Rodent Damage

[Silvoxer]

Originally Posted by 08M6

When I took my 2015 F83 in for Parking Assistance malfunction, I was told that a rodent had gotten in and chewed through the wiring. The repair will have to be paid out of pocket since rodent damage is not covered under BMW warranty. Does anyone know of a way to prevent this from happening in the future? Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

Seal your garage with a good door seal and the floor threshold kit. We had mice issue and since we sealed the house properly with these problem solved.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Tsunami-...3016/202199784

[08M6]

Originally Posted by ljzimm

This is going to sound crazy but... dryer sheets. Put a box in the trunk of the car and crack it a bit. They don't like the smell and stay away.

My father lives out in Arizona and gets rats the size of rabbits on a regular basis and with no garage they kept choosing his car as a good place to crash for the night. I put some dryer sheets in the trunk and he took some initiative and cut some into strips and tied them around anything he could in the engine bay that wasn't prone to temperature or electrical (not many options and realistically I do not recommend this) but since that point he hasn't had a single problem.

Thank you for the suggestion. I asked my wife to pick up dryer sheets for my M and you should have seen the look she gave me. I was going to tell her that I have no idea where the dryer sheets are in the house (not true BTW), but I told her that I did not want to mix the good stuff with the blue collar (my) stuff.

[ljzimm]

Originally Posted by 08M6

Thank you for the suggestion. I asked my wife to pick up dryer sheets for my M and you should have seen the look she gave me. I was going to tell her that I have no idea where the dryer sheets are in the house (not true BTW), but I told her that I did not want to mix the good stuff with the blue collar (my) stuff.

I bet the look on her face was priceless!!

Seriously though, this is the best option I've personally found that doesn't involve poisons or traps and doesn't run the risk of making a mess. The peppermint essential oil sounds like a good option too (probably smells heavenly) but if that spills I wouldn't want to try to get the oil out of the carpet, lol

[BMR DOC]

Most homeowners insurance will pay these claims so you dont have to pay the deductible .
We recommend a bar of ivory soap or Irish spring stuck under the cowl panel behind each shock tower . Also put one in a zip lock bag with holes poked in it . Then zip tie that behind rear bumper cover . I talked to our pest guy he said it has to do with the " clean smell " coming fron the car the rats wont go in car anymore .

[GROSSED]

Bringing this thread back from the dead. Had my car towed to the dealership due to electrical problems and come to find out it's rodent damage. BMW gave me a $15k estimate ($13k labor). Sounds crazy right?

[aBMWfan]

Originally Posted by GROSSED

Bringing this thread back from the dead. Had my car towed to the dealership due to electrical problems and come to find out it's rodent damage. BMW gave me a $15k estimate ($13k labor). Sounds crazy right?

And the crazy thing is dealerships don’t usually quote based on labor hours, just a number they charge to do the work.

[DML]

Originally Posted by knightarmor

Get a good set of farm cats. After I moved to the pnw I had issues with mice getting into the engine bay of my Volvo. I tried all kinds of traps and bait and only killed squirrels. Eventually I picked up a couple farm cats and they decimated anything that camenear our property including but not limited to- birds, squirrels, moles and bunnies!

Ever since we have kept a couple of farm cats on our property. They sleep in the garage with the cars as well. Aside from rodent control they are a hoot to have around!

And sleep and scratch on top of the hood, another issue for another day.

[icegrill]

Originally Posted by GROSSED

Bringing this thread back from the dead. Had my car towed to the dealership due to electrical problems and come to find out it's rodent damage. BMW gave me a $15k estimate ($13k labor). Sounds crazy right?

🤮 They probably have to pull the engine. Happened to me on a 3 month old Audi in 2013. The dealer had it for close to 2 months.

[Poochie]

Originally Posted by DML

And sleep and scratch on top of the hood, another issue for another day.

Not all the claws will dig in hard enough to scratch the paint. A cat's claw's could leave light scratches in the actual clear coat surface, but unless the cat is the size of a Cougar (American Mountain Lion - 45 to 65 pounds) I do not believe that it could penetrate the clear coat and paint layers both.

I have way too many cats and they frequently climb all over my cars, sometimes when it is wet their paws will carry small particles of sand and grit which also leave distinctive fine scratch marks in the clear coat but again not penetrating into the paint film layer. Any of these damages are easily removed using a Clay Bar and applying a good polymer paint protectant.

[dezzracer]

Originally Posted by KevinM

As above, we need to know if the car is garaged in order to help. If the car is garaged, you just have to make sure there is no rat infestation in the garage. You can keep them out by buying a rodent-deterrent frequency generator and plugging it in the garage.

If the car is not garaged, keeping the hood open will prevent rodents from trying to nest in your car. If this is not practical/desirable, you can buy a battery operated rodent-deterrent frequency generator and place it under the front of the car at night.

GL

I was in pest control business for 33 years. "High frequency" rat detergent generators are a farce and waste of money. If you have one and don't have rats it's because you don't have rats. And if you park your car outside who in there right mind would leave their hood open. Sorry Kevin, had to call you out on that to protect the innocent.

[No.401_Speed]

I use moth balls and place them all around the house and garage door openings. If you store outdoors, place them under your car, not inside because they work on us humans just as well.

A warning about dryer sheets, yes they work, but if you leave them inside your nice new BMW, it will end up smelling like my neighbour's 65 Mustang. I can barely sit in it with the windows down without gagging on the stench.

Watch out for red squirrels as well. They will eat most anything in your car and strip it for all the insulation they can carry. I had to insert plastic mesh into my wiper motor well in my trailblazer to keep the little SOB's from making nests in my heater core.

P.S.

At what speed does the cat dismount??

[FirstF80InSpace]

Like the Pied Piper, Greta has rallied the rodents of the planet to wreak havoc on your environment killing machines.

People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is what mod to get next. How dare you!

[Jim B]

Originally Posted by Poochie

Not all the claws will dig in hard enough to scratch the paint. A cat's claw's could leave light scratches in the actual clear coat surface, but unless the cat is the size of a Cougar (American Mountain Lion - 45 to 65 pounds) I do not believe that it could penetrate the clear coat and paint layers both.

I have way too many cats and they frequently climb all over my cars, sometimes when it is wet their paws will carry small particles of sand and grit which also leave distinctive fine scratch marks in the clear coat but again not penetrating into the paint film layer. Any of these damages are easily removed using a Clay Bar and applying a good polymer paint protectant.

This kitty will make sure that any mouse that approaches the car will never come near any car again.

[IK6SPEED]

Originally Posted by ljzimm

Glad it's not just me! Swear it works though, just kinda weird

Originally Posted by shay2nak

Just visited my buddy this weekend and he does this, too! lol He says they don't like the smell of it.

Out of pure curiosity, how long do the dryer sheets keep repelling the rodents?

[PhatLyfe]

Put glue trap on the floor, you will be surprised what or how many filed mice hide in your garage

[DML]

Originally Posted by Poochie

Not all the claws will dig in hard enough to scratch the paint. A cat's claw's could leave light scratches in the actual clear coat surface, but unless the cat is the size of a Cougar (American Mountain Lion - 45 to 65 pounds) I do not believe that it could penetrate the clear coat and paint layers both.

I have way too many cats and they frequently climb all over my cars, sometimes when it is wet their paws will carry small particles of sand and grit which also leave distinctive fine scratch marks in the clear coat but again not penetrating into the paint film layer. Any of these damages are easily removed using a Clay Bar and applying a good polymer paint protectant.

I'll push the envelope further....My wife's mother parks her vehicle outside, her neighbor has 2 cats, her windshield is scratched beyond belief. No elbow grease can buff that out

[Poochie]

Originally Posted by DML

I'll push the envelope further....My wife's mother parks her vehicle outside, her neighbor has 2 cats, her windshield is scratched beyond belief. No elbow grease can buff that out

Damn, those must of been some mutant cats with diamond claws to be able to penetrate glass.. A typical cat claw is made of the same stuff as human toe & nails, formed into a sharp point, which is still much weaker than glass.

Not that I'm doubting you, as I wasn't there but in my experience with domestic cats, their grip is not that strong to cause much damage, other than maybe some soft tissue.

Sorry to diverge from the original subject but I'm just a pussy connoisseur 😽

[NashvegasR]

Read this with some interest. I'm in the Bay Area (city of SF) and had a mouse issue the past few months, it was making me insane.

I lost my shit when the mice were getting under the hood of our 86 Porsche Turbo -- not happy. No damage caused. Yet. Or that I can find.

Couple things i learned.

1) they were after dog food I kept in the basement/garage, I think.
2) They chewed the under garage door seal and our house door bottom seal, quite funny to look at -- and that's how they were getting in. Couldnt figure out elsewise.
3) They did not touch the m4 (a convertible, which I park with the top down all the time in the garage - thank god, they could have eaten the interior to shreds
4) the mice REALLY loved the bmw i3 alot... they made a nest under the pass front wheelwell on the suspension components. Tons of droppings all around it.

I ended up calling a pretty spendy exterminator as I was 30 traps, glue traps, etc in and no results. I have no idea what he sprayed or did but nothing came back.

[Buckeye///M]

Squirrels will do a ton of damage too. I park in a covered garage at work and a coworker of mine had squirrels chew thru the engine harnesses on his 370z in less than one day. Also had another coworker have them chew the harnesses on his Titan about a week earlier.

I hate squirrels. They are nothing more than a rat with a bushy tail!

[Nativetexan]

My father in law was driving his '13 M5 down the freeway and smelled fuel really bad coming through his vents.

So he called the dealer and they took it in right away.

Next day he got pics texted to him of a chewed fuel line by what they think were rats that had nested in his engine bay.

[Jim B]

Originally Posted by Nativetexan

My father in law was driving his '13 M5 down the freeway and smelled fuel really bad coming through his vents.

So he called the dealer and they took it in right away.

Next day he got pics texted to him of a chewed fuel line by what they think were rats that had nested in his engine bay.

OH, RATS!!!