[Vitoco]

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My cousin noticed this when he had my car on the lift this morning, as you can see the first pic is taken facing the rear of the car and the thing is around the back of the engine.

Looks like battery acid, but its not a crystalization of some sort. Had more of a rubbery texture to it and it didnt come of at all when I touched it, not sticky and more like dried glue. I remember seeing something similiar when I was looking underneath the seats searching for the infamous rust.

Car is a 328i F31 and it´s got the power seats, any info is appreciated

[nikneo]

no idea what it is but it kinda reminds me of caked salt/snow/slush from terrible Canadian winters

[Vitoco]

It does look like the ice inside a freezer at home, but thing is this was solid and really stuck plus i have found some of it on the bottom of my front seats on some plates. Will get some shots of that as well tomorrow. Weird as hell..

[BMWforLife]

Hmm. interesting.

if it were me I would take off the cover on the bottom of the car, try to follow the “substance” up.

def. not something you hit driving or else it would be sprayed all the way down the chassis.

my guess, some sort of sealant for a screw/nut/joint to prevent it from coming loose and/or squeaking. Likely done by a machine...maybe it shorted out and SPLOOGED all over that area while the car was being built.

[BavarianFanatic]

Looks like salt to me. Did you try washing it off? Is is water soluble?

[AndDown]

What is that hole within a square outline in the second picture? Looks like a cover or something used to be there and is now missing.

[Teemo Panda]

Looks like a frozen car cum :P jk

[Jackson743]

If I had to guess, it's dried antifreeze crystallized.

[RPM90]

Originally Posted by Vitoco

My cousin noticed this when he had my car on the lift this morning, as you can see the first pic is taken facing the rear of the car and the thing is around the back of the engine.

Looks like battery acid, but its not a crystalization of some sort. Had more of a rubbery texture to it and it didnt come of at all when I touched it, not sticky and more like dried glue. I remember seeing something similiar when I was looking underneath the seats searching for the infamous rust.

Car is a 328i F31 and it´s got the power seats, any info is appreciated

I too think it looks like dried battery acid.
It may not look as crystalized because it's interacted with the carpet fibers.
The battery is in the truck. Have you opened up the battery compartment to see if there is a leak there?

Very strange.

[Frzdrdhppy]

Could it be some left over cosmoline from shipping? When I took delivery of my E90, they had just started using Baltimore as the VPC for the midwest and they did a crappy job. I had cosmoline everywhere under the hood and chassis. It took my dealer a full day to clean it up.

[Vitoco]

Thank you for the replies guys!! As I mentioned, it is not coming off and is like rubber so most likely not dried salt. But I cant rule out car cum

Originally Posted by BMWforLife

Hmm. interesting.

if it were me I would take off the cover on the bottom of the car, try to follow the “substance” up.

def. not something you hit driving or else it would be sprayed all the way down the chassis.

my guess, some sort of sealant for a screw/nut/joint to prevent it from coming loose and/or squeaking. Likely done by a machine...maybe it shorted out and SPLOOGED all over that area while the car was being built.

This answer almost hit spot on with my own thoughts (and hopes ), but how could they let it out from the factory if this was the case? Must have been some kind of visual inspection down the line..

Hopefully BMW gives me an answer today, emailed the pics to a service guy

[Vitoco]

Originally Posted by Frzdrdhppy

Could it be some left over cosmoline from shipping? When I took delivery of my E90, they had just started using Baltimore as the VPC for the midwest and they did a crappy job. I had cosmoline everywhere under the hood and chassis. It took my dealer a full day to clean it up.

I dont think so, but OT its great that u mention it cause I still got som run off from around the door hinges onto the side skirts and I dont know how to get it off

[Vitoco]

Originally Posted by AndDown

What is that hole within a square outline in the second picture? Looks like a cover or something used to be there and is now missing.

You're right, it does. Will definetely make sure they have a look

[BMWforLife]

Originally Posted by Vitoco

Thank you for the replies guys!! As I mentioned, it is not coming off and is like rubber so most likely not dried salt. But I cant rule out car cum



This answer almost hit spot on with my own thoughts (and hopes ), but how could they let it out from the factory if this was the case? Must have been some kind of visual inspection down the line..

Hopefully BMW gives me an answer today, emailed the pics to a service guy

yeah there is no telling. humans make errors, the inspector could have been having a bad day, or the inspector figured who cares its on the underside of the car...surely the customer won't notice. or figured it would be covered with dirt/wash off before anyone ever saw

honeslty, there are far more people who own a BMW and NEVER will see the underside of their car. and chances are if the dealer has your car up on a lift, they aren't going to tell you about the spot or man juice on your cars underside.

[Vitoco]

Originally Posted by BMWforLife

yeah there is no telling. humans make errors, the inspector could have been having a bad day, or the inspector figured who cares its on the underside of the car...surely the customer won't notice. or figured it would be covered with dirt/wash off before anyone ever saw

honeslty, there are far more people who own a BMW and NEVER will see the underside of their car. and chances are if the dealer has your car up on a lift, they aren't going to tell you about the spot or man juice on your cars underside.

True dat, can only hope that is the case cause its then its just a minor cosmetic flaw. Will have them look at it anyhow, but still havent heard anything from them.....

[TheObviousChild]

What does it taste like?

...just kidding. Please do not ingest the unidentified white stuff.

[Vitoco]

Originally Posted by TheObviousChild

What does it taste like?

...just kidding. Please do not ingest the unidentified white stuff.

Have no fear! Tasting white stuff, identified or not, is not how I swing

No call today so tomorrow Im going there to get answers.

[Sladester100]

Defo looks like a rubber type of sealant glue. And with the square outlined hole that looks like a missing screw/nut I would sway more towards the glue type; almost like something flat was screwed and glued to that section...

Perhaps something pre-delivery or protective that is taken off routinely or something that you've lost... Find someone else F31 and have a look underneath? Lol

[jzcrna]

A salt water splash from the trip over. lol

[BavarianFanatic]

OK folks, there's nothing missing from the "hole". It looks like a drain hole to me. It's in a depressed channel that runs around the perimeter of the shield. Perhaps it's the remnants of the cosmoline after the car was PDI'd. Just have the dealer figure it out.

[claykin]

Looks like donut glaze. Are you sure this car wasn't built during Donutfest?

[Vitoco]

Haha donutfest ftw

Well, I found out myself today after lifting it up again since a friend of mine wanted to have a look. And I must admit I should have touched it more/harder the first time, cause it was indeed a crystalization and it DID start falling off when scratching it. It really was so similiar to the sealing compound stuff I found under the seat that I just jumped quickly to conclusions. Apparantely, its dried washer fluid. Some how it has run out down there, if its due to a leak or simply because of overflow from fill ups I will have them find out.

Thanks for your answers, now I will go stand in a corner..