Tackling the E46 sills advice needed

[Ash160808]

Hello people so I work in a car parts company and ordered the sills in to see if they was what I need and it's spot on. Basically I'd say 3/4 of the underside of the sills (the strip that contains the jacking point) is gone.
My question is can it be rebuilt back up with metal plates or is it better to have a whole new sill put in??
I can take some pictures if that will help.
People see rust on the sills and say oh just scrap it but to me that seems a bit drastic
Anyway thanks for reading

[Jaybmw]

Before you start unless it's an M3 or a rare variant of said 46 I'd eye up a replacement car. Rust is a slippery slope. Even doing said sills inc paint your up over a grand before the rest of the car is tested. And if it's rusting on one side the other wont be far away

[iSore]

As above. A rotten E46 is a goner. Nobody will thank you for saving it, and to do it will cost hundreds. The trouble with old cars like this is that once the sills are rusty, so will a lot of the rest of it. After spending God knows how much rebuilding the sills, the rad will go bang or some other E46 drama will befall it. Not worth doing unless it was a very cheap, otherwise nice 325Ci/330i and you can plate what's already there.

[bmwmike]

Got to wonder how much overall structural strength is lost once sills start getting plated etc.

[helix402]

bmwmike said:

Got to wonder how much overall structural strength is lost once sills start getting plated etc.

None if it’s done properly: