Car Crisis Situation: Help/Advice Needed ASAP!!!

[webster]

so this morning i'm tucked in bed sleeping soundly when my neighbor rings the doorbell to let me know that my sunroof and all windows are open. last night we had a huge rainstorm and now my car's interior is totally, completely soaking wet. i mean standing pools of water in the door pockets wet.

so why did this happen? yesterday after work i noticed the car was unlocked. i never forget to lock my car so i was somewhat startled/confused. later yesterday i noticed that the car was having a delay in locking from when i hit the lock button on the remote key. also this morning when i went out to the car i noticed the pass side turn signal (the amber light that courtesy blinks when you lock/unlock the car) is on at all times.

so i pulled the car into the garage and unplugged the battery and she now sits as such.

my immediate concern is what to do for the sopping wet interior. i really don't want to ruin my pristine cloth/alcantara seats and interior. i also don't want to let the moisture to sit and allow mold to form. i had that happen to a previous car that got flooded up over the floor boards, and it ended up causing nasty mold and totalling the car (granted it was a POS 90s Maxima not worth $2k but still). the first thing i did was to take a bath towel and dry off as much of the plastic/vinyl surfaces in the interior. but i'm not sure what to do for the seats/door cards. hair dryer? go buy an industrial size dryer?

it's 40 and wet out which doesn't help either. ughhhhh...not what i wanted to be dealing with on football sunday.

[BlackNTan]

Wow what a mess. I'm sorry to hear that. I think I would get one of those heated fans from Home Depot and try to get the car as dry as possible today before any mold can grow. You may need to keep the doors open so the moisture doesn't get re-deposited in the headliner.

This happened to my convertible on several occasions. I left the car overnight and came back to find the windows and roof down without any input from my remote. I went to my local shop and the problem was with the door lock and the mechanism that performs the "all down" function when you keep the open button pressed down on your remote (you can also do it through the lock itself). They repaired the lock and that solved the problem.

Best of luck with the cleanup!

[zhpnsnv]

Oh man that is tough. I'm sorry. I guess do your best to dry and clean what you can, especially carpet-wise since the water will just hang out there. Then get it to a professional detailer ASAP and tell them you want everything deep-cleaned. I wouldn't wait until the mold smell sets in, which I imagine it will.

[danewilson77]

You could pull the seat and carpet and insulation that resides under it. Then dry it our with fans inside your residence.

[webster]

thanks for the replies guys.

from googling and searching it seems as the culprit is the driver's window module/lock assembly that gets corroded and sends fried signals. that seems like an easy enough fix.

more concerning is the carpet/cloth. one guy who had the same thing happen said he ran the heater with the doors closed for an hour. another person recommended pulling the entire seats/carpet out to dry off.

also i'm hoping no water seeps into any of the electronics (like MRS module right under center console). last thing i want is an airbag deploying in my face driving down the road.

[wsmeyer]

A wet/dry shop vac will get a lot of the water out of the carpet and seats. After that you're going to need heat and ventilation. As Dane said, taking them out might be the easiest and most effective.

William.

[echo46]

Happened to me this summer in the vert. I pulled the carpet and kept a fan blowing in it for two days. It worked and no mold. Be proactive, don't let it sit there and gather mold.

[Hornung418]

Remove the seats, pull the door cards, pull the dash, pull the dash support, remove the carpet. Take your carpet to a professional cleaner and have it dried completely. Wrap all of your cables in the interior with towels so they don't get ruined. Get two large industrial fans to pull the air in one side and out of the other. Leave them running for 24 hours. Service Master has some seriously high powered fans you can rent.

Sorry this happened, Wes. Shame your key fob failed you

[static667]

You could pull the seat and carpet and insulation that resides under it. Then dry it our with fans inside your residence.

^^This. It will be a pain in the ass but, it is your best bet.

[Ryans323i]

A wet/dry shop vac will get a lot of the water out of the carpet and seats. After that you're going to need heat and ventilation. As Dane said, taking them out might be the easiest and most effective.

William.

+1

Sounds like you've determined the problem. Definitely get pro active and start drying. Wet/dry shop vac, like William suggested, or hand held (Bissell Little Green Machine) carpet cleaner, or even just the hand tool on an upright carpet cleaner. I'd suck a much water out, pull the seats and carpet and run fans over the interior that's left. Also might take the center console apart and wipe up and excess water, if there is any. Very simple to get into there, here's a couple general DIYs: http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=734286, http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...d.php?t=968895.