I need to do some welding on the inner rear arch of my 320i, the bit that 'presses' onto the inside of the arch. Basically I'm a little concerned as I won't be able to create the same 'press' fit as was created in the factory. Anyone got any advice? Or had to deal with the same problem?
Thanks
Richard
Rear Inner Arch
Moderator: martauto
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BHadley
- E30 Zone Regular
- Posts: 902
- Joined: Sun Sep 06, 2009 11:00 pm
- Location: Newton abbot, Devon
The inner wheel arch panel comes in two sections.
The section you say sounds like the " outer wheel house" in bmw text which is welded to the exterior outer arch that can only be bought from pattern people like Hadrian among others.
I think there is a link on the zone here to something like real OEM bmw which can be used to see what panel is required.
I recently bought some from BM mini parts, bit less than the dealers and was £83 delivered all in, (is genuine bmw part with numbers etc) apparently bmw had put the price up recently too!
Pics would be good to see the state of play, some people cut the rotton parts out and weld on some bits of metal but a new panel is better in my opinion. Maybe a body shop job if your not sure how to tackle it?
The section you say sounds like the " outer wheel house" in bmw text which is welded to the exterior outer arch that can only be bought from pattern people like Hadrian among others.
I think there is a link on the zone here to something like real OEM bmw which can be used to see what panel is required.
I recently bought some from BM mini parts, bit less than the dealers and was £83 delivered all in, (is genuine bmw part with numbers etc) apparently bmw had put the price up recently too!
Pics would be good to see the state of play, some people cut the rotton parts out and weld on some bits of metal but a new panel is better in my opinion. Maybe a body shop job if your not sure how to tackle it?
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RicardoD
- E30 Zone Newbie
- Posts: 27
- Joined: Thu Oct 10, 2013 11:00 pm
- Location: Cornwall
I'm happy to tackle it myself, I just want a decent finish. I looked at panels and I'd be looking at spending around £90 a panel. When really only 30% of the original panel is rotten each side, so I would effectively be wasting 70% of each new panel! or unnecessarily hacking my car up to put in new panels when most of the original is good. I'm currently in the process of removing the tank for welding in new metal, I'm confident I can do an effective job but I'm hoping I can finish it so it looks decent, the car is a keeper so I'm not stitching her up and shifting her out sharpish with a quick dodgy profit in mind. I just want to be able to say I've done a good job.
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BHadley
- E30 Zone Regular
- Posts: 902
- Joined: Sun Sep 06, 2009 11:00 pm
- Location: Newton abbot, Devon
With most of the inner wheel arch hiden out of sight perhaps you could offer up fresh metal tack and sculpture from there? The tip I have seen for the exposed exterior arch is to only use the lip and flat face before the curve to avoid warping the quarter panel and keeping filler to a minimum.
The restoration threads on here may have more info however......
The restoration threads on here may have more info however......