URGENT: E30 respray + rust work cost

[onthames]

Hi all,
Am looking at a BMW 325i SE 2 door, around 60k on the clock. Close to buying actually. Owner had the car resprayed and had some rust repaired earlier this year. Job cost him £5.5k in total.
Below is a link to the list of work done plus photos of the process of the restoration.

I am slightly apprehensive of the quality of the work due to the low price. I've had the car inspected and the quality of the work appears to be good, but I would like some of you to look over the processes to ensure they were done to a good standard. The reason I put down as urgent is because I'm looking to buy the car soon and have already put down a deposit.


Photos:

[paultv]

The work looks pretty thorough from the photos...all depends on the cost of the car I guess.

Paul

[flybynite]

For an E30, the car did not look too bad to start with, so that is in your favour, there was not any serious surgery going on there.

A neat job and a long-lasting job are not the same thing but from experience they often go together. The job is not the neatest I have seen. Lot of seam sealer plastered over the repair makes me a little concerned of the repair under it. I think photographs of the bigger repairs are missing (boot floor, jacking points etc) that I would like to see if it were me.

You know the bits that were repaired so if you do buy it keep a really good eye on those areas and jump on any slight bubbles in the paint. Less than perfect repairs have a habit of turning into an even bigger problem before they become too visible. Try and get some cavity wax on the back of those repairs where you can so the welding doesn't rust from behind.

Check all the usual places again like passenger footwell bulkhead, under and around the empty battery tray under the bonnet, that they may have missed.

Overall not a bad one, there are lots of them a lot, lot worse, as Paul said above depends on the price.

Good luck with it whatever you decide

[onthames]

For an E30, the car did not look too bad to start with, so that is in your favour, there was not any serious surgery going on there.

A neat job and a long-lasting job are not the same thing but from experience they often go together. The job is not the neatest I have seen. Lot of seam sealer plastered over the repair makes me a little concerned of the repair under it. I think photographs of the bigger repairs are missing (boot floor, jacking points etc) that I would like to see if it were me.

You know the bits that were repaired so if you do buy it keep a really good eye on those areas and jump on any slight bubbles in the paint. Less than perfect repairs have a habit of turning into an even bigger problem before they become too visible. Try and get some cavity wax on the back of those repairs where you can so the welding doesn't rust from behind.

Check all the usual places again like passenger footwell bulkhead, under and around the empty battery tray under the bonnet, that they may have missed.

Overall not a bad one, there are lots of them a lot, lot worse, as Paul said above depends on the price.

Good luck with it whatever you decide

Thanks very much for the info. I'll try and get the other photos although unsure if they have them. I think they undersealed it with something. Might have been cavity wax I'll look into it. What about in terms of the cost? Do you think £5.5k indicates a good job (Midlands area).

[flybynite]

Thanks very much for the info. I'll try and get the other photos although unsure if they have them. I think they undersealed it with something. Might have been cavity wax I'll look into it. What about in terms of the cost? Do you think £5.5k indicates a good job (Midlands area).

Some of the better places you would probably pay that for the paint alone, but it is not out of the ball park. They took the screens out which is not something they would do if they were cutting costs, and like I say it was probably not in a bad state to begin with.

[DanThe]

The window trims/gutter trims and rear pillar trims should have been removed, be careful how close you get with a pressure washer as edges of paint will be left in these areas and could be lifted by the pressure of the water.
At least they removed the door locks (apart from boot) which is one thing slap dash places dont do