How the hell do you deal with rotting wheel arches?

[stenni]

Hi guys (and any gals),

I've had my sport for about 4 years now and I still love her though in truth, I probably be lucky to get 2k now assuming I ever did want to sell.

Just thought I'd ask what my options might be with regard to both my rear wheel arches - they're bubbling up without looking too corroded and someone later told me they had been rolled back to accommodate 19" rims!

BMW garage said 3k for replacement panels as they wouldn't be able guarantee a fill-in job.

The rust is getting worse every year and I now feel it's not justifiable to do anything about it. The local garage didn't want to know either!

[fowler]

where are you ???

[wullie325i]

cut the rot out and weld new metal in its place its the best way other than new panels

[AlexBaur325]

If you want to do a good job then new metal is the only way. If you go with davids on iffy tin it might look good for a few months but it WILL rot. I know from experience (p.s. not on the E30 btw )

[Dr Firefly]

Hi guys (and any gals),

I've had my sport for about 4 years now and I still love her though in truth, I probably be lucky to get 2k now assuming I ever did want to sell.

Just thought I'd ask what my options might be with regard to both my rear wheel arches - they're bubbling up without looking too corroded and someone later told me they had been rolled back to accommodate 19" rims!

BMW garage said 3k for replacement panels as they wouldn't be able guarantee a fill-in job.

The rust is getting worse every year and I now feel it's not justifiable to do anything about it. The local garage didn't want to know either!

£3k is ridiculous - the panels themselves for rear quarter panels and new outer wheel arches are £700, with maybe £800 labour - that's if it hasn't rotted through to the boot too.

[78dude]

BMW is no diffrent than other cars, if they are rusty you sort it out with fresh metal and some welding! So if you cant weld your self, book a time at a body shop who can sort it out for you....

[Turbo-Brown]

Feel your pain dude, I've gotta tackle some rusty arches soon too!

Think I'm going to have to take the plunge and cut out the grot to weld in some new metal as people have suggested. It's the only way!

[irish320i]

if you can find a car in a dismantlers with a clean body cut the sections you need out and weld them in to were your rot is

[tomson]

if you can find a car in a dismantlers with a clean body cut the sections you need out and weld them in to were your rot is

Yes, I have done this with a drivers foot well

[abelai]

Read through this:
http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... port+resto

[rob0r]

if you can find a car in a dismantlers with a clean body cut the sections you need out and weld them in to were your rot is

Yes, I have done this with a drivers foot well

Another reasons to have spare and donor cars. Saved myself a lot of time when welding my E21.

[spook]

ive just cut out my drivers footwell ready for some fresh metal

[nickso]

you missed a bit on the right

thats where mine has gone too

[c2pete]

you can get arch replacements from hadrians panels,still need to be cut welded and painted though,i never use the whole panel just try to use what i need saves a lot of cattying and sanding,they do outer inner arch replacements as well if you need them

[DanThe]

If you can find a clean breaker to cut up its a better shape than any panel Hadrian can supply

[c2pete]

If you can find a clean breaker to cut up its a better shape than any panel Hadrian can supply

what difference does it make for a wheel arch repair,you are probably not going to see much of the metal anyway,where are you going to find a breaker e30 with a rust free rear wheelarch anyway
hadrians are not that bad if you take time fitting them and rustproof them properly,have had a few shockers as well though honda civic wing was a terrible fit but was about a quarter of the price of a honda part so made it fit with some gentle persuasion

[blacksoul]

i payed 600 for 2 new genuine rear quarters from zimmer beemer, and even though im skint now lol they look fantastic on the cab. i now have a zero rust cabby, its peice of mind

[DanThe]

If you can find a clean breaker to cut up its a better shape than any panel Hadrian can supply

what difference does it make for a wheel arch repair,you are probably not going to see much of the metal anyway,where are you going to find a breaker e30 with a rust free rear wheelarch anyway
hadrians are not that bad if you take time fitting them and rustproof them properly,have had a few shockers as well though honda civic wing was a terrible fit but was about a quarter of the price of a honda part so made it fit with some gentle persuasion

Difference is the amount of filler needed afterwards! Id rather have the right shape to begin with
There are plenty of rust free E30's out there

[spook]

if someone can cut me a section to fit my photo above, i will be well happy

[Brianmoooore]

All you need is an old E34 bonnet.
I've lost count of the number of E30s I've repaired with one bonnet, and there's still plenty left.

[beardymat]

Read through this:
http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... port+resto

thats mine that is

check pages four and five for the arches. used hadrian for my outers but if you read the posts you will see that i agree with dan about the panels being similar in shape to e30 arches which is one of the reasons why i only fitted what was necessary and thats the reason why there is very little filler in my arches.

there are quite a few ways to sort rusty arches and most of them are wrong so whatever you decide to do dont go for the cheapest price as you can be sure you will be doing it again.

[josh-hocking]

wheel archs are 22.31 from this site!
http://www.nicedeals.co.uk/product_info ... 7ed6b42758

[cypriot_boy_2k7]

i got rear arch skins duno what the for, but are e30,

[Turbo-Brown]

wheel archs are 22.31 from this site!
http://www.nicedeals.co.uk/product_info ... 7ed6b42758

That's tempting! Any idea how well they fit though?

[ShakeyC]

wheel archs are 22.31 from this site!
http://www.nicedeals.co.uk/product_info ... 7ed6b42758

Buy as many as you can and stock pile them for future investment (if there any good)