[Alan l.]

First off my 2020 X5MC never had issues with leaks but I've seen enough threads about this to make me worried when is it going to happen to mine. If you search youtube this seems to be a common issue with all BMWs with sunroofs and my old E46 did as well.

Doesn't matter what model year you have or if you open your sunroof to not when it leaks, it leaks and you never want to deal with water issues in cars.

The cause of the leaks is that your front drain tubes gets clogged either entirely or just enough where water starts pooling in the sunroof cassette tray and overflows into your roof. By design water is allowed through the sunroof but there's a tray with drain tubes in the front and rear of the car to divert it to the ground.

I figured out a pretty simple way to clean out your front drain tubes without the need to remove or damage anything. It seems to work because I managed to get a ton of black dust/dirt out of the drain tubes during this process and I almost NEVER open my sunroof.

The only tool you need is a decent portable tire inflator type pump with this attachment. The pressure of mine was enough to blow out dirt but not to the point it would rupture the line or blow off a connection point behind the interior. I DO NOT recommend using a super strong shop air compressor for this.

Step 1 - Locate the drain tube ends on behind the two front doors. If you put your finger on it you can feel there is a slit and you can stick your finger inside. This is where the water drains from the front of your sunroof down to exit the car.


****(update - tape a straw a the end of this. The straw is flexible and long enough to reach the sunroof drain hole much easier!)****
Step2 - Use your pump and insert it in there while moving it around slightly. while moving it around I started to see some of gunk get blown out of the opening. Don't go nuts just in case you puncture the inner tube then you'll have a bad day taking the interior apart.



Step 3 - Open your sunroof all the way and look for the drain hole towards the front of the car. There is one on each side. I couldn't get a clear pic of it but if you put your finger there you can feel it. I was able to get my tire pump hose to the hole and let it blow air down the tube for 30-60 secs. You should feel air coming out of the lower opening that you just cleaned.




Step 4 - Repeat step 2. The reason is to remove anything that could have been pushed down from the prior step.

Repeat on both sides.

I was actually shocked how much gunk came out of my car considering I never open my sunroof. I guess this is 3 years worth of crap that was building up in there and it will eventually slow the water down enough where it will pool up top and leak.

I highly recommend doing this as a preventative measure if your car is at least a year or two old. Especially if it's parked outside a lot.

Alan

[bayarea328xit]

Thank you!

BMW should give us an option to omit the sunroof - I'd actually pay money to omit one in my car.

[Samurai of 2day]

Excellent write up, Alan. Thank you.

After experiencing a leak for the first time last week, I'll take some time to clean those drains this weekend.

[johnnyredgtr]

Thank you. Nice write up.

[BobsM3Coupe]

Originally Posted by bayarea328xit

Thank you!

BMW should give us an option to omit the sunroof - I'd actually pay money to omit one in my car.

I would also gladly pay them to delete any type of sunroof. I don't even open the shade.

[Alan l.]

Curious to know if you guys tried it and how much gunk actually came out. Let us know. I'm wondering dealers that ends up changing out the whole sunroof for leaks is warranted or if they are just doing it for $$$ either from the customer or through BMW warranty.

[Alan l.]

Originally Posted by dayan80584

Insert the stiff wire or cable tie into the drain hole and gently push it forward and backward to loosen any clog-causing debris. Be careful not to push too hard or you might damage the drain tube.

I originally tried this first but the wire didn't go very far before it stopped. I suspect there must be a connection point or turn in the hose that stopped it from going any further. Last thing i wanted was to force it and pop it off or tear it behind the headliner.

[MADBMWX5MC]

Originally Posted by Alan l.

First off my 2020 X5MC never had issues with leaks but I've seen enough threads about this to make me worried when is it going to happen to mine. If you search youtube this seems to be a common issue with all BMWs with sunroofs and my old E46 did as well.

Doesn't matter what model year you have or if you open your sunroof to not when it leaks, it leaks and you never want to deal with water issues in cars.

The cause of the leaks is that your front drain tubes gets clogged either entirely or just enough where water starts pooling in the sunroof cassette tray and overflows into your roof. By design water is allowed through the sunroof but there's a tray with drain tubes in the front and rear of the car to divert it to the ground.

I figured out a pretty simple way to clean out your front drain tubes without the need to remove or damage anything. It seems to work because I managed to get a ton of black dust/dirt out of the drain tubes during this process and I almost NEVER open my sunroof.

The only tool you need is a decent portable tire inflator type pump with a ball inflator attachment. The pressure of mine was enough to blow out dirt but not to the point it would rupture the line or blow off a connection point behind the interior. I DO NOT recommend using a super strong shop air compressor for this.

Step 1 - Locate the drain tube ends on behind the two front doors. If you put your finger on it you can feel there is a slit and you can stick your finger inside. This is where the water drains from the front of your sunroof down to exit the car.



Step2 - Use your pump and insert it in there while moving it around slightly. while moving it around I started to see some of gunk get blown out of the opening. Don't go nuts just incase you puncture the inner tube then you'll have a bad day taking the interior apart.



Step 3 - Open your sunroof all the way and look for the drain hole towards the front of the car. There is one on each side. I couldn't get a clear pic of it but if you put your finger there you can feel it. I was able to get my tire pump hose to the hole and let it blow air down the tube for 30-60 secs. You should feel air coming out of the lower opening that you just cleaned.




Step 4 - Repeat step 2. The reason is to remove anything that could have been pushed down from the prior step.

Repeat on both sides.

I was actually shocked how much gunk came out of my car considering I never open my sunroof. I guess this is 3 years worth of crap that was building up in there and it will eventually slow the water down enough where it will pool up top and leak.

I highly recommend doing this as a preventative measure if your car is at least a year or two old. Especially if it's parked outside a lot.

Alan

Thanks for posting and reminding me I need to take care of this. I've had 3 BMWs -- all leaked, mostly my fault for not taking care of the drains.

[Alan l.]

For those attempting this I figured out a slightly better way to get to those drain holes in the sunroof. I taped a straw to the end of the air compressor giving me more reach where I could bend/guide it to the holes easier. Worked like a charm.

[kgelfen360]

Originally Posted by Alan l.

For those attempting this I figured out a slightly better way to get to those drain holes in the sunroof. I taped a straw to the end of the air compressor giving me more reach where I could bend/guide it to the holes easier. Worked like a charm.

Have u tried a can of compressed air with a straw ?

[Alan l.]

^^ I don't think there is enough pressure/volume to be as effective.

[furam28]

This worked like a charm. I used the air pump and pushed air up from the bottom. Worked right away.

My 2019 x5 is under extended factory warranty. They would not cover it, not even the diagnostics. Even when it was under factory warranty and less than 50k miles. My service rep told me it was "environmental". WTF. He even suggested I should file an insurance claim; aka insurance fraud. This is clearly defect or flawed design, given hundreds of people complaining about it. If sunroof drain is something that needs to be serviced regularly, or cleared out, put it in the damn manual. Make it a routine maintenance. I had water dripping down my driver side microphone a couple times at the car wash. Hopefully, it didn't cause any damage inside. I made sure to leave the windows slightly open those days and fully dried out the car.

After clearing out the drains, I took it back to the car wash today. No leak. I opened the sunroof. There was no water pooled there. I could see water drip trail at the drain exit at the door hinge, meaning it all drained out.

[R///MG]

Originally Posted by bayarea328xit

Thank you!

BMW should give us an option to omit the sunroof - I'd actually pay money to omit one in my car.

I'd only omit it if they offered a carbon fiber roof as an alternative and the inner roof liner being all alcantara with lighting. The skylounge is nice at night though and that's about all I use.

[2heeldrive]

Thanks for putting that together, I'm going to clean mine out ASAP. Are there drains in the back of the sunroof that need to be cleaned out too?

[BobsM3Coupe]

Originally Posted by 2heeldrive

Thanks for putting that together, I'm going to clean mine out ASAP. Are there drains in the back of the sunroof that need to be cleaned out too?

There are rear sunroof drains. Though the exit port for them is hidden behind the rear wheel inner liner and at the sunroof level, I don't believe the drain hole can be seen without the rear section of the sunroof first being removed.

[Thomas Wertimer]

The X3 (among other Models) has a leak problem that comes from a clogging drain, or dried seals that are located under the 4 corners of the sunroof opening. There is no real way for a “do it yourself fix”, and the problem will develop overtime. The dealership and BMW service apparatus DO NOT ADDRESS THIS CRONIC FAIL. The access to the failing drain line is difficult to get to and hard to service.

This should be a system wide recall as “in 2017, BMW agreed to a $478 million settlement covering 2004-2010 BMW 5 series vehicles over allegations that clogged sunroof drainage tubes could cause damage to electrical components in the spare tire well of the trunk”. BMW should have stepped up to this design flaw that directs unchecked amount of water into the base of the car until it effects the electrical systems of the car.

Our car seized and died while in traffic, a very dangerous situation. The fix was $12,000 and all the while (and to date) BMW said nothing about this common problem with the car. It seems the dealerships and service teams know BMW'S LEAK, but no leadership seems to be in place to protect the brands reputation.

BMW North America call it "and outside influence" and my dealer told me to BUY A COVER for the car as the best way to fix the problem.

BMW was happy to mislead the insurance adjuster to cover this not directly bring attention to the drain system, fraud in my opinion give what they seem to know and have little concern that the problem costs their loyal customer TIME & MONEY!

[joe_328]

Going to tackle this in the next week or so.
Thinking of adding a step to boil some water up and use a syringe and tubing to flush the drains after hitting it with some air. Will likely do several iterations.
Thanks for posting!

[SeattleLSB]

Anyone have the pictures

[MMAGEE]

Had the issue of water coming through the headliner near the mic and noticed water on the driver side floor. Did the old finger/scoop fix you outlined and I couldn't believe how much crap/goop/<insert adjective here>.
Will run it through the wash to see if this trick worked.

[MMAGEE]

Your instructions and pictures seemed to have fixed my water leak problem. Appreciate the help-