E30 Zone

Driving along this morning, a slight rattle started from the rear N/S area.

Soon it was a loud rattle.

A few miles later it was more of a loud knocking noise like someone was hammering in the boot.....

'Limped' the car to my parents house (luckily only a few miles from where the noise got REALLY bad) and found this :




Now watch this and imagine how it sounded on the road!



Only had the car a week and now this!

Going in tomorrow for a major mechanical overhaul whilst new plates are being welded to the turrets.

"Welcome to E30 ownership"

Bruce (who's losing the fondness before it's even taken hold!)

Have never seen that happen before.

christ....that must have sounded awful.

reminds me of my cousins golf which decided to put both front struts through the bonnet whilst he was braking......new trousers required there

that worrying

Bugger!

That looks scary!

being an old cynic, I'd have said the seller knew about this?

It looks too rusty to have just happened, you'll probably find a big broken washer somewhere that was used to patch it.

never seen that before doesnt look rusty,looks like the metals torn.would that happen with a heavy impact on that wheel?

orangecurry wrote:being an old cynic, I'd have said the seller knew about this?

That's what I initially thought (in my moment of frustration and anger) but I have done over 500 miles in the car without any knocking or other unusual noises....

There are certainly parts of the car that weren't as nice as described (i.e. completely fooked exhaust system, big hole in the OSR inner arch), but I'm fairly sure that this has just been a case of bad sh1tty luck!

Unless the seller knew about this and had put some welds around to 'hold it together' it looks like it has just occurred. The metalwork doesn't look rotten at all, it just looks like it had sheared cleanly from its surrounding.

I'll know more when I get the thing up on the ramp with the shocker removed and have a better look at the turret from underneath.

Will report back with how it goes....

Bruce. (soon to be an expert in strengthening suspension mounts!)

I didn't mean its rotten, just that if its only just torn how comes the shear has already rusted.

Fooking hell Bruce that is bad
Id really like to think Gcorky wouldnt have sold it like that if he knew,seemed like a genuine bloke?
As said though it doesnt look rotten,more torn if anything.
Did you manage to bodge it to get you home?
Good luck with it anyway mate

eko wrote:Did you manage to bodge it to get you home?
Good luck with it anyway mate

Yeah - just after speaking to you I cut some plate and sandwiched it between the nut and the shock. It still knocked like fook on way home, but not as badly as before the discovery.

The garage is only 1 mile from my house so hopefully it won't get too much worse when I take it down tomorrow. (I drove it 15 miles from my parents, so 1 extra mile 'should' be OK.

If anyone has any particular suggestions, please be forthcoming? I'm going to get it plated, but if there is a certain way you think I should do it, please let me know?

Many thanks,

Bruce.

ZedOne wrote:

orangecurry wrote:being an old cynic, I'd have said the seller knew about this?

That's what I initially thought (in my moment of frustration and anger) but I have done over 500 miles in the car without any knocking or other unusual noises....

did you drop the car into a big hole? What I meant was that if it was solid that wouldn't happen.

that smacks of being known before selling.... i don't know the seller so i am not speaking out of turn but just my immediate thought.

sh1t - sorry to see this bruce, hopefully just a small blip on the mainly happy path of e30 ownership... mine is mostly good anyway!! (he says needing an exhaust, a diff, an auto box, a new jacking point, new front wing, new front seats, battery tray welding, control arms, bushes etc etc etc!!!)

That dont look too good. my inner arches are rusted in that area (getting sorted at the mo). thank fook that didnt happen to me!

orangecurry wrote:

ZedOne wrote:

orangecurry wrote:being an old cynic, I'd have said the seller knew about this?

That's what I initially thought (in my moment of frustration and anger) but I have done over 500 miles in the car without any knocking or other unusual noises....

did you drop the car into a big hole? What I meant was that if it was solid that wouldn't happen.

Does it have a rear brace?

Hmmm, doesn't look good

I doubt very much that Graham would have known about this, it shows no signs of being previously repaired from what I can see. It is also not the most visible of areas that you would inspect on a regular basis.

To be fair, a little platework and it will be better than new. We all know how badly rear top mounts can fail, so we can all imagine the stresses imparted on this particular part of the shell.

Chin up Bruce.

old_skool_2002 wrote:Hmmm, doesn't look good

I doubt very much that Graham would have known about this, it shows no signs of being previously repaired from what I can see. It is also not the most visible of areas that you would inspect on a regular basis.

fair enough

old_skool_2002 wrote: To be fair, a little platework and it will be better than new. We all know how badly rear top mounts can fail, so we can all imagine the stresses imparted on this particular part of the shell.

that's my point - the top mount is supposed to fail (if anything), not the shell.

Very unlucky Bruce.

Bruce,i assume youll check/checked the other side?

I think there's going to be a group buy on Z3 reinforcement plates soon!

Martinaston wrote:I didn't mean its rotten, just that if its only just torn how comes the shear has already rusted.

I agree, that has not just happened. It has clearly been rusting since it sheered off. My guess a big washer was holding it steady, then you hit a bump and knocked this out of place. Washer falls into the road, and you see this.


Really sorry to see this Bruce . Hope you get it sorted soon.

Paul

bmwe30mtech wrote:

Martinaston wrote:I didn't mean its rotten, just that if its only just torn how comes the shear has already rusted.

I agree, that has not just happened. It has clearly been rusting since it sheered off. My guess a big washer was holding it steady, then you hit a bump and knocked this out of place. Washer falls into the road, and you see this.


Really sorry to see this Bruce . Hope you get it sorted soon.

Paul

Will you please stop this speculation. How would you feel if YOU sold someone a car in good faith and then it turned out to have this problem?

Where is the rust? This is metal fatigue, plain and simple.

Whilst I am sorry for Bruce because - yes, it is a ballache, I don't think it is prudent to start pointing fingers. C'mon guys.

boxclever1753 wrote:that smacks of being known before selling.... i don't know the seller so i am not speaking out of turn but just my immediate thought.

sh1t - sorry to see this bruce, hopefully just a small blip on the mainly happy path of e30 ownership... mine is mostly good anyway!! (he says needing an exhaust, a diff, an auto box, a new jacking point, new front wing, new front seats, battery tray welding, control arms, bushes etc etc etc!!!)

Immediate thoughts are not truly what are needed here.

Speculation can get the thread going off on a tangent !!

I was expecting a lot worse having read the title of the thread.
Looks like it will be easy to repair and shouldn't cost very much.
As Damian says that is not a place you would see on a touring without removing the luggage area side pods.

Can I just clarify what I said in my 2nd post:

I do not for one minute think that Graham sold the car with a bodged turret. I was the only one there when he handed the car over and he was genuinely upset at having to sell the car.

As some have mentioned, this area is well hidden on a touring and it's certainly not an area you'd think to check often.

I genuinely believe it is just sheer sh1tty bad luck, not the result of being 'palmed off' with dodgy motor.

Spadge, my title was more a reflection of my feelings at having this after only one week of ownership and my initial reaction when I found the problem. I very quickly knew that it could be fairly easily sorted...but just had to figure out a way of getting home without making the situation worse.

As I have already mentioned, I have done nearly 600 miles in the car with no indication of any knocking. There is NO evidence that it has been held with washers (the sheared area is a perfect fit for the surrounding metal) and the raw edges are not rusty but fresh exposed steel.

Thank you Simon for the suggestion of the Z3 plates, I didn't know about these but they are exactly the sort of thing I was hoping for when asking for suggestions. It'll save me hacking up bits of plate!!

Eko - the other side was checked at the same time and seems fine. I'll be getting it plated anyway....seeing as I don't want it happening again!

I just wish it hadn't happened during this initial honeymoon period.

I'll put more info up tomorrow when it's all been stripped back.

Simon, thanks again for the Z3 plate part number. I'll be ordering 4 of them first thing tomorrow (one welded above + one welded below each turret)

Regards,

Bruce.

Sorry, I wont speculate any more. I wasnt suggesting that the seller was dishonest, was suggesting they didnt know about it eaither, somthing in the cars past.

I will keep my thoughts to myself now on, Dameon?

Paul

My post was not aimed at you, or for that matter anyone in particular mate. I thought it fair to point out that Graham could very well have had known nothing about it, that's all.

Bruce, if you get stuck then bring it to me. We can soon fab up/source some reinforcements and MIG it back together if needs be. I was considering doing the same to mine anyways.



Dameon.

old_skool_2002 wrote:Bruce, if you get stuck then bring it to me.

Thanks Dameon,

I've just PM'd you - give me a call if you can?

Regards,

Bruce.

this has to be an age/metat fatigue thing.

you got uprated top mounts or stiffer shocks.?

HairyScreech wrote:this has to be an age/metat fatigue thing.

you got uprated top mounts or stiffer shocks.?

H&R Cup kit fitted.

Fairly firm ride (which I like) - but as someone has mentioned, it has probably hit something pretty hard to make it weaken then crack like this.

I've not hit anything noticeable since getting the car, but my G/friends brother was in the back (on the N/S) on Friday and he's a bit of a porker.....maybe this caused the poor car undue stress? (I'd certainly give up the ghost if I had to carry him back from Reading! )

Regards,

Bruce.

ooh you got it easy going to reading, you get to use the m4.

when i go to my sisters its a36, a303, m4. reading. much more fun.

Reckon the clue is in the model (Touring), probably had a couple of tons of cement/sand/engines or the like at some time. Definitely overstressing problem.

ZedOne wrote: I've not hit anything noticeable since getting the car, but my G/friends brother was in the back (on the N/S) on Friday and he's a bit of a porker.....

harsh.... but fair.

Unlucky bruce, once this is fixed, something else will break.

Welcome to e30 ownership....

ps, graham would NOT have sold you the car knowing it had a problem such as this, or the rust/exhaust.

It may, in years gone past, had a shagged top mount that was left for some time. Also a bad shock in the past may have a hammering effect and hence the metal fatigue. Would also explain why it's only one side. If it had carried serious weight it would more than likely show signs on the other side as well.

I've certainly never seen anything like it before. Certainly not something you'd expect.

Good luck with the repair and welcome to e30 ownership!! Mind you they are getting old now.