[Daftasabrush]

Usual crappy English weather, bit of surface water but nothing out of the ordinary, saw standing water so let off the throttle, but it was huge. Water from the car in the next lane covered my windscreen and then the car made some pretty horrible noises. Coasted to a stop on the hard shoulder when I could and called recovery. BMW assist were great, came out and checked it over and declared it ok and after seeing the video, he said 'if it had been a diesel, it'd have been dead'.

[chris-c]

Maybe there needs to be more video. Looks like you just went through a big puddle.

In the Volvo I've hit "puddles"that have felt semi solid and just kept going.

[Daftasabrush]

Originally Posted by chris-c

Maybe there needs to be more video. Looks like you just went through a big puddle.

In the Volvo I've hit "puddles"that have felt semi solid and just kept going.

No more video would show anything, it's just me pulling over to the hard shoulder. The camera didn't pick up the noise as I presume it was too low.

[Steveo.G]

Not that big a puddle mate
Been through them half way up the doors in the past lol

[chris-c]

I've got video showing a few of the forum members in here hitting what looked like similarly deep water .

I've been very stupid in the past around water but my guess was the water was just noisy in places you didn't expect it and the lack of sound deadening made it sound worse.

I remember an old Corsa with water at least 1ft deep and it just plodded through

[Watsey]

As above really. Just a big puddle.

They can sound loud when the water is hammering against the arch liners, and temporary loss of visibility as water lies on the screen can be unnerving, but unless you're wading deep water there's little risk to the engine.

[Harryg]

'if it had been a diesel, it'd have been dead'.

The only way the water is going to get in the engine is through the air filter so petrol or diesel it would kill the engine, cant see why the guy said if it was a diesel it would be a goner.

[teaston]

Originally Posted by Daftasabrush

Usual crappy English weather, bit of surface water but nothing out of the ordinary, saw standing water so let off the throttle, but it was huge. Water from the car in the next lane covered my windscreen and then the car made some pretty horrible noises. Coasted to a stop on the hard shoulder when I could and called recovery. BMW assist were great, came out and checked it over and declared it ok and after seeing the video, he said 'if it had been a diesel, it'd have been dead'.

That’s nothing mate, I went through water that was over the front bumper in my 330d! I did post the video on here, not sure if it’s still about.

[Daftasabrush]

It may have looked like nothing but the engine made awful noises afterwards, low pitched knocking noise when lightly applying the throttle type noise. Not water related noise, this was while coasting to a stop and tapping the throttle to see what it was like. Trust me, I wouldn't have stopped on the hard shoulder if the car was behaving normally

[Daftasabrush]

Originally Posted by Harryg

'if it had been a diesel, it'd have been dead'.

The only way the water is going to get in the engine is through the air filter so petrol or diesel it would kill the engine, cant see why the guy said if it was a diesel it would be a goner.

His reasoning was three fold. The diesels have intercoolers low down which can get ripped off by water pressure, which can also rip off under trays, they also constantly suck air in due to being compression.

[teaston]

Originally Posted by Daftasabrush

It may have looked like nothing but the engine made awful noises afterwards, low pitched knocking noise when lightly applying the throttle type noise. Not water related noise, this was while coasting to a stop and tapping the throttle to see what it was like. Trust me, I wouldn't have stopped on the hard shoulder if the car was behaving normally

It’s probably because of the high speed, I guess the air inlet is sucking a lot harder.

[Harryg]

Originally Posted by Daftasabrush

His reasoning was three fold. The diesels have intercoolers low down which can get ripped off by water pressure, which can also rip off under trays, they also constantly suck air in due to being compression.

I beg to differ air on a petrol is constantly under suction from the engine and most intakes are fairly low so any water would immediately be sucked into the manifold, Intercoolers are under pressure yes I see the point where the intercooler could be ripped of but the intercooler is secured well even if this happened the result would be a huge loss of power and I would imagine you would have stopped by then due to the clatter of the intercooler being ripped off so ye I tend to disagree

[pmgreenwood]

Irrespective of diesel or petrol. the air intakes on F30's are very low. The car has too low a wading depth for modern post-climate change Brittain. Anybody heard how the G20 does in this regard?

[rosstin]

Originally Posted by Harryg

I beg to differ air on a petrol is constantly under suction from the engine and most intakes are fairly low so any water would immediately be sucked into the manifold, Intercoolers are under pressure yes I see the point where the intercooler could be ripped of but the intercooler is secured well even if this happened the result would be a huge loss of power and I would imagine you would have stopped by then due to the clatter of the intercooler being ripped off so ye I tend to disagree

Cylinder compression rates are also much higher in diesels I think - so any water that makes it past the air filter is going to do a lot more harm / hydro lock?

[Watsey]

Originally Posted by pmgreenwood

Irrespective of diesel or petrol. the air intakes on F30's are very low. The car has too low a wading depth for modern post-climate change Brittain. Anybody heard how the G20 does in this regard?

You look for wading depth in a mainstream saloon / Touring ?

If you want wading depth you're in entirely the wrong class of vehicle.

[pmgreenwood]

That's is why I have test driven two Macans in the last few months. I would be interested in X3/X4 but just that bit wider which creates garage issue

[pmgreenwood]

Originally Posted by Watsey

You look for wading depth in a mainstream saloon / Touring ?

If you want wading depth you're in entirely the wrong class of vehicle.

That's is why I have test driven two Macans in the last few months. I would be interested in X3/X4 but just that bit wider which creates garage issue.

Having said that F30 is worse in class I understand.

[JD6]

I believe that the air intake is at the level of the kidney grilles. I have been through much deeper water than the OP in my car with no problem, although a lot slower.

The one thing that could push me towards an X3 is the impressive 50cm wading depth.

[Skyhigh]

Have recently been "swimming" through heavy rain and puddles in Germany, completely covered in water from surrounding cars on numerous occasions.
The front radar gave up and I got a message that basically I am on my own, safety assistant disabled and of course no ACC available. But apart from that - the engine did not care.

Your story however reminded me of:

[Ajs_435d]

Originally Posted by rosstin

Cylinder compression rates are also much higher in diesels I think - so any water that makes it past the air filter is going to do a lot more harm / hydro lock?

Correct, you'll far easily bend a rod with a diesel than petrol. So petrol can tolerate hydrolock somewhat more than a modern diesel.

[bimmer456]

There was a guy on the autovlog channel on you tube whose amg c63s was killed by driving through a puddle. It was later brought at salvage auction and another you tube DIY repaired it. The dealer was going to charge $70k for a new engine.

https://www.reddit.com/r/mercedes/co...er_7_weeks_of/

[Harryg]

Originally Posted by rosstin

Cylinder compression rates are also much higher in diesels I think - so any water that makes it past the air filter is going to do a lot more harm / hydro lock?

Yes diesels are high compression but that's not my point, look at it this way if you get a puncture in your tire and its submerged in water it leaks and you see bubbles the water doesn't go inside the wheel until the tyre is deflated, petrol engines intake is suction so the sucks water into the system immediately, should a pipe be dislodged on a diesel through the intercooler being ripped off the air is under pressure by the time its sucked the water through I think the vehicle would already be shut off due to the clatter during damage and the immediate loss of power.