can turn that feature off then the erroneous signal from the actuator would be ignored just as physically putting the key in and holding it there would be ingnored...in theory

[alexandre]

Well that's kinda what happens... the GM5 receives a hold key in driver's key hole in unlock position" signal from the defective door actuator....if you can turn that feature off then the erroneous signal from the actuator would be ignored just as physically putting the key in and holding it there would be ingnored...in theory

Actually yeah, you're right! I'd probably still send in the GM5 to the guy that runs bmwgm5.com to have all the relays in it replaced... It's $100 and that way you're 100% covered after the actuator replacement.

[Sockethead]

Umm, I was trying to point out that the there is nothing wrong with the GM5... the problem is the door actuator...

[az3579]

Well that's kinda what happens... the GM5 receives a hold key in driver's key hole in unlock position" signal from the defective door actuator....if you can turn that feature off then the erroneous signal from the actuator would be ignored just as physically putting the key in and holding it there would be ingnored...in theory

Wow, I didn't even think about that. Totally forgot that you can roll the windows down/up with the key. Very good point sir.
So that's where the door actuator comes into question...

[kayger12]

Looks like I'll be requesting a deactivation of my comfort open setting at this year's meet...

[webster]

update: the car is still sitting at the shop waiting to be put back together. an insurance adjuster went out to look at it yesterday but only approved half of the $1500 bill, minus my deductible, leaving only $338 that insurance would pay. obviously that's a bunch of BS and so i sent state farm the PDF of the estimate from the shop. i'm hoping that will increase the amount they pay. we'll see.

[webster]

car is back. after my deductible state farm ended up paying a whopping $338.38 of a $1548 bill. awesome.

on the plus side, it sure is nice have her back and be outta that crappy rental. my shop had her detailed inside and out before returning; the interior is immaculate. feels brand new.

http://i47.tinypic.com/313kdnm.jpg

hopefully this puts this issue to rest. pray it doesn't happen to anyone else...

[danewilson77]

Glad she's back Webby.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2

[kayger12]

Glad she's back Webby.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2

+1

Sent from my kick-A Galaxy S3

[mLuMaN83]

Oh dude... sorry. Hope it all gets resolved without issue!

[Hornung418]

Oh dude... sorry. Hope it all gets resolved without issue!

...it's been fixed already.

Wes, glad it went smootly.

From a GS3, this was sent.

[johnrando]

Glad you're back in action.

[Sockethead]

That's a big sigh of relief, eh?

[jayjay_dee]

Wes, glad you have her back...

[webster]

That's a big sigh of relief, eh?

well, honestly not really. i have no guarantee that this part won't fail again. i am pretty soured on BMW right now. i love my car, hate the brand.

[Sockethead]

Have that feature turned off in the coding....

[Imola.ZHP]

well, honestly not really. i have no guarantee that this part won't fail again. i am pretty soured on BMW right now. i love my car, hate the brand.

Sorry to hear this, I hope your feelings turn around... I am confused as to why finding/fixing what caused the issue was not part of the fix and claim? I would have tried to get a new GM5 and some BMW dealer programing on that repair ticket...

Best of luck!