Hello all,

Enjoying my '17 F56 S. Washed the car today at a drive through car wash at a gas station. When I got home, I took out the driver side rubber car mat and it was soaked only directly under the mat. Checked the passenger side, same story. Tried to find where the water was coming in from but could not. Anyone have a similiar issue? I find it odd that it is exactly the sam location on both sides.

 

Check the foam bits either side of the window under the sill covers. My cover for that area was popped up slightly and it let water in one day. I ended up replacing all the snaps, and the foam piece under just to be sure and I havent seen water since. See if yours are lifted . Was it a touchfree car wash? If it was mechanical it easily could have lifted them up.

BTW careful pushing the covers down - known to crack under load.

Ps - check to make sure water is not under the carpet. The foam under there is very absorbent. I actually pulled my seat and door sill plastics out, lifted the carpet, patted dry what I could and ran fans for three days to make sure it was dry. You can push on the thick areas of the carpet and listen for a water squishy sound - check behind the seat too as its all connected. You can also push hard at the holes where the carpet securing thing screws in. When I pushed hard there I could actually see water! I probably soaked up about 1-2 gallons of water and just looking at the carpet, you'd never know it was even wet!

 

If it's under warranty I'd have the dealer check the drain/s for the A/C cabin filter assembly. Could just be a coincidence that you noticed it after the car wash.

 

^

This.

Known issue w/ some 3rd Gen Mini's. Kinked AC Drain line loads up foot wells.

I had it happen w/ mine and didn't notice it until I washed my car and took the mats out to vacuum carpet. Sopping wet. Honestly, a wash job isn't going to allow that much water to the interior unless you left the window open.

 

It's probably your Mini's way of begging you to not take it through another gas station car wash!

 

Just had this issue with a 3 week old (500 miles) 2019 F56, was the A/C drain - the gasket apparently folds when the AC unit is slid in causing the drain water to leak into the car... why on earth they would even design that as a possibility is beyond my understanding. Got the car back to only to find that the carpet still seems wet and under my rubber liners was damp. Looking at the work order seems they just let it air dry using the cars heating system after fixing the A/C drain. I would think they would have pulled all the carpet - dried, replaced foam... etc.. it still seems squishy under there. It's been insanely humid the last few days, so they think that could be why.. but if it gets bad again to make another appointment.

 

there is no way the car heater will dry it out. the seats need to be pulled and the carpet lifted to let it air dry out with a fan. On a new car like yours with a valid warranty issue, I would demand a new carpet liner because you will likely get a musty smell. It may not be too late to dry it out.

It took three days for my liner to dry out and I was **** and dried with towels first etc. I had the seat pulled and a fan in the car directed towards the pedals (under the carpet). I have no lingering smell., but I caught my issue the same day.

 

We just went through this with my wife's 2015; I don't know how it made it this far without presenting an issue, unless the previous owners never used the A/C. It did only have 8,000 miles on it, so who knows.

Long story short, the carpet and foam was totally soaked from front to back on the passenger's side. Days of fans blowing on it still left it wet in places. The dealer replaced the whole thing and fixed the A/C drain issue, as well as a leaky rear hatch seal (there was some water in the trunk area under the floor too). If it's soaked in there, it will never dry out completely unless it's removed from the car and left in a dry place for a long time - at which point, you might as well have it replaced under warranty.

 

My dealer pulled the carpets in my 2015 and let them air dry for 4 days before reinstalling them. I was in a loaner for that long and was told by the svc manger that;s how they would address my issue to include the repair or the kinked AC drain line. Reason was to preclude mold from forming under the carpets if reinstalled wet or damp. I'd run the car back and have it done right if you are sure the carpet is damp and you can feel "squish" under the carpet. Sounds like the did a half-*** job for you.

 

I drove without the liner in the passenger foot well and had no moisture, the driver side under the liner did - so it now just seems to be condensation forming between the liner and the carpet and not the water coming up as before. What kind of foam is under the carpet? I can't tell if it's a squishy wet sound or just a dense foam crinkly sound. This all falls under the, "Drank some bad milk once and now all milk smells and tastes like its bad even if it isn't".

My car has to go in for a vibration of the driver side mirror (waiting on the housing from Germany) and when it goes in for that I'll ask them to take it apart and dry it properly.

They only had my car overnight and thanks to MINI Connected I could see that it was opened up (windows, hood, doors) for most of the morning until about 11AM and then they called me at around 2PM to pickup.

 

Well I took the velcro tabs out (different from my 2007 which were basically screwed into the carpet, these are much better) and I can see down into the foot well... and water... so they are going to have to take this all part and get that out of there. Ugh.