There are drain tubes just in front of the windshield that are intended to
drain the water that goes down through all those louvers just behind the
hood. These tubes can become clogged with many years of maple seeds, dirt
and pollen. This turns the fresh air bay for the heater into a little
reservoir from where the water can get into the heater plumbing that leads
to the air vents just above the kick panel. Next time it rains pop the
covers off from this area to see if the water is building up. The drains
are rubber tubes about and inch and a half across and are flattened on the
bottom like a noise maker. That's why they get plugged up. You can clean
them out with a coat hanger or a small piece of dowel.


"Rick" > wrote in message
news
>I just bought a 1990 325i which seems to be in great shape. I've had it for
>about two weeks. It finally rained here in Tacoma WA and I've noticed that
>there is a leak that drips down the passenger side kick panel. This won't
>do in the rainy northwest. The carpet is in excellent shape and it does not
>appear that there has ever been a problem of this sort in the car. The car
>has 191k miles on it and is all original. I suspect that it has had some
>body work but whoever did it did an outstanding job. Anybody have any
>thoughts on how I should procede to stop this leak?
> Thanks Rick Burton
>