Drainage maintenance

The F10 saloon version of the BMW 5-Series was introduced in 2010, followed by a Touring version, the F11 – and if you like marmite, a GT version known as the F07. All these versions of the 5-Series have identical means of draining the water from the windscreen through various ducts, a plenum and rubber flap valves in and around the bulkhead and both wings to allow it to escape from the car. If the drains block up due to debris, water may enter the cabin and is first noticed by rear passengers stepping in a puddle.

This article describes how to clean out these drains to help prevent water ingress into the cabin as carried-out on my 2013 BMW F10 535i. This method is applicable to all models in the range although access is a bit tighter if you have one half of a V8 bank on that side.

Water that runs off the windscreen is directed to drains in each inner wing located under the bonnet