E30 Zone

I notice lots of rust on the cars in Britain. Is that due to salt air? It is expected here in the northern United States due to the use of salt on the roads to melt snow and ice but I am a little surprised at so much over there. Just curious. My daughter's 1990 325i Cabrio has very little rust and it spent it's life in St. Louis.

Salt on the roads, permanent drizzle and for British built cars, crap quality.

Plus lots of E46's that rust like a bean can in a salt mine. One of the most rust prone cars of it's era.

not really, a rusty e46 is a rare sight in the home counties.

Don't rub it in

I'm in Norfolk which is hardly the arctic circle and seldom see an E46 without rusty front wings and rear arches. I'd hate to see what they look like underneath.

For a supposedly prestige car, the E46 is p!ss poor build quality. I had a coupe that had lived down saaafffff all it life, low mileage and looked after and that needed work on one arch and a wing before I sold it on. They have a nice dash but were built to a cost - carpets from a Peugeot, matt finish in the shutlines etc.

Late E39s are similar. Early ones (N-S plate) seem to be much more rust resistant (better quality steel/paint?).

If you have moisture and humidity in the air, you will eventually have rust.

Up here in the Midlands, we see 2004 E46's that are rotten.

even here in Oz, rust is a problem. mainly due to blocked sill/sunroof drains, leaky boot seals and scuttle