How to: Clean BMW Sunroof Drains (CLOGGED)

[@ron8566]

Suggestion - pull the rubber strainer caps off of the lower front drains. All they do is trap dirt and clog things up. I would not worry about the possibility of something crawling up the drain so I leave my caps off.

[@boistoys5451]

good idea

[@JJsAutomotive]

Cut the end to so it is no completely shut by default.

[@kasomoru6]

@ron8566 Yep, me to, the engineer who designed that plug needs to go back to college 🙄

[@kevinford6420]

I think it just pulls out.not 100% sure though.BMWs are particularly prone to this happening.

[@NeedABigrHammer]

I was driving down the highway and my visor starting raining 😂 this solved the issue so thanks!!

[@Ofcourseitis879]

This shit happened to me too the other day 😭

[@redtawa]

Same problem with a 2012 X1. Most was rubbish from next door jacaranda tree. Love the vid. Saved me a bundle

[@d3cal617]

Exact same issue happened with my e90 m3, you just saved me a trip to the dealer because I assumed it would be something much worse lol

[@1800KLIENFELD]

Dude. Thank you!!! F85 is clogged and I’m gonna check it out tomorrow.

[@mrmike789]

Wow! Had my 2007 bmw 750 li for 12 years and had no idea about this til my windows were always fogged for the last 2 years and water on the back floor for the last month. Now have to figure out how to pull carpet up to dry out. THANKS !!!

[@ron8566]

Don’t forget there also two drains in the front cowl under the hood. You also need to make sure they are clear in addition to the 4 near the pano roof. Last, the vapor barrier in the doors can come loose and water will also enter the car that way.

[@bmwmd110]

Same for the f85? I cant feed the line from the sunroof down, it seems to be stuck.

[@bassbeetz]

Super Helpful, thanks. I've been aware of this issue on my E61 and try to remember to clean them every 4-6 months. This time I forgot. Didn't have a fully flooded interior, rather the spare tire well. Sadly, where BMW decided to put all the modules. Luckily, it was just a hint of water, but I was getting some electrical issues, like a reset clock, AWD/DSC lights, etc. Not good. Cleaning the drains. Hot Tip- REMOVE those dreaded clog-inducing tips or modify them. The risk of water going in from underneath is way less than the inevitable clogging. I used compressed air and trimmer cord.

[@User-qu7pq]

Yea I was wondering if I should remove the plugs completely. I also wanted to blow air through the drain lines but saw the use caution as It might disconnect them. No issues with that though?

[@genjutsu123]

Every 6 months? I'm selling my stupid bmw

[@CptTenneal1]

Had this problem with my 2012 X5. Water got into the electronics via the D-pillar. $1,700 fix. It is criminal that BMW doesn't warn users to have the drains checked periodically.

[@piotrkrasowski8259]

Really in 2024 someone need to be inform about drain tubes need to be checked every summer??

[@CptTenneal1]

Yes. No dealership or other repair shop ever has mentioned this to me. None of my friends know anything about it.

[@sqooot]

Hey what exactly did you get replaced?? I have the exact same vehicle you have and when it rains the electronics go HAYWIRE

[@christophebuisson7536]

I spotted those magnificent wheels on the M5 wagon! Wow so beautiful!

[@JoeyyFingers]

Hey bro! I live in central FL and with all the rain yesterday i found myself in the EXACT same situation. And I did the same as you, parked it on my slanted drive way and assumed it was a rear drain issue. Your video was super helpful. Thanks so much. Just for reference I have a 2009 E90

[@Nico_335i_DCT]

Great fix Chris. Have a great weekend, Dutch regards, Nico.

[@retroFUNKINgroova]

After a year I fixed this problem thanks a lot this really helped. Appreciate it big time👌🙏🙏🙏

[@calvins6083]

Similar thing happening to my E90. Not to the scale yours is fortunately. Looks like my passenger side one is clogged, thanks for the vid, gonna give that wire a try.

[@ilyld2003]

Thanks for showing the details of the process!

[@ricardodebiasi2503]

Had some water coming inside my trunk this month. Went all over my rooftop into the battery compartment. Luckily no damage has been done to the electronics. From now on, once a year I’ll run some weed whacker line trough the holes of my sunroof and then I’ll put my vacuum cleaner on those rubber strainer caps. Just to make sure any kind of trapped dirt is sucked out of the tubing.

[@JGV_IX]

Well that’s one way of cleaning your carpets 😬😮‍💨 I love my panoramic roof on my X5, but I’m terrified of this happening 😵 Thanks for the video!

[@martinyable]

Thank you ! E91 320D Touring here in the UK. Battery became almost submerged and my garage informed me it caused a weak signal to go to the airbag and threw up airbag warning light . Will set about cleaning out the rear, since I can see the water coming in the cabin through the place where the dog net thing attaches to the roof.

[@martinyable]

I think mine's fixed, thank you. I didnt remove the glass, but I have done before and could never get it aligned properly again. Does anyone know how to do that?

[@lsantiago35]

This is my life rn w my e90 sedan it was driving me nuts!!! Thank you so much

[@mikukuisma]

wonderfully detailed video. thank you, this was a great help.

[@stevenwreyford4570]

Thanks for video. Kind of sad that BMW don't think that the front rubber drain tube with the unusual dilating star-shaped ends are going to result in blockage? It's almost as if they designed those drains specifically to get blocked. I'm not a car designer and I can see how it's a terrible design that is going to impact 10's of thousands of people. I've I made an equivalent mistake in my line of work I would be considered incompetent and wouldn't have a job.

[@genjutsu123]

Well there's the mass marketing machine about german engineering that makes these mistakes invisible

[@912garage3]

Same issues on my e90. I hate it. I usually try to use painters tape before a known rainy day. Usually works unless it’s a prolonged storm. Have to go home today and dry it out again. I had the instrument cluster stop working on me once before when this happened. Thought it was completely dead. After about 2-3 days it started working again like nothing happened.

[@TheBimmerBarn]

Have you tried cleaning these drains yet? The sunroof seal is designed to leak into these passages, it may be something you can test and solve! Sorry about that mate :(

[@gazpixs]

Thanks for the vid. I have to also add, please be careful sticking wire/plastic down the drain tube, I went with the small plastic tube to suit the drain hole and vacuumed out from the sunroof drains using water and WD40 to softened the debris/blockage. To my surprise I ended up sucking out a Camphor Laurel berry eventually after 6 or so rinse and repeats. If I went for the push through or compressed air method I would have blown off the drain tubes. Cheers Gaz

[@talhapinar229]

Thank you Bro. This was so helpfull. But i have water under the carpet. Do you know what can i do for?

[@dexstjok1]

Thank you so very much. This the most informative videos ever.

[@davidramez6219]

So glad my E46 wagon is a slicktop! I don't think BMW offered a E9x wagon slicktop in the US. Would love see more of your E46 wagon vids.

[@TheBimmerBarn]

I'd love to buy another someday, maybe this year if the cards stack up correctly. Would love keep one in my personal collection, maybe do a cool swap 😎 thanks for watching!

[@robster6868]

They did in the uk I’ve an e91 with no sunroof, my friend in France has an e91 with pan roof which leaked into the battery compartment

[@serhiimatviichuk7349]

Check your e53. My x5 2003 had the same problem.

[@Pantimoto]

My dash went out also when rain got inside, it was not as bad as your but took 3 days to dryout the dash inside my garage before it started working again.

[@captaindb3418]

Awesome vid man! Had the same problem with an Cadillac SRX and had to do the same thing lol

[@ranatasimmons3564]

I found this video after having this issue in my bmw428i…. Got some work to do. Same situation with me, I park at a slant, we have had terrible rainfall for nearly 48hrs, and only my rear driver side is water logged.

[@justinschippers657]

Be aware that the front drains go with a tube/hose down the inside of the A pillar. This tube/hose is connected to the drain with male a male female connection and for some reason that connection came loose on my car. So the water was just going down the inside of your a pillar. Tip; check if that connection is correct.

[@tomek860]

Good point- i will add that connectors that are located under the headliner - connect to the sunroof, they tend to get loose and cracked, they may disconnect if somebody decides to use a garden hoose to "pump it through".

[@lancerboi83]

BMW A pillar take them off then see if the Hose got any kinks in in als common have pano in my E53

[@paulaameeraghuneim8919]

Thanks for the very informative video 😊I have 2006 mini cooper first time driver 48 yrs old 😅. Can't wait till it's a hot day. I'm gojng to attempt this hopefully i won't break the sunroof. My speedometer speedometer doesn't work or my airbag 😢😢😢😢.

[@marcin4255]

Very good job. E90 335i is very good and powerful car.

[@imstout]

Thanks!

[@TheBimmerBarn]

Thank YOU! Hope this video helped 🙏

[@stevec8496]

i just had the same on my 04 645ci , i took 9 litres from the drivers rear foot well :)

[@tdever28]

I bought a used 2007 X3 with panoramic sun roof and the floors were soaked so I followed this video to clear the roof drains. I also wanted to replace the seal around the sun roof. In your video you removed both the larger front glass as well as the smaller rear glass. The front glass was easy to pop out by removing the 6 screws, but the rear glass I could not figure out how to get it out. the front screw tabs of the rear glass are "L" shaped and actually extend and attached under the roof opening which prevents just lifting the rear glass out. I assume the rear sunroof glass on 335i wagon has the same attachment on the rear glass. How did you get that rear glass removed?

[@TheBimmerBarn]

Yeah, similar! You'll have 2 torx screws on either side of that rear glass panel, and then once those are removed, you'll tilt/lift it from the back, then straight up and out! Hope that helps

[@tdever28]

@@TheBimmerBarn Thank you for the reply. I really enjoy your channel. so the two front L shape guide brackets attached to the rear glass that run under the frame opening are wider than the frame opening itself which has prevented me from lifting the rear glass panel out. I don't want to force the glass and I tried rotating slightly to see if I could get one of the brackets clear from the frame but that didn't work. I did tilt and lift as well but the brackets keep the glass from coming out. Not what function these backets have other than to frustrate removal. Thanks again for your reply

[@andyreive8349]

I'm in the same situation it sucks

[@jefferyk.spellerberg176]

Earlier quote from another thread: Quote: "Months later the water came in again so I sold the car." This is known as throwing that dead BMW cat over the fence into the neighbor's yard... and is a valid repair IMHO. My 2008 BMW 328i has GALLONS of water slowly seep into the left rear passenger's footwell. And the bizzarro world thing is, it take a MONTH before the water stops seeping. This happens if I park the car outside with the windows UP and the moon roof CLOSED - and it rains. The left rear footwell is full of water, and the driver's side footwell too (but not as deep up front, but it is equally persistant). Then if I park the car inside, for a MONTH after the foot wells will slowly fill with water, every day - I suck it out with the shop vac, and LO! the next day there is a new 1" water pond. I vacuum it out, and the next day, new little pond. I'm thinking of growing frogs in there. WE ARE TALKING GALLONS HERE. Where is the frucking 5 gallon reservoir of "slow release water" being stored in the frame of this stupid car? Its like there is a carefully regulated drip bladder inside of it somewhere. GALLONS!!! I sheet you NOT! The funny thing is... After I finally got it dry, I screwed up and parked it outside and left the windows down and the sunroof open, and it rained... and guess what? It got an inch of water, but when I vacuumed it out, it didn't fill back up. WHY IS THAT? Fellow wizards, WHAT DOES THAT TEACH US? WHAT DO I DO? I'll stop screaming now and listen... So my cynical lesson is - if you want to keep a 2008 BMW 328i sedan iinterior dry, PARK THE STUPID THING OUTSIDE WITH THE WINDOWS DOWN AND THE MOONROOF OPEN. For some reason, if you do that, it won't slowly leak down for a month... Seriously, how could BMW design such a POS car? I hate this car. I HATE IT, but I can't get any sucker to buy it.

[@YMTEJADA69]

I have the same Issue with my X5 2004 when light control module getting wet that happens every time when rain hard in central florida. I have to solve the same issue. 😅 Thanks God this no my daily day vehicle i also have infiniti Qx60 2019 but I still love my bmw x5.

[@Megacatares]

This worked for me thank you very much!

[@doswoods653]

Love that little light. I have one in every car and one in the house. The magnetic handle and different light modes as well as being rechargeable make it a great light at around $5 a pop.

[@TheBimmerBarn]

Agreed 🤝

[@emilyvlahakis9701]

I had my 2008 335i sport package at the mechanics for two years having turbos wastegate replaced and fuel pump, and from the lovely Fl pollen leaves buildup and no road the for so long my drains clogged as well. Finally when I received word my car was ready for pickup he informed the same amount of water got into my car , he cleaned the clogs and had the car detailed - they forgot to dry out the seatbelts the car smells moldy - any suggestions!

[@TheBimmerBarn]

To get rid of the last of the moisture, use Damp-rid, it work for me on customers cars. Make sure to remove the front seat and lift up the carpet, it may still be wet down there unless you live somewhere hot! And lastly for the smell, use an o-zone generator or ozium spray. That kills airborne bacteria/mold that causes smells. Hope that helps and good luck!

[@emilyvlahakis9701]

@@TheBimmerBarn I have camper moisturizer bags on all four floor areas and one of the big bucket Damprids. Thank you so much for the pointers and solutions to rid the whole car of smell and mold!!

[@SHWELL11]

Im in a similar BOAT with my 4Runner. I have to put a Dehudifier in it Monthly to dry it out. I have to pull the entire interior to address the issue (Roof Rack Holes are leaking)..

[@TheBimmerBarn]

Lmao the pun 🤣 but also the pain 😭

[@anthonyclarke994]

what kind of jack are you using? i like it

[@jannseffinexcelso3043]

Have had the same exact thing happen to my car e90 328i. Only the passenger backside footwell was flooded and i tried drying it as much as I can. The next morning my car just died and wont ever hold charge and needs a jump to even start. Would you know this is happening? Could i have damaged wirings under the footwell?

[@brotherlyloveovercomesover5486]

My e90 had the same problem. Thank you🙏

[@cuttingedgecool7235]

Excellent video!

[@edgaraguero1824]

What year is this BMW? I can’t find the drain plugs at the bottom of mine 😅 it’s a 2007 BMW X5 E70.

[@beterbey]

Hi, it may be a little bit too late but they're probably under the floor right at the beginning of the A pillar. That's where my 2008 X3 front drains are, your's should be the same. You don't need to remove the wheel cover, it's visible right at the bottom.

[@joeurban5914]

What type of jacks/lifts are you using?

[@TheBimmerBarn]

Quickjacks, I have a full video on my channel reviewing these!

[@hi-5ethiopia256]

You make my day thanks 🙏

[@erikparanoid3579]

I parked the car a lil bit down hill the same side like yours had water . So i think tis hapend like you said

[@atomicdetailsoc]

where do i get that jack lift setup, i need that lol

[@Onizukachan915]

On e34 amd e46 there is no drain opening, the front tube run into the rockers and water runs out between the spotwelds on the lower seam.

[@SSTK1982]

I use a guitar string, works miracles.

[@yusifamda]

excellent video, very thorough. i

[@rolandemehu8010]

My pano is stuck and doesn't open is there another way around it to drain it? Also will a clogged drain cause a sulfur smell?

[@TheBimmerBarn]

You could try sucking it out the bottom with a small/weak vacuum maybe? Sulfur smell perhaps, if there's some algae or something else growing in there 🤢

[@enzodavidediaz8228]

Lo intente pero estan muy tapados y el cable llega hasta los intermitentes laterales y ya no pasa de ahi y necesito ayuda

[@RedForeman]

So I don’t know anything about cars but could you feed the wire from the top all the way to the bottom if you wanted?

[@TheBimmerBarn]

The problem is if the wire catches the sides of the tube where it connects, it could disconnect your tube and then water would drain into the frame of the car. So you have to be super gentle, but a wire with a rounded tip might work :)

[@VicsOneStop]

how much was that lift? and where can I buy one?

[@chiefrocka8604]

Lo pressure compressed air not high

[@TheTruelakersfan]

So it has nothing to do with the weather stripping ? And just being clogged ???? You know how places wanted charge me thousands to change the stripping and not fixing the real problem!?

[@TheBimmerBarn]

Yeah the weather stripping is not supposed to make a perfect seal for the sunroof, the drains are built to catch the excess water and route it out of the car. Cleans your drains! Thanks for watching 🙏

[@jaymc1244]

Dry the cluster overnight on a bench. Hard reset in the AM

[@mikey.2687]

I have water coming out of my 2009 328i xdrive but its only om the driver side by the footwell.praying it's this. Do e90s have rear drains to?

[@TheBimmerBarn]

Yes, should have 4 drains just like this car! Good luck 💪

[@JJsAutomotive]

Some WD40 from the top to get the dirt dissolving might also be a start.

[@heigopalumae8715]

how to you open floor carpet? i have same issue but cant check under carpet as i have no idea how to open it? :D

[@TheBimmerBarn]

Gotta remove the seats and pull up from the corners/sides!

[@arjunt973]

did your underseat subs get ruined ? 06 e90 330i and my subs got ruined from the water

[@TheBimmerBarn]

Luckily no, but I found the water quickly and dried it out using a shop vac and space heater. If the water sits and has time to corrode the metal, it will ruin any speakers/modules down there.

[@damienmackenna469]

I had leaking problem and brought car to main dealer and all they wanted was to charge me big bucks to have a look. They gave me impression they had fixed issue. But recently in heavy rain the carpeting became saturated again. I discovered that the front left drainage duct of the sunroof basin was blocked because there was pooling when the car was parked on a slope in that direction. The duct has a right angle bend and it's difficult to feed a flexy wire into it. An idea came to me to use air pressure to release any blockage. I cut the valve off a bicycle tube leaving a margin circle of about an inch diameter. I went to the local service station and used the tyre inflator pump to push air through the duct using the compatible bicycle tube valve as a facing to allow air to flow through the duct. I tested the process by pouring water into the sunroof basin and water flowed down the duct with the evidence of pooling underneath the car. This is the best way to ensure these ducts are serviceable and can be done so easy without any significant cost.

[@Karguy4545]

What did you do to dry out the carpet and foam underneath the carpet? Same thing happened to my x7 and its currently at the dealership. I'm afraid it will develop mold

[@damienmackenna469]

@eprekelezaj Soak up as much water with towels or buy infants disposable nappies and use them to absorb as much water as possible and then turn on heater with dial turned to feet position and windows open while engine running for as long as it takes, perhaps an hour. Carpet will dry out completely.

[@Karguy4545]

@@damienmackenna469 thank you so much!

[@nicadair7700]

Pour some drain cleaning liquid into the sunroof drain holes it will work it's way to the bottom and clear all the crap out, no need to take the wheel off.

[@ReSpEcT90210]

Like a toilet/sink drain clog fluid?

[@sqooot]

DO NOT DO THIS. THOSE DRAINS ARE MADE FROM FLIMSY RUBBER AND DETERIORATE OVER TIME. DRAIN CLEANER IS CORROSIVE AND NOT FORMULATED FOR RUBBER!

[@panaitflorinvalentin1371]

Thank you man❤

[@TheBimmerBarn]

Hope your carpets didn't get as wet as mine!

[@panaitflorinvalentin1371]

@@TheBimmerBarn no is ok a little rain in left side

[@MrJinwright]

I just went through this too

[@danielfulop]

how to open the sunroof without electricity? :D my batteries were soaked in a similar accident

[@TheBimmerBarn]

There's usually an Allen key slot in the sunroof motor so you can manually turn it and close/open the sunroof. Good luck mate!

[@Adobooperator]

Happening with my e92 rn

[@rayyoung5360]

welp, now i have a project for this weekend.

[@patrikwishmaster4386]

Is there one particular wire and how much it is? Thanks

[@jacobp6739]

Does anyone have a good video on testing the fuses in this car?

[@TheBimmerBarn]

Here's a great video imo :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/h4TJmniXf6ejkM0

[@abdulgokarslan2994]

What happend to the woofers?

[@TheBimmerBarn]

Dried them up and they're still 'woofing!

[@MrAllie-bf6zt]

Use galvanized steel wire.

[@melmuhammad2024]

🏆

[@montana1636]

The cluster indicates a problem it isn’t “The”Problem, its a symptom

[@infinitetanner]

man, that is a nasty leak-

[@butterz1924]

Yup that’s my car as well 🤦‍♂️

[@pugs1377]

Gah! What a fucking nightmare

[@alins460]

Good effort to figure things out. Cool lift too!

[@tropx8995]

Showing the drains and how to unclog them (which in the title of this video) starts about 10 minutes in. I hate videos with the "talking hands". So annoying.

[@titop6152]

Sunroofs suck 💪🤡☝️

[@EdA-bz3bu]

I Pour hot water twice a year in my drain to keep them clean.