Automatic Car Wash

[AnthonyNYC]

Hi,

I recently purchased a 1995 325IC. Some of my friends with E36 models stated not to take any E36 models through a car wash. They stated that water is known to leak down the kick panel and fry the computer. Has anyone ever experienced this? This person called the dealer to explain the situation and the dealer was also aware. Anyone heard of this issue?

Thanks

Anthony
11.1@122mph
www.rx7s.com

[Punter]

I've never had it happen to me personally but I've heard about it happening to people. It's the DME in the car and the way it's situated makes it really susceptible to flooding. Also, there are sevral other reasons to avoid automatic car washes. One, even though the brushes look clean they aren't, they have tiny specs of dirt and grit in them and they make swirl marks all in your clearcoat. Two, the water is recycled to save on costs so the water is never really clean, also adding to the crap that scratches and leaves waterspots on your car. Just hand was the car, it's doesn't take too long and there's no feeling in the world like taking your shiny new baby for a drive after you just worked hard cleaning her off.

[ToplessBMW3]

Man, don't even talk to me about ECU's getting wet!! Mine somehow got wet about a month ago now, and it's been a biatch gettin the part (not from the stealer cause they wanted $950, I found one on the web at Auto-Ecu, although they sent me the wrong one so I gotta send it back and they gotta send me the right one and now I won't have my car for this Saturday's DTM Maryland meet, grrr) Anyway, yeah be careful, cause it can get wet, as personally experienced by me. Water somehow can find its way down in there and then you're screwed. Aside from the ECU getting wet, there are plenty of other reasons NOT to go to an auto car wash. First of all, those brushes (like Punter said) are so dirty and rough. The spinning brushes will scratch your bimmer's nice paint job, and on top of all that they just don't do a good job of cleaning everywhere on the car, especially the front end if you hit bugs, road junk, etc. So STAY AWAY! You have been warned!

[AnthonyNYC]

Thanks !!!

I'm gonna remove mine and wrap it with something, maybe even drill some drain holes in the area or something. I definitely will wrap it with a shammy or something. This sucks.

Anthony
11.1@122MPH
www.rx7s.com

[mtrsprt3/ny]

do not wrap your ecu in anything. tjis will cause water to stay there and get trapped and ruin your ecu. i had this problem of flooding the computer last year twice. i know exactly what the fix is. it is difficult to explain but if i showed you it is kinda very easy.you are in nyc,so am i , if you need further help just pm me and i will be glad to explain to you.

[DSK M3/4]

automatic car washes are very bad... i've seen some gnarly stuff come out of them.

[96TechnoM3]

i could be wrong but my mecanic explained to me that this is a common problem with the e36. when he told me this he reached behind the engine and pulled a rubber boot about 3 inches long off from behind close to where the ecu sits. he explained that he had seen this 2 dollar piece of rubber cause a 1000 dollars worth of damage and that it was not needed for water to drain properly and that the water will still drain through the same holes. he said that the rubber boot was overkill and it just got blocked with leafs and sticks and would cause it to overflow... i beleived him but does anyone know what he was talking about? unfortunatly i know very little about the computers in my car or the wiring for that matter

[mtrsprt3/ny]

Originally posted by 96TechnoM3
i could be wrong but my mecanic explained to me that this is a common problem with the e36. when he told me this he reached behind the engine and pulled a rubber boot about 3 inches long off from behind close to where the ecu sits. he explained that he had seen this 2 dollar piece of rubber cause a 1000 dollars worth of damage and that it was not needed for water to drain properly and that the water will still drain through the same holes. he said that the rubber boot was overkill and it just got blocked with leafs and sticks and would cause it to overflow... i beleived him but does anyone know what he was talking about? unfortunatly i know very little about the computers in my car or the wiring for that matter

that is exactly it. the rubber boot is hard to find if you dont khow where to exactly look. you have to reach deep inside the cowl infront of your windshield and feel arond in there till you find the hole w/ the boot. there is one on the drivers side and one on pass. when the pass on gets clogged with leaves and debrie the ecu floods. the rubberboot is about an inch and a half in diameter and tapers off to less than a quater inch. you have to snip off a liwer portion of the boot with makes the hole bigger, wich prevents things from getting stuck. if you need more info jjust pm me .i know all there is to know about this problem. trust me.

[dyllanc]

this has to be a manufacture defect! I think BMW should put a recall on this and pay for the modification- or replacement of the ECU! i was so pissed when this happened! I love beemers and i always hand wash my own car, but if every other company can build a car that can run through the wash without problems... so should bmw!

[mtrsprt3/ny]

this problem has happened with many, many,many early e36 models.the problem was solved on the 96-up model 3 series buy the factory adding an extra drainhole95-ealier have two holes and 96-up have 3 drain holes.

[dyllanc]

that means they know that they made a design flaw! they just don't want to pick up the bill for a recall! or pay for all the flooded ECUs! this sounds like a class action law suit against BMW! what do you guys think?

[mtrsprt3/ny]

i think they did so kind of recall about this years ago. i think you had the option of bringing the car back to the stealer and they would do the work and drill the extra hole at there expence.but dont expect them to still validate the recall or anything. i think it was for only a limited time back in '95, but then again i may be wrong.

[The Tick]

This just happened to me recently. Guy tried to start my car after the rinse cycle and nothing!

Went to the local salvage yard and got a used ECU for $450. They said they sell these all the time because of car washes.

[///M3Avus]

Been there DONE THAT! STAY AWAY form automatic car washes. The drain tubes on the firewall can't handle all that water at one time and flood the area where the ECU is... BLAM... fried! and you just got a 1200.00 car wash!

[///M3junkie]

Just go to one of those hand-wash places. And be sure to tip them, their families back home will thank you.