Hello all! Long time BMW enthusiast, first time posting here for some advice. I have a 87' 325is that I picked up a few months ago, the car is from ND and has its fair share of rust. It hasn't seen any track time since the purchase, just some hooning around town.. The car came with an aftermarket set of wheels; when I jacked it up to swap the wheels I found a completely rusted upper perch down into the frame. Does anyone have experience with this type of repair? Is it too far gone and I should salvage/part out what I can and look for another e30?. My total investment as of now is about 3500. engine and trans are strong, 200k miles but strong. Plenty of bits to part out. Here is a listing from bring a trailer that should help answer any questions. The scary thing is... we dove this back to cali... no problems!!! and believe me when I say: I drove it like I stole it. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1987-bmw-325is-76/
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HELP! Driver side rear upper spring perch rust
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Well this is something! I just did this exact repair on my '87 325iS this past May (quarantine project while put of work/school). Car lived it's whole life up here in MA, salt country. As for the repair, there is likely no saving any part of that perch, and it's also likely that the rot extends a little further than you can see. HOWEVER, I don't think it's wise to throw out the whole car over this--- I certainly was not prepared to in my case. I was lucky enough to have sourced two rear spring perches off of a friend's wrecked e30 two years ago, anticipating this repair. I drilled out the spot welds holding the perch on, and ripped it off, cut the rotted frame section, patched that with 16ga steel, and welded the spring perch from the donor car onto that (I will attach a pic of me holding this piece). Don't make fun of my ugly, but STRONG welds! I believe one of the overseas body part suppliers like Valcas Garage or E30 Garage Norway sells the perch, so you won't need a donor car, otherwise you will have to fab something up yourself--- I've seen it on YouTube (search: e30 rear spring perch repair, or similar) Sent from my moto g(6) using TapatalkLast edited by 15Michaeljoseph; 01-03-2021, 08:03 PM.(OO=[][]=OO) For Life
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Here are the pics of the finished product. The lumps in the finish are from getting a little over-zealous with seam sealer. In addition to both spring perches and associated rear end body rust, I refurbished a spare subframe and such to go in as well--- a really satisfying job. The car is my daily so if it weren't for the whole lockdown month and all I probably wouldn't have gotten to take my time and do it all right. If there is any information I can share with you to help, I'd be glad to. I hate to see another e30 end up a casualty just for some rust. The '87 iS is definitely a special model/year combo as far as these cars go. It is a big job but with some spare time it's doable. I'll look for a link to the aftermarket spring perch too. Sent from my moto g(6) using TapatalkLast edited by 15Michaeljoseph; 01-03-2021, 08:00 PM.(OO=[][]=OO) For Life
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Sorry for the small pics-- not sure how they'll show up for you but you get the idea. Here's the link to that video, guy made his own perches in lieu: https://youtu.be/t1dRYm-YHzI Can't seem to find that whole perch as I remembered listed on any website at the moment but: ---E30 garage Norway (sells just the upper "eyelid" part) --- special classic parts (sells the lower round plate) https://www.specialclassicparts.de/e...Products/KA007 Sent from my moto g(6) using TapatalkLast edited by 15Michaeljoseph; 01-03-2021, 09:01 PM.(OO=[][]=OO) For Life
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First off, thank you for the reply, I did not think I was going to get a response so soon. Second, WOW!! that is very impressive and inspiring! I don't have any welding experience, but I feel very confident in being able to do most of the prep work. I will have to call around and find someone to weld it all up.
I am going to send some messages out and see if I can get a pair of those reinforcement plates/perchs on order from those pictures. In the meantime I am going to grind out all the rust and do as much prep as possible.Thank you so much for the information on those parts!! I will post some pics as things progress..
Note: This is going to be the most difficult repair I have ever attempted on a car so I am going to have some questions that are probably obvious to some, please don't judge me too harshly.
First question: Is it best/required to remove the rear subframe for this repair, or is that just creating much more work?
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Originally posted by ConradM3 View PostFirst off, thank you for the reply, I did not think I was going to get a response so soon. Second, WOW!! that is very impressive and inspiring! I don't have any welding experience, but I feel very confident in being able to do most of the prep work. I will have to call around and find someone to weld it all up. I am going to send some messages out and see if I can get a pair of those reinforcement plates/perchs on order from those pictures. In the meantime I am going to grind out all the rust and do as much prep as possible.Thank you so much for the information on those parts!! I will post some pics as things progress.. Note: This is going to be the most difficult repair I have ever attempted on a car so I am going to have some questions that are probably obvious to some, please don't judge me too harshly. First question: Is it best/required to remove the rear subframe for this repair, or is that just creating much more work?Last edited by 15Michaeljoseph; 01-04-2021, 11:03 PM.(OO=[][]=OO) For Life
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Sent messages to e30garage and specialclassicparts inquiring about the perch plates and the reinforcement brackets, hopefully there will be a response soon. Once I start the repair the car will be parked for awhile as this is something I will be doing after work in my spare time. For that reason I do not feel comfortable starting the work until the parts are at least on order. As the car sits now its not safe to drive but I can move her around when needed. I have recently ordered some parts for my 2002 from Germany and with covid/customs DHL is average 3 weeks shipping. So it may be awhile before there is any progress.Last edited by ConradM3; 01-06-2021, 12:43 AM.
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