Do you think its worth part ex-ing my 2003 E46 320D sport to a newer model?
- Thread starter easyrider
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Of course you can. It may be quicker/cheaper to replace with 2 second hand wings the same colour, however.The rust on the rear arches etc is an easy fix - cut out the rust, weld in a repair and paint. It won't cost the world and will be much cheaper than changing.
The rust on the rear arches etc is an easy fix - cut out the rust, weld in a repair and paint. It won't cost the world and will be much cheaper than changing.
On the front wings you can't repair the rust.
You need to replace them, where the bottom rounds upwards and turns into a lip, the rust comes from the inside over there.
Rear do whaever but the front wings need replacing if you want to fix it for more than a year.
Wow, that is a surprising amount of rust. I have a silver 2003 325i touring and it's only got a small bit of bubbling on one rear arch (I'm guessing from a stonechip). 160,000 miles as well. Part of me wants to change it but I'm struggling to find any decent reason why, owned it for over 4 years and in that time I've only had to replace a power steering pump which was any easy/cheap DIY.
Not sure why there's such a level of surprise r.e the rust, its par for the course on e46's( if anything its faired well if that's the first time). E36's were just as bad too.
Just get the rear stuff cut out, replaced and repainted unless the car is worth peanuts - in which case run it till it cannot pass an mot/dies.
Just get the rear stuff cut out, replaced and repainted unless the car is worth peanuts - in which case run it till it cannot pass an mot/dies.
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Half of the e46's I went to see 6 months ago were rusting somewhere. Pretty much every e36 I went to see when I bought mine maybe 3 or 4 years ago had some rust or had been repaired.
How old were the cars you had when you owned them? I ca n pretty much guarantee that the e36 had been repairedbunless it was a very rare example. Mileage is pretty irrelevant. In quite genuinely surprised people don't seem to recognise this as a known issue - BMW bodywork was crap for rust in the 90's/ early 00's
How old were the cars you had when you owned them? I ca n pretty much guarantee that the e36 had been repairedbunless it was a very rare example. Mileage is pretty irrelevant. In quite genuinely surprised people don't seem to recognise this as a known issue - BMW bodywork was crap for rust in the 90's/ early 00's
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What was the point of this post?
The rust continues under the whole rear arch.
That's not surprising...it can all be repaired through - if anything a larger section is easier to deal with. Remember the wing is just a skin really, so long as it looks right when done there will be no isssue
Do you live near the sea?
In vegas cars don't rust
No I don't, but my 325i was bought from Blackpool, so it lived it's life by the sea.
As for how old they were, the 330d was 9 years old, and the 325i was 16 years old!
And your point?
I'm not really sure what your point is here? His quite obviously is rusty, yours were not which is great. The E46 does generally seem to suffer quite badly especially on the front wings, which is a shame.
There will always be cars which don't suffer at all (yours) and cars which suffer worse than normal (his).
Not actually fighting with you easyrider, I was more pointing out to rodenal that I don't think the rust problem with BMWs is as bad as is being made out.
Clearly yours has a rust problem (although I don't think being by the sea is the sole cause, it must have been started by chipped paint left unattended).
If I were in your shoes, I'd get some quotes for the rust repair work, some trade-in values, and work out if it makes sense to get the repairs done. You've been looking at replacement cars for well over a year given your previous threads (whether seriously or not I've no idea, but clearly it's been playing on your mind for a while), so I doubt even repairing it is going to offer the change your heart desires. The end result is likely going to have to be a replacement car, regardless of whether your E46 can be repaired cheaply or not.
So yeah, to re-cap, I'd get some repair quotes, and some trade-in values (for both current state and fully cosmetically repaired), work out from there if it's worth repairing, then make a decision on what to go for next. Either way though I'd not be spending £15k on an E90.
Clearly yours has a rust problem (although I don't think being by the sea is the sole cause, it must have been started by chipped paint left unattended).
If I were in your shoes, I'd get some quotes for the rust repair work, some trade-in values, and work out if it makes sense to get the repairs done. You've been looking at replacement cars for well over a year given your previous threads (whether seriously or not I've no idea, but clearly it's been playing on your mind for a while), so I doubt even repairing it is going to offer the change your heart desires. The end result is likely going to have to be a replacement car, regardless of whether your E46 can be repaired cheaply or not.
So yeah, to re-cap, I'd get some repair quotes, and some trade-in values (for both current state and fully cosmetically repaired), work out from there if it's worth repairing, then make a decision on what to go for next. Either way though I'd not be spending £15k on an E90.
You probably washed yours though, whereas the OP clearly doesn't bother.
Easyrider, you have neglected your car. You can't blame the weather/location.