Sunroof Rust

Fri Mar 26, 2021 10:27 pm

Hello all, first post here of the 316i Touring.
It has been SORN since 2015 in a dry garage. Hoping to sort it out this summer.

It's mostly rust free, 47k miles, but I'm concerned about the sunroof tray.
Do we think this is fixable?

Fri Mar 26, 2021 10:48 pm

It looks repairable but how long that repair will last is dependant on how aggressive the repair is .You can slow down the corrosion on the surfaces you can see but not sure how much the drain holes have been affected .

Fri Mar 26, 2021 11:23 pm

The headliner will have to come out for repair anyway, so I guess I'll see the underside of the rear drain holes then.

Before a full respray etc, will wire wheel and primer make the area safe in the interim?

Sun Mar 28, 2021 5:02 pm

Well by removing the headlining will at least give you a better picture of the condition of the roof itself which is hard to repair , if it's good condition the I'd provide as much much protection as I could .

Sun Mar 28, 2021 6:41 pm

Thanks. Will be posting more as the build goes on

Sun Mar 28, 2021 7:57 pm

It's fixable with the aid of a MIG welder at worst, however bad it turns out to be. None of it is visible, at least with the roof closed, so doesn't have to b particularly pretty.

Mon May 10, 2021 9:36 am

Attempted to change the belts & water pump this weekend. All was going well until the original water pump. The eyes sheared off as expected. I then proceeded to spend 6 hours with a pipe wrench trying to get it out. The pump now can turn 360 degrees and is proud by aprx 3mm.

I've ordered a bearing puller tool which hopefully should get it out. Any other ideas?