New owner, BMW 325iX Touring

[D.Martijn]

Today I removed the carpet (I dont have a picture of the carpet itself though)
After removing the carpet completely, I noticed the ugly looking patches in the corners of the floor and A post. When I bought the car I knew the previous owner welded there but I didn't know it would look that bad though..


Close up of the 'patch'


Passenger foor also has a smaller patch and some other rust issues I'll address.

I got started on removing the old sound insulation on the drivers side floor with a spatula, chisel and hammer. I also removed the part that's still pictures here.


After cleaning the tar of the floor, I jacked the front up and removed the wheel.
This made it easier to remove all of the undercoating. It's crazy that this was all hidden underneath a thick layer of undercoating.. Oh well time to fix this repair!


Some nasty repairs..


I'll go ahead and measure my uncles floor/a post so I can fabricate my repair panels as close as possible to the factory look.

In the weekend I'll rent a extractor to clean the old carpet/seat an whole interior while I'm at it.

[bradnic]

i've seen much worse - just parting out an IX coupe now.

what you have there is totally manageable. you can also heat the sound deadening with hot air to get it out. some people freeze it instead.

[D.Martijn]

Got the interior now at home, had to drive two times back and forth with our Golf mk5 :p

Also put the car on jackstands, this will make welding in the patch panels and grinding the welds down much easier. My uncle also came to our workshop to check out the E30. While he was there I measured and made a template of his floor with some paper.

i've seen much worse - just parting out an IX coupe now.

what you have there is totally manageable. you can also heat the sound deadening with hot air to get it out. some people freeze it instead.

Yes, I've made some more complicated patch panel for my other classic cars (VW Golf mk1 and currently a BMW 2002 Touring).
It's definitely not as bad as some other E30s.

Yes, the dry ice trick does wonders, however the isolation came off pretty easy because it's soaked in coolant.

[Julien]

Your touring brings back memories*thumbsup*

[D.Martijn]

Your touring brings back memories*thumbsup*

Awesome! Watched both threads. :up:
You're now living in SF?

[squidmaster]

Nice updates! I have a non-car related question for you about the workbend lighting you have. Could you send me a closeup picture of the lights? I like them and am looking for new workbench lighting myself. Thanks :)

[D.Martijn]

Nice updates! I have a non-car related question for you about the workbend lighting you have. Could you send me a closeup picture of the lights? I like them and am looking for new workbench lighting myself. Thanks :)

Thank you!
Yes, sure. I'll take some pictures of the brackets I made this evening or tomorrow, not sure if I'm going back to our workshop this evening.. I'll PM you them :)

[D.Martijn]

Got some better pictures of the floor, with the sound deadening removed


Started with 2 parallel cuts, making sure I didn't hit the pipe that runs along the frame rail
I made a cut just in the middle of the flange of the frame rail. I'll make the seam big enough there so it'll be nice and strong.


To remove the section from the A post I had to removed the bumper and side fender first.
I also removed the ix sill cover so I can clean everything up. I'll also address the surface rust on the inner fender. Luckily the sill and inside of the fender is nice and dry :)


Previous owner cut a piece out of the A post and "welded" it back in, I'll go ahead and remove this again and properly weld it in.

[D.Martijn]

Got some more work done on the floor.
I started with fully removing the rusty bits, had to make several cuts to get everything out. The previous owner also welded in a patch for the inner sill which I also removed.

Carefully removed the lower part that was welded on, I'll try to reuse this panel after sandblasting it. Might remake the flange on the right side.


This is why it all starts rusting..


Everything removed


Nice big hole


I then made a paper template of the section for the floor. I want to make this as close to original as possible.


And metal, I hammered the upper part of the right swage line flat so I'll be able to plug weld the firewall to it.


Got started on the inner sill patch.


Tomorrow I'll hopefully get this welded in and maybe the floor too. I'll then go ahead and start on the firewall patch.

[D.Martijn]

Yesterday I got started on welding my first panel in.

I first tack welded the panel for the A post in a few places and checked to see if the panel I made previously for the floor would still fit/line up. Everything looked great.


Fully welded in and ground the welds down. I made this panel a little too long so I can grind if off at the correct height of the inner sill.


Next panel made up for the fire wall and factory jacking point. Also added the little swage lines like it was originally. I must say so myself, turned out pretty good.


Got the new heater core delivered too, still waiting on the new heater core valve and seals. Today I'll go ahead and clean the entire interior with an extractor I've rented.

[D.Martijn]

Got my interior fully cleaned today! Pretty impressed by the extractor I've rented, would use it again. I would not say that my interior was very dirty but there were some spots that needed some cleaning. The weather couldn't have been any better, sunny and windy, dried super fast!

Before and after shot of the boot carpet




Rear seats drying in the sun, the edges were pretty hard to get completely clean, the fabric has seen some wear from the sun over all these year


Boot trim piece, cleaned up nicely


Floor mats and carpet.

[mike.bmw]

Impressive work! Forming and welding sheet metal is always something I've wanted to learn.

[The Red Baron]

Teeth on the front driveshaft look pretty pointy, which means some prettygood wear on them. Thats what tue pics look like anyway.

[parkerbink]

Very nice & excellent progress!

[D.Martijn]

Impressive work! Forming and welding sheet metal is always something I've wanted to learn.

Thank you! Best tip I can give it just start trying to make panels and practice welding. Going through some sheet metal forums can also give you some insight on how some panels are made. You get a lot of satisfaction when the pieces are in place and fit together.

Teeth on the front driveshaft look pretty pointy, which means some prettygood wear on them. Thats what tue pics look like anyway.

Yes, they are a bit pointy. The previous owner added a few washers so there's a fresh section that's used of the splines..
I'm actually looking to get a replacement one soon.

Very nice & excellent progress!

Thank you! :up: