Rust! (pics) leaks... and advice?

[RedThunder]

I tore out the carpet in the boot ('90 320i saloon) a while ago after noticing a lot of condensation in the boot only to find inches of water in the rear pockets behind the wheels, rust surrounding the rear lights and all under the rim of the boot at the back. At the time I didn't do much to it, bit of a scrub with a wire brush and tried to fill some small holes here and there but I went out to get a better look (and pictures) yesterday to look for some advice from people who have been through this before.

Link to the pics I took

Rear pockets with water sitting in them:
Drivers side

Passenger side


Rear lights and boot rim:
Drivers side

Boot rim




and Passenger side


I replaced the boot seal and the two rear light seals yesterday and cleared out as much of the water from the boot as I could physically reach so going to see how quickly it fills up again - i'm pretty sure that the water getting into those pockets is coming from the sunroof drains? Just not sure how to fix that one... tried to get a coathanger down them yesterday but no luck with that. Anyone got any advice/suggestions to stop that leak? Almost sure thats where it is coming from.

Sunroof seal is not in the best of condition and there is definitely water getting in, and a couple of rust spots popping up around the edges, any advice on solving that problem?



Also have to remove the rear spoiler thats on the car as water is somehow getting in through where it is mounted, as seen by the rust in this pic



Is tiger seal the best thing to solve that?

Also just looking for general advice on getting rid of that rust for as long as possible - i've got a wire brush, sand paper, electric rotary tool kit, tin of schultz and can of waxoyl spray ready to help me attack it when I get a chance, anything else I need? Any decent primer I should be on the look out for to paint over it once sanded away?

Any advice just fire away, it will all help me! Thanks guys

[Cloud]

To be honest, there's a bit more than you can fix with even the biggest of wire brushes.

I'd be looking at finding a realtively solid shell in a scrap yard, or from (username) Magpie on here, and just cutting off and replacing the whole shebang, the whole tailpiece. Look after it, and it'll last indeifintely. With what you have, you'll keep sanding it back, then in a year it'll have rusted around the patchings again, and you'll have to sand it back... If you replace the whole end, you can kit it with brand new seals too.

Bit costly, but the ultimate solution, and cheaper in the long run.

[poolnoodle]

Silicon around the boot spoiler holes will sort that problem

[poolnoodle]

Oh, and check the condition and operation of the rubber vents behind rear side bumpers

[daimlerman]

Depends on how much of a hero you are with the welder! The most difficult repair is the roof,the sunroof tray is poorly protected at the factory and needs real skill to repair properly. Replacement rear panel and new bottoms to the swimming pools in the boot is a bit easier,but before you do anything,have a proper poke around the rear inner arches from inside the boot,check out some of the restoration threads in the photo gallery to see the sort of work you are looking at.As always when buying cars,rust and the bodyshell are difficult fixes unless you have the skills or access to them,so next time try to buy the best possible shell and fix the oily bits!

[RedThunder]

Not exactly the news I had been wanting to hear but glad to have heard it now!

To be honest I wouldn't be very confident in having to replace the tail end myself, even if I found a decent shell for it and had the time to do it I wouldn't physically have the space/equipment to do it for quite some while at least.

Using this as my daily driver at the minute but might look into upgrading and keeping it on as one of those projects i'll never get around to finishing! Only paid €600 for it and almost as much has gone into it since but it puts a smile on my face so would hate to see it die. Just the cost and work that it needs might be a little too much. If the rest of the car were in perfect condition I would definitely get this work done but it looks like it might be a lost cause


Will try delay the effects of the rust for now and hopefully stop those puddles getting into the boot and that should keep it going another while. Mechanically its not too bad but all the work that it needs.... as much as I would love to be able to do it I think its too much. It's not a 325 after all lol