E30 Rust :-( HELP!

[zell311]

Hey guys, been browsing the forum for a while now and finally need some help.

I have a 1991 318is that has a rust problem on the drivers side. I have owned the car for a while now but haven't driven it much as I had other projects going on. I just recently pulled it out of storage and finally had a chance to get it on a lift.

I have browsed tons of threads but found nothing that has gotten to the frame rail.

The car is MINT on the top side. 7/10 interior. and the rest of the undercarriage is in good shape too. I need some advice on what to do at this point.

Is it scrap?
How much would it be to fix something like this?
Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated.

[Panici]

Check out the second last page of my build thread. (in my sig) Discovered something similar today.

My plan is to cut it all out and replace.

If I can find a donor car, I'll use an original subframe rail and floor pan, and weld in place. If not, then I'll be making a subframe rail and floorpan from scratch.

P.S. - I don't know how to weld yet, so I'll need to practice that first!


Preview:

[MJCRO]

I had rust issues in those same exact spots which I repaired myself. You could fix it for real cheap if you've got a welder and the time. I'd say 10+ hours of cutting and grinding off all that rust, then shaping your plates to be welded and so on.

Mine: (this hole started out as large as a walnut)

[ravenlord89]

Ya, I just pulled the carpet from my E30 and found something similar. Pretty simple fix really. If you don't have a welder, go buy yourself a good MIG welder and a gas bottle. Lincon, Millar, and ThermalArc are all excellent brands to use.

I like to use a full sheet of 20 gauge body metal. Thick enough to not rust away in a day, and thin enough to work with and weld easily. When I am welding I use autoweld. It is a mixture of 75% CO2 and 25% Argon. Wire thickness of 0.23/ 6mm It works excellently on body metal. Keeps it from vapourizing and allows you more control over the heat and amount of metal going into the car.

The other tool you will want to pick-up is an angle grinder with some sanding/ flap discs. They are basically your best friend for prep work and for finishing work. Make paint stripping very easy, and make grinding down welds look rather nice.

If possible I would get a floorpan from another E30 if you can. If not then you will need thicker metal for the frame rail, and normal body metal for the floorpan. If you need to build a frame rail I would suggest getting a sheet metal shop in your area to make you something that fits the dimensions from your exsisting rail. The floor will be as simple as cut large square section out of floor. Burn in new square section.

If you are going to be paying anyone else to do the work for you, scrap the car and go find a clean one. I would expect to pay upwards of $4000 for that much work. If you will be doing the work yourself and have all the tools I have stated, cost of sheet metal. If you need to buy said tooling and metal I would expect anywhere from 1500-3000 depending on what you buy for tooling.

Welder; 5-800
Helmet and Gloves; 100-250
IDK what gas bottles go for in the USA, but I paid 300 for mine. and it costs 70 to fill it.
Metal will be the cheap part. I paid 50 bucks for a sheet of 4x8 20 gauge steel. That was years ago and it has done a full rocker rebuild, a rear fender rebuild, did a corner of the bed in my truck and the shock tower of my E30.

Look up JGood's build thread. He taught himself to weld on his E30, so the inspiration is there. This is also an excellent link; http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/

Best of luck. It looks terrifying, but it isn't as bad as most people will tell you it is.

One last thing, if you use fiberglass on any part of this job I will find you and do horrible unspeakable things to your car.

[SmokeE30]

Hey guys, been browsing the forum for a while now and finally need some help.

I have a 1991 318is that has a rust problem on the drivers side. I have owned the car for a while now but haven't driven it much as I had other projects going on. I just recently pulled it out of storage and finally had a chance to get it on a lift.

I have browsed tons of threads but found nothing that has gotten to the frame rail.

The car is MINT on the top side. 7/10 interior. and the rest of the undercarriage is in good shape too. I need some advice on what to do at this point.


Is it scrap?
How much would it be to fix something like this?
Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated.

Looks salvageable but it will be a lot of welding you need to first grind out all the rusty/thin metal and see what your working with. We are doing something similar on a car here at the moment and have done others in the past, it's not very difficult if you have all the tools, it just takes time so how much it that worth to you?

And ps that is not a lift point I would instruct you to go off the frame but in this case I'll let you decide if it looks like it will hold or not because of the rust lol

[inferno363]

I'm currently going though this same process with my e30 right now, have been for longer than I care to say.

You can still get a lot oem replacement panels. Browse through realoem and punch the part numbers into ECS Tuning's website. If it is still available, they have better prices than anywhere I've found.

For example the carrier: http://www.ecstuning.com/ES67293/

Good luck with the project and keep us posted on your progress.

[ravenlord89]

I'm currently going though this same process with my e30 right now, have been for longer than I care to say.

You can still get a lot oem replacement panels. Browse through realoem and punch the part numbers into ECS Tuning's website. If it is still available, they have better prices than anywhere I've found.

For example the carrier: http://www.ecstuning.com/ES67293/

Good luck with the project and keep us posted on your progress.

Carrier is an NLA item at the moment. I just attempted to order one from ECS and they can no longer get them.

[JGood]

Carrier is an NLA item at the moment. I just attempted to order one from ECS and they can no longer get them.

Sucks to hear that. I'm actually thinking of building my own, as mine is starting to deform a lot from being jacked up constantly. Would be nice to have some really thick gauge metal boxed around the current rail, stitch welded the length of it. Would probably stiffen things up a bit as well.

[ThatOneEuroE30]

Good luck with the build follow the advice given in the thread I'm fixing a car with the same rust and then some.