Rust, ****Major Update****

[Emm3]

Put my car through MOT today and it came back with a bit of rust issue on the front jacking points (i know these are not actually jacking points) took off the side skirt wing section and removed the wing liner the rust is not major but you can feel crunching in certain areas mainly where the inner wing meets the bulkhead, i dont know what do do i love the car to bits and i've spent loads of money on bits all of which are removeable.

Should i ge rid of the car and take off my goodies and start again or do i repair it and how would that be done??

this is how my car looked last year only difference is the wheels are gone and i was looking for some new ones.

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... 246#912246

[oakey]

Its a very common place for these to rust. And also a fairly simple repair. Get a few quotes/estimates from some well recommended bodyshops and decide what to do.
But make sure to check the rest of car for crunchy bits. If it is very rotten you may be better off looking for another one, but theyre arent many good ones left

[Alex]

as said very common, cost me £150 for an MOT, A front jacking point as you mentioned to be replaced, and got brakes blead and adjusted so it cant cost too much to replace them.

i also want your numberplate lol

[daimlerman]

I would pull the boot side trims out and have a poke around.Not much point in welding up the front this year then the back next year etc.Or buy yourself a MiG and get stuck in.....I keep telling myself every time I spend money on mine that it's all bolt on stuff that can be transfered,know just where you are coming from!!

[Brianmoooore]

Wouldn't consider scrapping a shell just for a little rust there. The rear wheelarches, inside and outer, and the area around a large rubber grommet in front of the glovebox is what you should worry about.
Note that you can just repair the floor pan - you don't need to try and replicate or replace the "jacking points".

[Emm3]

I've had the arches rolled a while ago and they came out perfect so i know the rears are not rotten underneath i've stripped the boot floor out once before and theres not a spec of rust. when i saw this rust i took off the side skirts and the sills are mint. any pics of repair jobs?

[Emm3]

this is the worst of the sides, what you think??

[e30bmlover]

wont take allot to fix that mate..any experienced welder would be able to do it.

[daimlerman]

Buy yourself a MiG and get stuck in!! You know you want to..

[jbh]

i was looking at a 323 a while back that the boy had repaired these sections with a bit of plate and self tappers and the odd rivet thrown in for good measure ... as you can imagine i said it wasn't what i was looking for and left without it...

[Emm3]

Is there anyone in west yorks that can repair the front jacking points on my e30. I'd rather hand the car to somone who has done this before on a E30. One local bodyshop had a look and said they would do it but personally from the way the guy looked at it i didn't think he knew what he was going to do.

above is a pic of the worst side, i want a plate to be welded over the rot (which has now been rust treated) and it needs to cover the inner wing on the right maybe up to the ridge on the inner wing.

Also what i thought is to get some 5mm steel plates cut into squares and for them to be welded inside the point itself.

(p.s i know they are not really jacking points but its what everyone calls them

[DaveD]

beardymat in Sheffield is the BEST

[Brianmoooore]

You don't weld plate over the rot! The overlap of new and old metal should be kept to an absolute minimum - around 10mm.
It's not necessary to reconstruct the 'jacking points' at all.

[Chris-W]

Beardymat.

[325iconv]

where abouts in west yorkshire are you I may be able to help,or get someone to do it for you

[bodger]

Beardymat.

X2

[kipper]

you dont need to replace them..as far as im aware these are the braket that where used to carry the shell round the factory.... if im worng someone will soon say lol

[Emm3]

where abouts in west yorkshire are you I may be able to help,or get someone to do it for you

Mate im in Bradford West Yorks...

[dazleeds]

another vote for matt here

[Emm3]

****MAJOR UPDATE****

I was inspecting the rest of the car as this rust issue really did get the alarm bells ringing, as is said before had the rear arches rolled and they came out mint the rest of the car is spot on bu to my horror i found more issues under the front wings

This was the drivers side where the liner meets the inner wing.



The edge was pretty weak so i started to attack it to see how weak it was, it just fell apart in my hand the next pic is from above just under the washer bottle



And this is the passenger side, not as bad but its really put me off this car.



I want an E30 but to keep for a while, the bits on this car are are bolt on so can be removed i'm thinking of either breaking the thing to transfer all the bits to a mint 2 door shell or returning it to standard form to sell as it is. Besides it just passed mot so i will drive it for a little while atleast i wish i had known this as i wouldnt of spent 300 quid on mot..

[Emm3]

[Niiick]

A case of better the devil you know IMHO.

You could go and strip the bits of your freshly MOT'd E30, take months finding a rust free example (yeah...right!) and find you need to spend on another aspect of that replacement car.
The finish of your current car and the mods you've made are superb, It's legal to drive for another year, so just divide up the bits that require attention so the whole hit isn't taken at once. Once the work is done you will know the car is properly solid and that should bring even more pleasure to any future mods.

[shafiq]

hi m8 i would try fetting it fixed if not scap it or selll it

[SPADGE]

From the look of those pics that car needs fragging and weighing.
Sorry to be so blunt but there is no point blowing smoke up someones ass and helping them waste their money on a lost cause.

[Oggy]

I'm with the idea's of daimlerman, i'd go rent a MIG welder and have a crack.

It's really not too difficult, and is exactly what i'll be doing when I pick up my next E30! (hopefully soon!!)

It's all in the preparation, make sure all rust is cut back properly, beyond the obvious parts, as rust will already have started on the surrounding areas, then get the new panels/metalwork lined up and spot welded in place, before you finish the job properly!

Good luck with it.

[Emm3]

I swear if you could buy brand new shells from BMW i would not hesitate once, i'm gonna drive it this year and maybe winter time either strip or sell as is but my next e30 will prob be from oldcolonel cars, i've seen some real stunners on there better off paying the money and keeping on to it then, my car is garaged most of the year and drives maybe 2-3 months a year so i'm gonna look for one to keep.

[SPADGE]

I swear if you could buy brand new shells from BMW i would not hesitate once, i'm gonna drive it this year and maybe winter time either strip or sell as is but my next e30 will prob be from oldcolonel cars, i've seen some real stunners on there better off paying the money and keeping on to it then, my car is garaged most of the year and drives maybe 2-3 months a year so i'm gonna look for one to keep.

Paying top money from there is going to guarantee aginst finding you have another tea bag for a vehicle.
Your best bet would be to take someone else with you to view any potential replacement that knows where to look.
You do not need to pay ridiculous money for an e30 to get a sound one as long as the shell is good the rest is just bolted to it.
As for driving that one after looking at those pics i wouldn't drive it personally as i dread to think what would be left of it should you be unfortunate enough to have an accident.

[Emm3]

Paying top money from there is going to guarantee aginst finding you have another tea bag for a vehicle.
Your best bet would be to take someone else with you to view any potential replacement that knows where to look.
You do not need to pay ridiculous money for an e30 to get a sound one as long as the shell is good the rest is just bolted to it.
As for driving that one after looking at those pics i wouldn't drive it personally as i dread to think what would be left of it should you be unfortunate enough to have an accident.[/quote]


Aye, i've seen a 2 door j plate 318 auto which looks pretty mint and cheap. Gonna have a look at it on a ramp could be an ideal donor as i have a full car of parts to make it an i.s only trouble is i've always wanted a gloss black e30 so it would mean an inside out respray ........biiggg job

[MartC]

Tricky one really. Half of me is in the scrap it camp, other part says get the mig welder out, well thats exactly what I'm doing on mine at the moment. Nicks got a valid point which is part of the reason I'm repairing mine, are you really gonna find a rust free example? hmm.....

I reackon if spadge saw rust pics from mine he'd say scrap it. Worse than some of yours mate

[Emm3]

I'm going to get it repaired for now, i've put too much into this car to just let go.

[steve_k]

well i'm with martc on this one cuz i'm in the middle of getting my 325 sport sorted, thankfully it aint that bad but i'v got too get it a quick blow over at the body shop cuz the garage i trusted to do the job has made a right royal balls up of the job (& the service they did at the same time!!)
so worse luck i aint driving it in this brilliant sunshine we're having up here in lincolnshire
nrea mind it'll be worth the wait in the end,
any body still know if evo-s still sell a big bore throttle body for the e30 m20 b25 engine? or how much a-tech in kent charge for 1?

[jaffro]

I'm going to get it repaired for now, i've put too much into this car to just let go
if you want to have a go yourself you can borrow my mig if ya need it

[Speedtouch]

I'm going to get it repaired for now, i've put too much into this car to just let go.

That's the spirit mate! It doesn't look that bad to me. Besides, welding can be fun if you're in the mood for it. Best of luck,

[keiserwill]

I began a rust purge on mine in January - on my driveway covered in a huge plastic sheet, i'm quite a perfectionist so its taking time, learnt a hell of alot of skills in those months, and basically spent the money i would've spent on a professional on tools instead - which i'll have for good, and in my opinion a professionals gotta make a living, so they'll never put in the hours that you can if you love yr bimmer (there will be exceptions to this of course). In my case i wanted to restore the car back to original so i've painstakingly replacated bits from sheet steel by hand to match original, or bought replacement substructure parts from BMW (like the inner arches - which i could never have reproduced). Where i found rust its been cut out - and some! so far the whole boot seal, tailgate panel, battery & jack box box, o/s rear inner arches. If you've got a 9-5 and a women to please - then this won't be quick and you'll have some hard times, but i'm feeling well pleased with myself (even if the women wasn't - and eventually walked), but when the car finally drives again it'll be somthing special. photos of the job will come - when its done.

[ed325i]

next e30 will prob be from oldcolonel cars

You will only get the best of cars from there.