How much to remove rust on arch

[P Nuts]

right, so i have some rust on my 323i, its fairly bad and starting to bug me, can anyone give a rough estimate as to how much it would be to fix? im after having it cut ut and resprayed. i understand that with any body painting etc its labor intensive and requires a pretty much exact match. I did briefly speak to one man, but he reconned id be without a car 4-5 months?? surely it cant take long FFS
any help appreciated.

[P Nuts]

i was expecting roughly that to be honest, the other side is pretty much perfect, so i dont think id wrry to be honest, it was just when he said the time scale, i thought hang on...

[Blue Oval84]

Assuming it's both sides of the car that want doing then I'd reckon they could be done for £300 - £400 for a half decent job. Sure someone will be able to confirm from the trade though.

I paid something similar 3-4 years ago for a Mondeo that needed from the sills to the tail light doing.

[davepoth]

It does depend on what's behind the rust. If that's the extent of it, a couple of hundred quid. Of course all of the structures behind may have been replaced with dust and cobwebs, and that's when it gets expensive.

[lbc]

Rust must be a common feature of older BMW's.

A mates 2003 330Ci has rust on the rear wheel arches.

Maybe a lot of BMW's had accident repair on the cheap though?

[P Nuts]

lbc said:

Rust must be a common feature of older BMW's.

A mates 2003 330Ci has rust on the rear wheel arches.

Maybe a lot of BMW's had accident repair on the cheap though?

yeah very common on the earlier e46s unfortunately.

[Ray Luxury-Yacht]

A bit O/T, but some of the rust I see on moderns is a shocker, isn't it?

For instance, I pulled up next to a nice C class Merc only yesterday, which was barely 10 years old, and the front arches were bubbly and orange!

I know some people cite some 90's and early 2000's cars as being vulnerable to rust etc. - but I do maintain it has a lot to do with how one looks after their cars.

My Dad's bought and owned two of Ford's finest over the years, which I've ended up inheriting after he'd owned them for 10 years - a Mark 3 Fiesta and a Mark 4 Fiesta. Both of which seem to succumb to rust problems within 10 years with most owners...


However, my Dad and mine's cars have benefitted from maybe a slightly OCD approach to care, including much jet-washing underneath, and the application of polish and wax regularly.

Hence, when I ended up selling the Fiestas, both at their 15-year-old point in life, both with over 150k on the clocks - neither of them had any rust, anywhere...and prospective buyers have turned up, been amazed at the condition despite the mileage, and bought them on the spot.

Same story with my current Skoda Octavia VRS daily drive - 13 years old now, not a single bubble or orange spot to be seen, on top or underneath.



It ain't what you got - it's the way that you keep 'em!!!

[SMcP114]

Right for a start, 4-5 months is MENTAL.

Less than a week will sort that, at maximum £150 an arch. No issue. Shop around. There won't be much behind it, it's minor.