Seriously Effective E30 Rustproofing Options

[Shock(/\)ave]

My new daily driver is a near mint - and I have high standards - 1991 318is with 125,000 km (78,000 miles) on it and no rust anywhere with the exception of a spot on the lower rear valence caused by the design flaw of the rear battery tray, a small amount of surface rust around the licence plate lights and a lovely spot around the filler neck of the gas tank:



I haven't posted about this car here yet, but I will get off my butt and write a few new posts about my cars this weekend for your enjoyment. On with the topic of this thread!

I live in Ontario, Canada, and in case you're a product of a failing education system and haven't heard of it we have some seriously nasty winters here complete with heavy road salting and the occasional warm spells thrown in for good measure to help the oxidization along.

Rust free low mileage E30s this nice are extremely rare anywhere let alone around here, and I would like to keep this car nice while still driving it as a proper daily. Beyond the usual rust protection spraying what else can be done to prevent corrosion as much as possible - including in areas like the windshield surround, lower doors and sunroof panel where oil spraying isn't applicable?

Thanks in advance for your wisdom! ;)

[Pantless Spency]

wow what a great car man, super clean body.... and paint! shit i bet the interior is cherry too....
me jelly.

[mikeedler]

spray nothing on it but water!

If you rustproof it now-- You are going to be trapping in whatever corrosion that has possibly started. Maybe spray some body cavity wax in the doors and stuff at the max.

Don't drive it in the winter is the best advice there is!

and if you must, keep it outside and away from a warm garage- that dries up the water and lets the salt that's left on the car work even faster at eating it up.

[TooSlowToCare]

It's REALLY hard to rust proof a car once it's painted, as that's pretty much your rust proofing. On all of our old z cars (which are notorious for rusting) we use only POR15 products. They have been tried and tested by the z guys for years, and no one has found anything that even remotely compares. I would definitely recommend it in areas like the battery tray where it's already gotten kinda bad, but i'd also undercoat your car with it, and basically treat anything you dont want to rust.

Even though my paint is in really good condition, who ever painted it last didn't prep it well and i have a few small problem spots. I'm considering treating the entire chasis with POR15 if i ever do a full respray.

[CrusherCurtis]

If you plan on keep it for awhile, don't drive it in the winter! Buy a Jeep like me! Or just buy something else. Where'd you find it? Was it in Ontario?

[ssaylor]

Congrats on the find. I like that... "no rust anywhere but..." - It has rust and where there is a little, there's always more you can't see. Best advise has already been posted - don't drive it in rain or snow.

[dannyyisntt]

Do as I do. Get a winter daily, use this as summer daily.

[Shock(/\)ave]

wow what a great car man, super clean body.... and paint! shit i bet the interior is cherry too....
me jelly.

Even the original powered antenna is still fully functional. :)

I'll definitely post a thread about it today.

if you must, keep it outside and away from a warm garage- that dries up the water and lets the salt that's left on the car work even faster at eating it up.

I've heard that before, and this car unfortunately will have to stay parked outside on my driveway as I have no room to park it inside... so I guess that's a plus?

It's REALLY hard to rust proof a car once it's painted, as that's pretty much your rust proofing. On all of our old z cars (which are notorious for rusting) we use only POR15 products. They have been tried and tested by the z guys for years, and no one has found anything that even remotely compares. I would definitely recommend it in areas like the battery tray where it's already gotten kinda bad, but i'd also undercoat your car with it, and basically treat anything you dont want to rust.

I've heard a lot about POR-15 and have been tempted to buy it for past projects. That's a solid plan as long as it can be applied properly and discreetly, but I'll still need something else for areas which are visible and painted red.

Where'd you find it? Was it in Ontario?

I found it locally in Toronto just like the first 318is I had.

Congrats on the find. I like that... "no rust anywhere but..." - It has rust and where there is a little, there's always more you can't see.

I hear you there - believe me - as I've been fighting and generally losing against rust since my first car (a 1988 Honda CRX Si) given where I live, but in this case I've been all over it and even the inner wheel well lips are perfect on this car.

[Shock(/\)ave]

If you plan on keep it for awhile, don't drive it in the winter! Buy a Jeep like me! Or just buy something else.

Don't drive it in the winter is the best advice there is!

Best advise has already been posted - don't drive it in rain or snow.

I'm actually already following that advice: this is the car I bought to be able to avoid driving my other cars in the winter.

Buying yet another car would put me at 5 in total, and that's too many for my current situation according to my voice of reason (otherwise known as my fiancee). We have a single car garage for now, so I'm already storing two of my cars elsewhere out of necessity and my car budget has been used up on, well, cars until I sell off some of the parts I've collected.

If there's just no good way to keep this car safe I might decide to sell it and pick up a real beater for the winter... but I'm going to be investigating all other avenues first as I love driving this car.

Thanks again for all of your replies so far! :p

[accident]

My E36 is from Canada. The guy I bought it from lived in Kitchener, and had it "Crowned" every year. It's annoying as shit to work on, but the car is far less rusty than it should be. Barely so.

[nmlss2006]

Simplest advice that hasn't yet been given: wash it OFTEN, paying attention to the underside and the wheelwells. And do keep it inside - outside storage ages cars tremendously.

[AndrewBird]

Simplest advice that hasn't yet been given: wash it OFTEN, paying attention to the underside and the wheelwells. And do keep it inside - outside storage ages cars tremendously.

This is what I was going to suggest. Water doesn't really cause much rust, it's the salt that does. Washing it off will go a long way in protecting everything.

If you do end up using POR-15, be sure you prep the surface VERY well. I mean spotless, no rust, no grease, etc. I've seen that stuff pull off in sheets due to improper prep. Get it right though, and it will never come off.

[lbreevesii]

black por15 for the parts you can't see, and well the only real option for places you can see is to have them protected and done properly.

[Shock(/\)ave]

Simplest advice that hasn't yet been given: wash it OFTEN, paying attention to the underside and the wheelwells. And do keep it inside - outside storage ages cars tremendously.

This is what I was going to suggest. Water doesn't really cause much rust, it's the salt that does. Washing it off will go a long way in protecting everything.

If religious washing is key, I'll have to come up with some form of temporary solution using heavy duty tarps or something to get me through the winter.

We just bought our first house at the end of last year. It's a century old brick farmhouse surrounded by huge fields and forests with a ~400 foot long unpaved driveway and a single car attached garage (which we'll eventually be extending once we have the funds available). Our well is as old as the house, and it's situated right next to the entrance to our garage where runoff could potentially get to it... so washing the cars has been challenging even in nice weather.

I'll pick up a can of POR-15 soon and get to work. :-?

[TooSlowToCare]

If religious washing is key, I'll have to come up with some form of temporary solution using heavy duty tarps or something to get me through the winter.

We just bought our first house at the end of last year. It's a century old brick farmhouse surrounded by huge fields and forests with a ~400 foot long unpaved driveway and a single car attached garage (which we'll eventually be extending once we have the funds available). Our well is as old as the house, and it's situated right next to the entrance to our garage where runoff could potentially get to it... so washing the cars has been challenging even in nice weather.

I'll pick up a can of POR-15 soon and get to work. :-?

Sounds like you should find a local pay-and-spray car wash, take your own bucket and rag, and do the washing there.

As for the POR, like someone else said it's great for the underside and areas you can't see, but aside from striping the car, treating it, and repainting it...it's not going to do much for the top side. Granted most of the time unless there is a break in the paint, the rust will surface from the back side of the panel anyway, you might be ok just treating under the car and the back sides of any exposed body metal.