Before Christmas I had tossed a dustsheet into the rear offside foot well.  I had to give someone a lift yesterday so went to remove the dust sheet. Picked the thing up and it was sodding wet, not just a bit wet or damp but full of water.

Car has been parked side on to the full force of the recent Scottish rain and after washing it when I went to dry the rear offside passenger door seal, when I opened the door water gushed out of the seal area.  I didn't think too much of it at the time as I thought rain water (due to the storms) had collected between the door and the seal.

The floor carpet is soaking but all around the door seal seems to be dry as does the vertical bit of carpet under the door seal along the inside of the cill.

I'll get someone to point a hose on the car so I can check for leaks. 

How do I remove the rear bench seat to expose the area around the door a bit better? It's leather with no folding down rear seats nor does it have a centre thru hole just incase that makes a difference as how to remove the bench.

Are these door seals a common fault.  I'm sure I've heard something about being a common fault and about £100 to fix? 

Any thoughts or comments anyone?

Andrew

yes the rear door seals on the E39 are a common fault, they can cause leaks but the most common complaint it that the rear doors whistle when on the motorway, this is caused by the seal having a bad contact which lets the air in causing the whistle, there around the £100 pound mark for a new set