Another silver BMW - 2005 330i Touring

[Swervin_Mervin]

It was your post last year that got me looking at mine Sam! I think your post might have helped save a couple more from getting too far gone.

Thankfully mine was still only surface corrosion so I wire brushed it all back, and then liberally treated with Hydrate 80 and BH's zinc primer. I treated the rear subframe forward mounting points on the body as well, as they looked like they'd been in the sea - solid as still, but horrible to look at!

Also wire brushed the tailgate strut mounting points and treated with Hydrate80. I was going to zinc prime them and paint, but in the end just went with the BH clear wax straight over the top. As a bit of an experiment I wanted to see how well the Hydrate80 prevails, so can easily do that by just popping the trims off and having a look. Should give me an idea then of how well it's lasting in the treated areas of the arch.

[JakeT]

Swervin_Mervin said:

When I had mine in for pulleys on Wed the chap was telling me that they see a few of these still, and they just seem to keep going. Said another customer had a 325 (not sure if i or d) and that he'd just had his in for a refurbed rear subframe to be fitted as the other had got to being an MOT failure. Think he said the chap paid £500 for a refurbed one from somewhere that came with new bushes fitted. Apparently the guy uses it every day up and down the motorway and it's on north of 250k and has no plans to change it.

I had a look on howmanyleft recently and the numbers that were still taxed was incredible - something like 230 out of 280 originally registered (330i that is)

If you could get on top of any body rust then it should keep trucking for a long time yet.

I'd like to get my sill covers off this year and have a see what's going on. Hopefully won't regret looking

You’re right, survival numbers are good. There’s plenty of E90s that look like weighbridge dodgers but they seem to go on, there’s 20 year old ones out there now. What I need to find is a good specialist that will swap the subframe and sort the floor rust for me. Even if it’s £2,000, it’s cheaper than anything else.

Court_S said:

Mine had a subframe fitted by the previous owner because it was so crusty (he decided it was easier to just replace than try and refurb the old one).

I found some surface rust under the arch liners which I treated, unfortunately there is also a slight hole in the drivers side rear arch that needs attending to this year. It didn’t look too bad when it was in the ramps for its last MOT.

Makes sense, I wouldn’t refurbish mine, especially as there will be corrosion on the inside of the voids.

I think that will be a classic rot trap on three cars. Moreso as they have fabric liners which stay wet forever.

[Court_S]

JakeT said:

Makes sense, I wouldn’t refurbish mine, especially as there will be corrosion on the inside of the voids.

I think that will be a classic rot trap on three cars. Moreso as they have fabric liners which stay wet forever.

Definitely, it affects the whole era now I think. My mate who runs an MOT place sent me some pics of a shocking E92 M3 last summer that had some interesting rear sub frame repairs.

[JakeT]

During the Italy trip, sitting at the ET checkin I noticed a rattle from the car, underneath in the middle. Gearbox area. I thought it was a loose heat shield as it wasn’t constant, but then it became more frequent. Under load at low revs, like driving up parking ramps it was a meaty rattle. More than a heatshield, so I did what any good car owner would do. Left it alone. I changed over to my summer wheels today, so had a look. It didn’t take long to find it.



That nut doesn’t look like one anymore…



The bolt came out by hand, impressive it wasn’t blowing in fairness. The E36 was my chariot to go and fetch a suitable nut and bolt from our friends at Halfords.



Better for now. Speaking of the winter wheels. I usually pick the stones out of the tread and give them a look over before storing them, three were fine, but the last one…



Hmmm…





Well, seems luck was on my side with that one, and I need a pair of tyres come winter time.

[B'stard Child]

JakeT said:

Speaking of the winter wheels. I usually pick the stones out of the tread and give them a look over before storing them, three were fine, but the last one…



Hmmm…





Well, seems luck was on my side with that one, and I need a pair of tyres come winter time.

I'd say it was.......

Was that damage or age related?

[JakeT]

I agree! I’m not sure that said. It’s the inner sidewall, and I haven’t run it underinflated as I keep on top of tyre pressures. They’re dated 2018, so this was going to be their last season as it’s easy to light them up.