Do you guys drive your car in the rain?

[twinturbo]

I was just wondering since the E9 board people are talking about this. They dont even give thier E9s a full wash due to rust issues. Water getting stored in rockers , wheel wells and trunks. I notice my 2002 trunk does get wet after giving my turbo a wash and I always have to take off the spare and wipe every single side all the time. I hate dirty cars and I always make sure all my cars are clean and spotless. Its a sickness I had since birth =) Even with a dozen cars I even had to lease a car to drive in the rainy days. Now thats bad =(

[BillWilliams]

Drove P2 tonight in a driving rain

[cj]

I don't intentionally drive my car in the rain.

I don't even fully wash my car. I will rinse the sides and the fender wells if it get caught out in the rain. Most of the time I just use spray detail.

Cris

[auggiemize]

I have an e9 and an 02...The e9 cost way too much to alleviate the rust and get the body "right", so it doesn't do rain, except by accident. The 02 is pretty much restored (has your old bumpers, cj..); and if its going to rain, it'll stay inside as well...but I don't freak out if it does. We fortunately have plenty of good weather so I am what I guess I would call "selective". Almost took the 02 to the grocery yesterday (40 min trip), got home to a hail storm...the Volvo wagon and 94 Chev pickup seem to like rain just fine... Bath time! Dave V. in western NC

Flood warning for tonite and tomorrow...

[NickVyse]

sideways

[twinturbo]

sideways

Nice! LOL =)

[InkaSteve]

Every day, rain or shine.....of course, we don't get much rain here. Lots of ash, but no rain...

[KFunk]

Drive in the rain, race in the rain, whatever. But my 02 isn't exactly a showcar.

[tomorrowcalling]

It's not so much the rain, but the mud.

I spent 4 hours waterblasting the car on Sunday after a day out racing in the forest.

[Scott Sislane]

I drove mine in the rain last week, but tend to leave it in the garage. I have to open the trunk & dry it in places after washing it too. (new gasket and as tight a seal as it can get)

And I leave it in the garage when the pollen is really heavy.

The chrome trim traps moisture too. I read someone on here takes an air compressor to their trim after washing the car. I'm not that nutz.

[tbrduc]

aaahhh--yep.

Ours is a mail man's car. Rain, snow, sleet, hail, dark of night.

[shipm_8]

But I have learned a thing or two about driving in the rain with my car.

I bought the car in 07, in SoCal, advertised as a "full frames off restoration, no system left untouched". I had lived overseas for so long that I must not have been thinking like the sophisticated buyer I should be at my age. After the turnover of the keys in the LA area, it became my car and my watch, so took the fixing of the car as my own personal challenge. I’m still finding problems and “head shakers”, but I love the car. The overpayment, I figure, was tuition.

But you did not ask about my naïveté, you asked about rain.

January 08 my wife and I drove to San Diego from the Bay Area. You may recall we had a few days of heavy rain. It was my first drive in the rain with the car, so we set our selves out on a southbound course on 101. Past Redwood City, I noticed that there is no windshield wiper and wiper arm where just a few seconds before one was wiping away. I looked over the dashboard and yep…no windshield wiper. It had flown off. Jessie earned her pay as the navigator while we found the next exit and we pulled over to a gas station. There, I had a burst of brilliance: take out the passenger side wiper and install it on the driver side. That way I, the one at the helm, could see. I figured we could make it to LA or San Diego on one wiper and, once there, explore the acquisition of a wiper arm. Moving the wiper arm to the driver side not only gave me visibility, it restored my place in our family unit as The One Who Fixes Broken Stuff. I felt taller. I felt confident.

Back on the highway, we were motoring along when the thought crossed my mind, “Wouldn’t it be terrible if I lost this wiper too?” 20 seconds after that thought, I saw the wiper fly off. Rain was pouring. Jessie stuck her head out the window and navigated, while I muttered the seller’s name, and my ego shrunk. I wasn’t doing too well as the one who fixes broken stuff.

We exited in Mountain View and I figured I’d give the BMW dealer a try. I know, I know….I know now. I’m just saying this to demonstrate that learning was taking place that day. At the dealer, I was faced with the “2002? That the year?” bit, followed by a puzzled look by the Parts Guy, followed by the realization that I was in trouble and may have to call the trip off. The 02 was our only car then. Kragen Auto parts was next (more learning taking place). Got a bottle of RainX so I would not return to the car empty handed. Called Hami at Auto Dynamyk, who suggested I go to Double 02 Salvage. Hami is great; he always takes my calls.

RainX rocks! We made it to Hayward and entered Double 02 which, my confidence as an 02 owner shaken, felt like an intimidating Temple of 02dom at that very moment. There was no way around it, but to fess up. I tried to say it in a hushed voice “I lost my two wipers and wiper arms on 101….” Oh, man, how embarrassing. It was worse than buying condoms for the first time. They just shook their head, then looked at me funny, then they burst out laughing. Anyway, I walked out of there with two wiper arms, and a spare set because at that point I wanted to be prepared. “Try not to lose them, eh!”, the guys behind the counter advised. They really are a great bunch, it’s just that I felt like an embarrassed teenager that day.

I put the arms on, and we made it to Santa Barbara eleven hours after we left our home in San Francisco. Made it to San Diego the following day, and the return trip a few days later was uneventful.

So, this is what I learned: Retaining Clips. My original wiper arms did not have retaining clips. That’s why they flew off. Now I know. Now I check periodically.

Other than that, on rain ops….I used to have a problem with the outer window seals not sealing, but my recent door service fixed that. Gasket on the trunk is new, so that’s nice and tight. I installed the three rubber seals (elephant trunks?) up front to help with drainage, and try to keep the car dry (as in give it a good drying after washing) but, ultimately, it’s my all-weather transportation so if it gets wet that’s ok. The spare set of wiper arms is under the rear seat, never to be needed, I am sure.

Retaining clips…who’d have thought there was such a thing?

William

[m-racer]

Griot's waterless carwash is your friend. Water is not.

[harrym2]

Back on the highway, we were motoring along when the thought crossed my mind, “Wouldn’t it be terrible if I lost this wiper too?” 20 seconds after that thought, I saw the wiper fly off. Rain was pouring. Jessie stuck her head out the window and navigated, while I muttered the seller’s name, and my ego shrunk. I wasn’t doing too well as the one who fixes broken stuff.

We exited in Mountain View and I figured I’d give the BMW dealer a try. I

William

yeah been there not funney is it , i was driving down the A537 the Cat and Fiddle to Macclesfield in my m2 that i had just picked up in the sleet

( one of Britain's favourite drivers roads) when i wached my wiper arm fly off in to the headge , not good on this road

Scared the crap Out Of Me

The cat and fiddle

I will be driving my car in the rain when finnished but am going to invest in one of these http://www.airflow-uk.com/air-chamber.htm

I dont won't to have to rebuild my car againe in ten years

[02Les]

Not normally, but most of the 1400 miles back from V@V.