E30 Zone

Hi guys,

Just got a garage to take a look at the rot on my 320i. The rots is as follows:

1) Fusebox (below scuttle panel)
2) drivers foot well, right on the pedal box.
3) both jack points including a bit of the sills.
4) o/s inside rear wheel arch at the top near the mount.

The garage quoted 500++ which is crazy I know.

The car cost me 400, the engine is ok albeit a little hesitant at times.

The body work in general is very straight for the age and its been fitted (a good job) with an m-tech 2 kit. The cars in black and got 130k on it and the MOT is due.

Now, I like the motor but I want to be sensible here. Should I go ahead and fork out for welding or should I just break the thing and get something better?

If its a genuine full tech 2 kit thats undamaged thats gotta be worth close on what you paid for the car on its own.

You've got rot in all the typical E30 places by the sounds of it - but it depends if you can get a better shell for sensible money.

I've just had your exact dilemma ( jacking points, both rear arches, bulkhead as well as a few other bits ) - I fragged the car and made good money out of it but it was well specced and had a lot of decent bits on it - even so it was a lot of work and I'm in no rush to do another one.

You need a lot of time, space to store the bits and you need to shift the shell quickly once its immobile unless you've got somewhere to store it.

Is it MOT'd at present ?

If so I'd drive it until the MOT runs out and keep an eye out for a better shell in the meantime

Good question, depends on how attached you are to the car, the question really is if it wants £500+ worth of welding, plus an mot then what else could you buy for that money?, a nice 325i touring is about £600 with mot, if you fragged your car the mtec bodykit will fetch a good price, put that to what yours will cost to put right and I think you should be able to have a good choice of e30's.
Hope this helps.

i have ask my mate to do my welding. i need inner and outer arches he has charged me £200 to do it and i am getting the car back monday

Yes, this makes sense really.
I think I am torn as its looks lovely.... all skirt and no knickers!
If I can't get the welding done cheap cheap then I'll have to frag her. Shame just got a sport interior to put in....

Oh, MOT due this month!

what bmw have u got

Its a 89' 320i

do u need it welded

Yes, thats what the thread is about, its whether its worth spending on really.

Sport Interior and full Tech 2 kit - realistically you need a better shell.

However breaking a car is not to be taken lightly unless you've done it before.

There have been a few bargains in the FS section recently though so you might drop lucky

I don't see where is the problem with repaired front jacking points and some usual rust spots on E30...half a day job, and its like new again...why would it need new shell?

If you have to pay a bodyshop for a decent quality mig-weldathon it will not be cheap.

Fusebox area rot is not an easy repair

Wheelarches to have done properly and a semi decent paint job will be at least £400 a side.

Jacking points/floor is the least of the worries - thats just what you can see

The rear arch issue is actually up in the inside if the arch. none of the welding is cosmetic if you read me.

The chap from the workshop who looked at the car (wasn't the a hole giving the price) is a friend of a friend and says he can do it on the side.... he just needs to get hold of a mig and I'll give him a hand doing the grunt work.

The car does look tidy, I'll find out what I can get the cost down to before stripping.... I've done fords before and have an empty garage to hand so could be ok.

Can you weigh the shell in i.e. get cash for the metal?

If you can get the welding done at mates rates for a quality job then save it

You will only get cash for the shell if you can get it to the yard.

I picked mine almost completely bare and then had a bit of aggro getting a breaker to collect it - and then I got nothing for it.

Cheers mate, I'll have a cuppa and a wee think about it!

I've decided to tackle the rot issues myself on both my E30's. I'm not a mechanic, I've never beenparticularly good with cars but a bit of reading up, common sense, some mates advise and will to succeed will probably just about see me through it.

Two things I will say, do not rush to frag it, how much will it cost? Is £500 big money by todays standards?

And

If you do get it done, will they do it properly? Will they remove all the rust completely and will they make a good job? You have to be confident otherwise the rot will be back quicker than a 320i gets to 60mph

Yeah, I've actually been looking at getting myself a mig and tackling the less taxing parts that don't need a ramp to complete.

The rest of the car seem too sweet to strip at the moment. Even my wife thinks its a shame (which believe me means a lot).

I've only owned the thing for 2 months!!!

Chances are then the previous owner knew about the extent of the rot before "getting rid"

I have started a thread on one of my cars : http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... c&t=192829

Have a look, even though you might have more welding than me, this one is still pretty awkward due to where it is situated. I've so far got the engine and box out, the dasboard and brake servo/master cylinder etc aswell. I am seriously contemplating completely rewiring the car with a facelift loom but then like all projects the cost goes up and up. Be prepared to take this into account, what ever you think your budget is double it and add a bit more and same with how long you think it will take.

It is a big ask for non experienced people, but as far as I am concerned I want to stand at the end of it and hope that I achieved something!

hope that helps

I would have paid you £100 for that shell.

You can buy a MiG welder for a lot less than £500....

ucpsale wrote:I would have paid you £100 for that shell.

Now you tell me

It was advertised on my FS thread as Free to Collector for at least 2 weeks before it went.

A 320 with rust issues and a hesitant engine - sounds like a fragger to me.

Yeah I know I know.
Perhaps if I get hold of a mig and a bit of help I can a least have a dabble at sorting it. If not, I'll frag it.....

Be prepared for mint mtech2 kit etc on the FS section....

daimlerman wrote:You can buy a MiG welder for a lot less than £500....

It's not just the mig if you are getting a gas cylinder aswell and all the prep tools you need, it can get expensive still.

It depends what you want to do and how well equipped you are I think

Despite all that chat, money talks I guess

Keep us posted mate, be nice to see another resto thread though

Duke137 wrote:

daimlerman wrote:You can buy a MiG welder for a lot less than £500....

It's not just the mig if you are getting a gas cylinder aswell and all the prep tools you need, it can get expensive still.

It depends what you want to do and how well equipped you are I think

Despite all that chat, money talks I guess

Keep us posted mate, be nice to see another resto thread though

But once you have the tool you will find lots of uses for it,I know I do!


My point,really,was that it would cost no more to get stuck in and have a go.

Awesome! Just had a pre-MOT check, nothing else wrong but the welding and the guys said it ain't all that bad.... no where near 500 squids worth!

So, the resto is on.....

Good news mate, but how extensively did he look, an E30 can hide rot quite well if you don't take linings/soundproofing back and poke about

Glad to hear its not going to be fragged !

Yeah, I've already had the interior and bulk head lining out. Just taken the side skirts off and there isn't anything too bad there either.

There is some surface rust in a few places but nothing mega. Think the fuse box and the pedal box/arch are going to be the hard ones.

monkeyboy1979 wrote: Think the fuse box and the pedal box/arch are going to be the hard ones.

Pedal box is the easy for access compaired to the fuse box

So another one saved great news!Keep us posted mate.Good luck

Duke137 wrote: You have to be confident otherwise the rot will be back quicker than a 320i gets to 60mph

Now now, the 320is are not that slow

Where are you? Might be someone local who likes welding (me me me if your derby/notts way lol)

Speed is not critical with this one, I ride motor bikes
Just love tatting!!
I'm Chester way my good man, little far away. My buddy is also a car nut has just finished restoring his 1968 911S and is itching to have a go at welding so I'm heading his way on sunday.... fingers crossed she'll make the 65 mile journey!

Just took the skirts and panels off and there is a little rot but not penetrated. I'll get the wire on her tomorrow and take some pictures.

Cheers for the interest guys.

For £500 quid you can buy a decent MIG welder teach yourself to weld. It's not hard. Then charge all your mates to weld their cars which would eventually pay for the welder. Therefore the welding on yours cost you nothing.
George Osborne ain't got s**t on me.