E46 325Ci blocked convertible roof drain

[toughguyhuh]

I know this isn't especially the forum for E46s but thought I'd make a mention here. Since I bought the car in the summer ('22) I had found a lot of evidence of leaking into the boot area, even discovering that the spare wheel well was almost full of water! Previous owner told me it leaked and the roof wouldn't open. I sorted the roof by draining the water and opening up the roof pump, cleaning the PCB and contacts which had a lot of scale and corrosion, but the roof continued to leak into the boot on the driver side.

There is a drain hole hidden under the roof mechanism mounting plates on each side. You can't see it or feel it by hand, but after some investigation I extracted out the water that had dammed up, poured some Mr Muscle into the area the water had been and fished around with a wire coat hanger. After some jiggling and poking the end of the coat hanger found a hole and I pushed it in while rotating the end. Suddenly it let go and the water/cleaner came spilling out underneath. I flushed it a few times with hot water to make sure I had to clear, did the same on the other side and since then it's been nice and dry over the last few days of heavy rain.

 

[Dbcrd]

I also bought an E46 convertible this year.  Seems a few of us on this forum have. Mechanically they are more or less contemporary with the E39 and share same engines. 

 

I posted my car on here as a project but its going slower than I would like.

The issue you mention seems to be common on these cars. I checked mine though and luckily it was draining freely.

I couldn't find a UK forum for the E46 that seemed as comprehensive as this one is for E39s.  So I also joined E46 Fanatics forum. Global and predominantly US based. There is a wealth of information on there and I've had good advice already.

Edited November 9, 2022 by Dbcrd