New owner, BMW 325iX Touring

[15Michaeljoseph]

I basically need to cut the entire rear end off my iX, not looking forward to hearing cost from the bodyshop...

"just get a new shell" -- everyone

No way! Keep that sentimental value!

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[bradnic]

from drive2.ru

original URL: https://www.drive2.ru/l/3390198/
translated: https://translate.google.com/transla...%2Fl%2F3390198

[D.Martijn]

these pics make me happy lol.
save that touring!

Thanks! I'll be happy when it's back together and I can drive it again. It's starting to get itchy.. :)

Incredible. PLEASE work on my car! I'd rather pay you the thousands vs. some janky body shop!

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Sure, send it over to Belgium! ... Oh

I basically need to cut the entire rear end off my iX, not looking forward to hearing cost from the bodyshop...

Is yours that bad? New rear panel and quarters? or just the boxes on the rear?

[D.Martijn]

Yesterday I got the floor (top and bottom sections) and front inner wheel well covered in epoxy primer. Letting the primer seep through the gaps.


When I replaced the floor section previously, I noticed that the previous owner welded a plate against the inner sill. There was also a gap between the inner sill and floor.
Being the curious guy I am, I decided to check it out..
Glad I did.


What you see here is part of the inner sill that is/was spot welded to the flange of the floorpan.


The outer sill was bended a bit, after some hammering and putting it in the vise I got it pretty straight.



Before fully removing/separating the floor and inner sill I supported the middle of the sill with a jack. With another jack I supported the weight of the engine.


I already got the new plate for the inner sill made, just have to add the drain holes. Thinking about relocating the drain hose to eliminate possible rust forming.

[bradnic]

keep the pics coming!
fyi you can still get oem inner sills new. outers are NLA but repros are available.

[D.Martijn]

keep the pics coming!
fyi you can still get oem inner sills new. outers are NLA but repros are available.

Pretty sure you can still get the outer sill (part no 41351936505) from BMW. You just have to also buy the A post and front section of the rear wheel well. (This explains the gaps/indentation on the front and back of the sill)

The outer sills have been replaced already. These got treated much better than the floor repairs. Have a ton of wax inside of them.

It's just a small section of straight metal I need to weld in, no need to buy the whole inner sill new :)

[CorvallisBMW]

Wow, you're busy! Great work on keeping such a beautiful (and rare) e30 alive!

I'm curious about the CoC process you mentioned in the beginning when you bought the car. Is that required only once when bringing the car in to Belgium? Or do you have to show it every time it's inspected/taxed?

[D.Martijn]

Wow, you're busy! Great work on keeping such a beautiful (and rare) e30 alive!

I'm curious about the CoC process you mentioned in the beginning when you bought the car. Is that required only once when bringing the car in to Belgium? Or do you have to show it every time it's inspected/taxed?

Thank you! The car was pretty good but there are always a few things with these cars that needs changing.. and of course the usual rust :(

Since this E30 was built before '96 it didn't receive a CoC in Germany (conformity certificate). I could import the car without one but this meant I can not use it as a daily driver (number plate 1-...-...) but only as a oldtimer/classic car (plate 0-...-...).When you have a classic car number plate you can't drive to school/work with said car. You can see the plates next to each other on page5 of my thread where my iX is pictured next to the one of my uncle.

However, you can get a conformity certificate at your dealer or the main BMW dealer/import of Belgium. This only took a few hours.
You can also do this at a local car inspection center but it can take up to a month or even longer.

So when I have to get the car annually checked because it's registered as a daily (classic cars only have to get checked once when you register it)
I have to give registration, insurance, conformity certificate. (I think that's it lol)

I hope this explains it a bit more, if not feel free to ask questions :)
Not sure if this is a bit the same in the US?

[Roadrunner]

Amazing work! You sure are making the best of having to remove the interior. :p Weird how common it is to have rust holes in that spot in the corners of the foot wells. At least you'll have peace of mind knowing all the rust was fixed the right way once you're done all of this. Interested to hear how the dashboard re-install goes as well.

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

The one benefit of having a serious coolant leak! ;) Are you planning to replace the sound insulation?

[CorvallisBMW]

Thank you! The car was pretty good but there are always a few things with these cars that needs changing.. and of course the usual rust :(

Since this E30 was built before '96 it didn't receive a CoC in Germany (conformity certificate). I could import the car without one but this meant I can not use it as a daily driver (number plate 1-...-...) but only as a oldtimer/classic car (plate 0-...-...).When you have a classic car number plate you can't drive to school/work with said car. You can see the plates next to each other on page5 of my thread where my iX is pictured next to the one of my uncle.

However, you can get a conformity certificate at your dealer or the main BMW dealer/import of Belgium. This only took a few hours.
You can also do this at a local car inspection center but it can take up to a month or even longer.

So when I have to get the car annually checked because it's registered as a daily (classic cars only have to get checked once when you register it)
I have to give registration, insurance, conformity certificate. (I think that's it lol)

I hope this explains it a bit more, if not feel free to ask questions :)
Not sure if this is a bit the same in the US?

So you can't really modify a daily driven car at all? That's too bad.

No, we don't have any such system in the US. Some states have vehicle inspections for safety, some for emissions, some for both. But there's nothing like the CoC that I'm aware of.

[D.Martijn]

Amazing work! You sure are making the best of having to remove the interior. :p Weird how common it is to have rust holes in that spot in the corners of the foot wells. At least you'll have peace of mind knowing all the rust was fixed the right way once you're done all of this. Interested to hear how the dashboard re-install goes as well.

The one benefit of having a serious coolant leak! ;) Are you planning to replace the sound insulation?

Thank you! Yes, now that the interior is fully out I want to tackle all the rust spots so I'm 100% sure it's good for the year to come. Still a few left to cut out but it's getting there. Overall the removal of the dash wasn't too bad, you just have to remove everything basically

Actually I'm glad I had the coolant leak. Weird right..? Otherwise I would have had no clue about the rust issues as on the outside of the car it looked pretty good.

And yes I will. Before removing the original sound deadening I made a template of it. So when I get my new one for the local auto shop I can cut it roughly out like the original :)

So you can't really modify a daily driven car at all? That's too bad.

No, we don't have any such system in the US. Some states have vehicle inspections for safety, some for emissions, some for both. But there's nothing like the CoC that I'm aware of.

No, you can't but there are several people who still do it and once the annual inspection comes up they switch everything over to the original suspension etc.
I'm not sure about coilovers but I'm 100% sure you can't (legally) use bags.

Newer cars have a CoC, it's just a paper that basically states the car is stock, no modifications.
So when I imported an older car without one, it had to be checked that it's still stock (eg. isn't lowered or has another motor)

[D.Martijn]

Yesterday I got the inner sill and flange for the floor welded in.
Today I finished the floor repair by welding the outer sill on and the little section of the A post.

Inner sill with the little drain hole punched in; I ground the lower section down so that water can escape.


Outer sill and a post, coated the outside in brunox. I'm still going to coat the inside with wax


Ground the excess metal flush with the A post piece


And finally welded a little stud on the floor where the heat shielding for the exhaust is secured


Finally I discovered some more rust under the window washer bottle, when going over it with a wire wheel the metal just disintegrated in pieces resulting in a hole. Yay!

[bradnic]

so much win here. keep it up and hang in there!

[D.Martijn]

so much win here. keep it up and hang in there!

Thanks Bradnic!

[D.Martijn]

Today I cut out the rust under the washer bottle, I had to use my dremel to make the cuts on the left since there is almost no place for an angle grinder.

The flange of the firewall was completely rusted through


Luckily the vertical section still remained which meant I could weld a new flange onto it


After grinding the welds down, I welded in a flat patch and grind it smooth too.
I was able to grind most of the welds down with the angle grinder, for the tight spots I busted out the angle die grinder. I then finished this repair with a coat of Brunox


From the inside, not going to grind these welds down as no one will ever see these


And finally I wire wheeled the inside and flange of the front fenders, I'll cover these in epoxy primer once the Brunox is dry. I also let the Brunox seep into the gap pictured on the buttom