Liquid Damage Masive Issues per Local BMW service

[MrHick]

OK maybe a little long but I did not take my Ritalin today.

after washing the car I left a bottle of the aerospace protect ant in the trunk bin, behind the net on the right side of the trunk.

Saturday a week later I open the trunk and the bottle top got broken (Drive it like you stole it or buy a Yugo)
So I clean the Sh** of the trunk and not think too much about it.

Car was at 12000miles and had 800mls to service is I take the Sh** under the hood out so I can take it to service before the Thursday Key West road trip.

After all that is done I take it for a ride and it's all good.

Later that night the dash goes crazy, RPM's go to 0 then go back up lights come on then go off, TPMS lights up.

I plug in the BT scanner and there are tons of codes.
I clear the codes and they come right back after turning the car off.

So I take the car to the service and they figure that the couple of ounces that spilled in the storage part of the trunk somehow leaked under and in to the electronics that is under there.

They will have to change it and since I spilled the Sh** I have to pay for it.
Then they found that all of that caused the radio receiver under the dash to go bad so they had to change that, (They covered that part under warranty as it was not wet or to help me out a little or whatever).

After 10 days I go back to get my car and have a nice conversation with the service guy.


He Claims that they are
HAVING MASSIVE ISSUES HERE IN FLORIDA WITH TNEW BMW'S.

When it rains it rains buckets for an hour then stops and like that every day during summer.

The cars will get wet by going trough puddles, if you drove in the heavy rain in Florida you know that every street is a paddle until it stops and sewer catches up with huge flow of water.
People would put wet Sh** in the trunk like an wet umbrella or anything, water would leak under the trunk tray and electronics would freak out.


" DON'T PUT ANYTHING WET ON THE FLOOR OR IN THE TRUNK it does not make since they did this on these cars, it is causing us huge problems they should have put it under the roof panels"
is what he told me.

So I sad " no way that is bad for weight distribution but arnt there better ways of protecting the electronics then put it right under storage where you expect to put Sh**".


So what do I do, STOP Driving in the rain, my street is like a river when the rains come.

AGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

[BlackjackMulligan]

what did that repair cost you?

[ZedClever]

That sucks man sorry! Thanks for posting though; I've had trunk spills before, now I know to be more careful in the 1er.

[Mark M]

Agreed. I too think it is careless that they did not create some way to protect these electronics from such mishaps. How hard would it be to engineer some shielding or measures to keep moisture / water from intrusion?

[scorcherjf]

Don't put wet "sh**" in your trunk?

[mikead_99]

Sucks you went through that, but appreciate you sharing the lesson learned. I wonder if they make a rubber trunk liner or something, if it had a little lip that could help a lot.

[MrHick]

Originally Posted by scorcherjf

Don't put wet "sh**" in your trunk?

trunk and the floor
Or it might cost you 1200$+

[Mark M]

Originally Posted by scorcherjf

Don't put wet "sh**" in your trunk?

Wow...this has to be the most enlightening post of the century. I really want to know...why did you even bother wasting your time to post the above....and furthermore why did you bother wasting our time by reading your worthless nonsense?

Last I checked trunks are the part of a vehicle you use for transporting bulk items right? And last I checked groceries can be considerd a common bulk item for transport in a trunk. Oh...and following that profound logic.....soda, bottled water, milk, etc are all grocereis that are 'wet'. So according to your brilliant comments I should not haul groceries in my trunk? Tell me oh wise one, where in the manual does it say not to haul wet 'sh**' groceries in my trunk????

I stand by my above statement....BMW should have engineered better protection for this sensitive electrical equipment.

[MrHick]

Originally Posted by Mark M

Wow...this has to be the most enlightening post of the century. I really want to know...why did you even bother wasting your time to post the above....and furthermore why did you bother wasting our time by reading your worthless nonsense?

Last I checked trunks are the part of a vehicle you use for transporting bulk items right? And last I checked groceries can be considerd a common bulk item for transport in a trunk. Oh...and following that profound logic.....soda, bottled water, milk, etc are all grocereis that are 'wet'. So according to your brilliant comments I should not haul groceries in my trunk? Tell me oh wise one, where in the manual does it say not to haul wet 'sh**' groceries in my trunk????

I stand by my above statement....BMW should have engineered better protection for this sensitive electrical equipment.

Yes you are right and I am considering selling the car !!!!!!!!
But I had to PAY to get it fixed not BMW.
They engineered the car bad for the weather and environment I live in.
You can expect flood streets at least few times a week in Florida during summer and that is why the Service Guy was pissed about it.

You can put in your trunk whatever you want, you can dump 100 gallons of water in if you like but it will not be fun when you have to pay the bill later.

[Evice]

Sorry to break it to you... You bought the damn car. Do your homework before buying next time, if your streets flood 'a few times a week' go buy an high ground clearance SUV. That car is not a f.ing submarine for crying out loud...

[scorcherjf]

Originally Posted by Mark M

Wow...this has to be the most enlightening post of the century. I really want to know...why did you even bother wasting your time to post the above....and furthermore why did you bother wasting our time by reading your worthless nonsense?

Last I checked trunks are the part of a vehicle you use for transporting bulk items right? And last I checked groceries can be considerd a common bulk item for transport in a trunk. Oh...and following that profound logic.....soda, bottled water, milk, etc are all grocereis that are 'wet'. So according to your brilliant comments I should not haul groceries in my trunk? Tell me oh wise one, where in the manual does it say not to haul wet 'sh**' groceries in my trunk????

I stand by my above statement....BMW should have engineered better protection for this sensitive electrical equipment.

Funny, I thought the same thing about the op's post...

I suppose you could wrap up the computers in the trunk in some garbage bags... but they'd probably overheat and then you'd end up paying for them anyway. If you want to use your car like you would a pickup truck, be my guest.

[mattYKZ]

good reason to get the plastic moulded trunk liner maybe.

[bigmicj]

Sorry to hear about your mishap, but I'm glad you shared this with the others. Most BMWs since the E30 and probably earlier, have always had their batteries in the trunk.

Whenever I go to the gorcery store, I've always been conscious of putting cases of soda or water on the other side of the trunk (away from the battery) or either on the floor in the backseat. Sad to say, but it is as simple as don't put any fluids that can open easily in your trunk. You will be sorry later.

[RPM90]

Originally Posted by MrHick

Yes you are right and I am considering selling the car !!!!!!!!
But I had to PAY to get it fixed not BMW.
They engineered the car bad for the weather and environment I live in.
You can expect flood streets at least few times a week in Florida during summer and that is why the Service Guy was pissed about it.

You can put in your trunk whatever you want, you can dump 100 gallons of water in if you like but it will not be fun when you have to pay the bill later.

What electronics in the trunk?

There is a battery, some audio wiring to an amp.
What else?

My last 3 series didn't have any problems in any kind of wet.

As far as spilling things, well, trunks are NOT made for people spillings things back there. If you want to protect yourself from water damage there is a very nice rubber and/or plastic tray that BMW sells.

BMW or any car maker can't protect anyone from leaving opened liquids in their car and then driving it hard and fast.

I feel for ya dude. I'm sure it sucks to have your BMW needing that much repair and you footing the bill. But, I just don't see how this is BMW's fault in any way, unless the problem you had was NOT due to the liquid you left in there.
Are you POSITIVE this was your fault?
If so, then it's your fault.

[MrHick]

Originally Posted by Evice

Sorry to break it to you... You bought the damn car. Do your homework before buying next time, if your streets flood 'a few times a week' go buy an high ground clearance SUV. That car is not a f.ing submarine for crying out loud...

Ignorance is bliss
It's called the tropical zone and it covers good part of the planet not just my street.

So you saying if you live in Florida or South America you need to drive suv's
Or do the manufacturers have to make sure they cars can be used here.


I spilled few ounces of aerospace protectant (armorall type crap)
It was an accident in the storage part of the trunk, it should not have electronics under storage bin.

Thing about the rain flood around Florida killing electronics was told to me by a Service Guy I did not invent it.
My last two cars where slammed and had no problems, I had no problems with rain and my 135i yet and it's on KW's.

I am just trying to warn you guys I got my car back and will pick up the bad modules today.

We will see what they are.

[scorcherjf]

Ok, so you spilled some stuff in your trunk and it messed up the electronics. What does that have to do with the tropical zone and the rain? Did the rain leak into the car as well or something? I live in florida too and I haven't had any problems with rain leaking into my trunk or driving through puddles (although I don't drive through anything deeper than a few inches out of common sense).

[BlackjackMulligan]

Are you even SURE that the protectant caused these issues? Or is that just what they told you?

[MrHick]

Originally Posted by scorcherjf

Ok, so you spilled some stuff in your trunk and it messed up the electronics. What does that have to do with the tropical zone and the rain? Did the rain leak into the car as well or something? I live in florida too and I haven't had any problems with rain leaking into my trunk or driving through puddles (although I don't drive through anything deeper than a few inches out of common sense).

again reading is instrumental

Originally Posted by izavor

After 10 days I go back to get my car and have a nice conversation with the service guy.


He Claims that they are
HAVING MASSIVE ISSUES HERE IN FLORIDA WITH TNEW BMW'S.

When it rains it rains buckets for an hour then stops and like that every day during summer.

The cars will get wet by going trough puddles, if you drove in the heavy rain in Florida you know that every street is a paddle until it stops and sewer catches up with huge flow of water.
People would put wet Sh** in the trunk like an wet umbrella or anything, water would leak under the trunk tray and electronics would freak out.

[MrHick]

Originally Posted by BlackjackMulligan

Are you even SURE that the protectant caused these issues? Or is that just what they told you?

Not sure but I will get the modules back today.
it did get spilled and there are modules under there so I would guess that was the issue.

[Lester]

Are you saying the modules in the trunk (where the battery lives) or are there more modules that are not visible unless you take off the trunk side panels? I also keep bottles of wheel cleaner, and car wash Gel etc in the storage compartment.

[cagekicker]

sorry to hear that,dude.

[Templedogg]

Thanks for sharing, being from Seattle you can imagine we have a ton of water as well. Sorry for your loss!