Cars Are Soaking Wet After Covering

mxchris727 · 12-24-2018, 12:38 PM

I've never seen this before...

It was a beautiful day out this past Thursday; high 50s and sunny here in the Boston area. I decided to give my 3 and 5 series a wash before putting them away while the salt season begins. I washed and dried as usual paying attention to wipe down the door jams and inner trunk lids. The cars were dry when parking and covering them in the garage. The next day, It was even warmer out (mid 60's) but with about an inch of rain and +95% humidity. I went out to plug the chargers in and noticed that the paint was soaking wet! I got worried about water standing, so I uncovered the cars completely and the condensation had evaporated within a few hours. The cover on the 5 series is the genuine fitted Noah cover from the dealership. The convertible has a cheap 1-layer indoor cover that's supposed to breath easily and is mostly just a dust cover. The floor of the garage is not fully sealed but I put down a moisture-stop chemical to prevent wicking during rain that seems to work. Was this just a one-time event due from the humidity and the metal/air temperature differences?

Ignore the awful coolant/oil stains from my E39s timing system job; i'm planning of scrubbing and laying down an epoxy floor coating in the spring when it warms up

wdb · 12-24-2018, 12:51 PM

Not sure I'd wash a car and then immediately cover it under any circumstances. Have you done that before?

My thinking is that there's no way to get all of the water out from everywhere it goes when the car gets washed. Drainage piping, underhood areas, frame/wheelwell, all kinds of places that water can get but a towel cannot.

Needbmwpartzz · 12-24-2018, 01:02 PM

just condensation from remaining water in jams and such.....nothing to be alarmed about..perhaps let them dry a tad longer.

mxchris727 · 12-24-2018, 03:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wdb

Not sure I'd wash a car and then immediately cover it under any circumstances. Have you done that before?

I've washed and immediately covered before, but it was in the warmer months and never noticed anything like this happening. I'm guessing that it was just the right combination of factors causing the condensation. Going to be much more careful letting the car sit after washing going forward. It's a silly issue, but I was heading out for the holidays for the week and would not have caught it before leaving.

60 · 12-25-2018, 02:14 PM

Noah covers arent all that great anymore, at least the ones from bmw. The three that ive had have always left my glass hazy/cloudy looking after a couple of days (even when its bone dry out and humidity is extremely low), which is something I have never experienced in the past with non-bmw noah covers. Kinda looks like the cover creates moisture using some wicked form of black magik, which then stains the glass in the pattern of the cover itself to remind me that im its bitch.

They also dont stand up to rain anywhere near as well as the non-bmw noah (wolf) covers that ive had in the past. Those things used to fend off hours of steady rain and have the car rival death valley underneath, even after parking it while it was wet. The bmw ones that I have now only ward off water for so long before they eventually let it soak through and dont really let it evaporate very well at all.

For these reasons and a couple others, im returning the most recent oem cover ive bought and trying out something from coverking instead.

12-24-2018, 12:38 PM	#1
mxchris727 Captain 193 Rep 666 Posts Drives: '03 M5, '06 325i, '12 M3 Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Westport, CT iTrader: (0)	Cars Are Soaking Wet After Covering I've never seen this before... It was a beautiful day out this past Thursday; high 50s and sunny here in the Boston area. I decided to give my 3 and 5 series a wash before putting them away while the salt season begins. I washed and dried as usual paying attention to wipe down the door jams and inner trunk lids. The cars were dry when parking and covering them in the garage. The next day, It was even warmer out (mid 60's) but with about an inch of rain and +95% humidity. I went out to plug the chargers in and noticed that the paint was soaking wet! I got worried about water standing, so I uncovered the cars completely and the condensation had evaporated within a few hours. The cover on the 5 series is the genuine fitted Noah cover from the dealership. The convertible has a cheap 1-layer indoor cover that's supposed to breath easily and is mostly just a dust cover. The floor of the garage is not fully sealed but I put down a moisture-stop chemical to prevent wicking during rain that seems to work. Was this just a one-time event due from the humidity and the metal/air temperature differences? Ignore the awful coolant/oil stains from my E39s timing system job; i'm planning of scrubbing and laying down an epoxy floor coating in the spring when it warms up __________________ BMW GT1 (INPA, DIS, WinKFP, ect..), ISTA/P & /D is up and running! PM me if you want to stop by and code your car.
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12-24-2018, 12:51 PM	#2
wdb dances with roads 4732 Rep 4,096 Posts Drives: '07 E86, '02 996, '95 Seven Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: the perimeter iTrader: (4)	Not sure I'd wash a car and then immediately cover it under any circumstances. Have you done that before? My thinking is that there's no way to get all of the water out from everywhere it goes when the car gets washed. Drainage piping, underhood areas, frame/wheelwell, all kinds of places that water can get but a towel cannot.
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12-24-2018, 01:02 PM	#3
Needbmwpartzz Colonel 851 Rep 2,793 Posts Drives: 2009 bmw 328i x-drive Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Kitchener/Waterloo iTrader: (0)	just condensation from remaining water in jams and such.....nothing to be alarmed about..perhaps let them dry a tad longer.
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12-25-2018, 02:14 PM	#5
60 Registered 0 Rep 2 Posts Drives: seats and a steering wheel Join Date: Nov 2018 Location: everywhere you want to be iTrader: (0)	Noah covers arent all that great anymore, at least the ones from bmw. The three that ive had have always left my glass hazy/cloudy looking after a couple of days (even when its bone dry out and humidity is extremely low), which is something I have never experienced in the past with non-bmw noah covers. Kinda looks like the cover creates moisture using some wicked form of black magik, which then stains the glass in the pattern of the cover itself to remind me that im its bitch. They also dont stand up to rain anywhere near as well as the non-bmw noah (wolf) covers that ive had in the past. Those things used to fend off hours of steady rain and have the car rival death valley underneath, even after parking it while it was wet. The bmw ones that I have now only ward off water for so long before they eventually let it soak through and dont really let it evaporate very well at all. For these reasons and a couple others, im returning the most recent oem cover ive bought and trying out something from coverking instead.
	Appreciate 0 Quote