The new BMW 3 Series and water dont mix

[Colesy]

A friend of mine bought a 1 year old 3 series 3 months ago. With all the rain and flash floods on Wednesday she drove through a patch of flood water which was ~10" deep at the deepest point. It cut out and wouldn't start again half way through, luckly for her this flood was quite local to me so we went down to rescue her as the recovery was going to be 2hrs+!

It turns out that the current 3 series has the air intake just behind the bumper. So when you drive through a flood and a wave from either you or another car washes against the bumper the air intake gulps it up and throws it through the turbo. Unfortunately for BMW (and my friend) water doesn't compress as well as air! So now a new engine is on order from BMW, rods have been bent...

Another reason not to buy a new BMW, not that most on here are big fans anyway!

This is not the first BMW this has happened to and it's apparently a big problem for some Mini's as well. So steer clear of big puddles if you're driving a BMW any time soon!

[alexqts]

I have an E46 330 sport for my daily driver and IMO it is a solid and well built car not let me down as yet. Certainly would not buy a new BMW that's for sure. They don't look up to the job at all, although most 'new' cars that I see give me the same feeling

[rj scotty]

I know from experience that the vauxhall combo van suffers from this as well

[bluequattro]

I know from experience my white Quattro did too
And then I moved the air filter from summer to winter location!
I was lucky, plenty white smoke(steam?) from exhaust n mayo oil!
Few oil changes n all was well

[rj scotty]

lucky indeed! suppose it depends on amount sucked in.

Alternative is to fit snorkel i.e. Landrover style

[bartolomeus]

A friend of mine bought a 1 year old 3 series 3 months ago. With all the rain and flash floods on Wednesday she drove through a patch of flood water which was ~10" deep at the deepest point. It cut out and wouldn't start again half way through, luckly for her this flood was quite local to me so we went down to rescue her as the recovery was going to be 2hrs+!

It turns out that the current 3 series has the air intake just behind the bumper. So when you drive through a flood and a wave from either you or another car washes against the bumper the air intake gulps it up and throws it through the turbo. Unfortunately for BMW (and my friend) water doesn't compress as well as air! So now a new engine is on order from BMW, rods have been bent...

Another reason not to buy a new BMW, not that most on here are big fans anyway!

This is not the first BMW this has happened to and it's apparently a big problem for some Mini's as well. So steer clear of big puddles if you're driving a BMW any time soon!

So your advice is not to buy a BMW 3rd series because they are not built for deep waters?
I had a 335d E90 , 3000 cm3 biturbo diesel, as a daily driver and it was the most fantastic car ever! Pulled like a train, 333 HP, 660 NM and I got a fantastic fuel economy for this kind of power!
I've "molested" the car from mileage 50.000 km (when I bought it) to 100.000 km and the only thing she asked in return was fuel. Nothing broke!!
So excuseeeeeee me but when I read that I should not buy a 3rd series because it doesn't run in deep waters I think that you are a little

[Colesy]

So your advice is not to buy a BMW 3rd series because they are not built for deep waters?
I had a 335d E90 , 3000 cm3 biturbo diesel, as a daily driver and it was the most fantastic car ever! Pulled like a train, 333 HP, 660 NM and I got a fantastic fuel economy for this kind of power!
I've "molested" the car from mileage 50.000 km (when I bought it) to 100.000 km and the only thing she asked in return was fuel. Nothing broke!!
So excuseeeeeee me but when I read that I should not buy a 3rd series because it doesn't run in deep waters I think that you are a little

No I'm saying "steer clear of big puddles if you're driving a BMW any time soon!"

I'm sure they are great cars when they haven't been stolen or have sunk.

[Dan]

In fairness, a lot of newer cars have the air intake lower down, so it's not just BMW.

What did make me laugh however, was finding that on my mate's 5 series, folding rear seats were classed as an optional extra.

[SE_30]

What did make me laugh however, was finding that on my mate's 5 series, folding rear seats were classed as an optional extra.

My 5 series had the folding rear seats, a friend who owned the same car didn't have this option. He only found out when I said that I'd managed to fit some step ladders in the boot... How the hell did you do that he says, I folded the seats.. Bloody mine don't fold.. grumble grumble..

[Colesy]

The final bill to fix this was £8k! That included a new engine, new hydraulics and plenty of BMW labour all covered by the insurers.

[Christophski]

Ouch! Don't drive a BMW in the wet!

[quattrostyle]

How this reminds of another lovely trip I had with my type 85 90 quattro. Came out of the pub with a friend and we headed for home in my car. Turned out that there had been a massive rain while we were in the pub and one road had about 20 cm. of water on it (the road was a fair bit lower than de sidewalk).
So when roaring through the water I noticed a stranded BMW E36 which wouldn't start anymore, so it's surely not only the last BMW's who suffer from this.
As it was in the middle of the night I offered the guy a ride home in a real car

[rynaqui]

The final bill to fix this was £8k! That included a new engine, new hydraulics and plenty of BMW labour all covered by the insurers.

Shoulda scrapped it and bought an S2