goodolarchie
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Hey all,
New to the boards, long time old beamer enthusiast. I've had a few 2002's, this is my first E9. I picked it up last week for a pretty good pirce after looking for an E9 over the summer.
Here's a full album: http://imgur.com/a/d8Kjw
The Good:
The Bad:
The Ugly: (best done with pictures)
So here's where I need your experience. How difficult and expensive will it be to fix those rusted areas and redo the body and paint? I've tried to find the right front panels from these two parts sites:
http://www.bmwclassicparts.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=cs&Category_Code=cs-engine-bay
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/partgrp.do?model=3431&mospid=47806&hg=41&fg=10
I'm not sure which ones map directly to the rusted shock area / drip rail. I imagine the fenders both need replacement, but the rust sits completely under the hood lid.
The floor pan will be an easy fix and doesn't actually encompass much of that area. I'm not sure about the rear window.
As far as the mechanical aspects.. my inclination is to find a good M30B35 and Getrag 265 to put in, using a megasquirt or aftermarket EFI system for ease. There are plenty of cheap donors and it looks like the motor needs to come out anyway - both for the rust repair and because of the potentially cracked head.
Bottom line is I don't want to invest $15,000 or more into this car just to make it a fun weekend driver / occasional show car. If this can be done for less than that then I will go forward with the restoration. I am realistic about the budget, so I figure if I initially intend to spend $8,000 I will come out somewhere around that mark. I know the "where there's smoke there's fire" rule about rust but I've inspected the underside pretty deep with the car on a lift, I think it was just a few bad seals and stripping material that led to the rusted shock areas and driver floor pan. The car has been garaged most of its life.
If the body work is going to cost $10k alone for a less-than-showroom finish I probably will continue my search for the mythical rust free project.
A good start would be somebody telling me just how expensive fixing the rust near the front shocks will cost, and which new panels I would buy, since that's the worst of it.
Also note that I only took pictures of the bad stuff on the car, I can take more if its helpful.
New to the boards, long time old beamer enthusiast. I've had a few 2002's, this is my first E9. I picked it up last week for a pretty good pirce after looking for an E9 over the summer.
Here's a full album: http://imgur.com/a/d8Kjw
The Good:
- Interior is in good shape. Headliner good, no dash cracks, no seat tears.
- Suspension and steering are pretty solid, has Koni's installed, new tires and aftermarket wheels
- New calipers, brake lines rotors, pads in front, rears are in good shape
- New battery
- Not much rust on the outer body panels and mostly straight. It's never been in a major accident and been garaged most of its life
- Trunk area, rear shock towers, inner wheel well and rockers look and feel solid metal
The Bad:
- Compression from cylinders 1-6 are: 68%, 85, 55, 85, 85, 98%
- Much of the electrical is not working: Blower motor, Rear tail lamps, instrument panel light, a few other things here and there. I think most of it is just disconnected.
- Transmission throwout bearing is noisy (or another bearing)
- Driveshaft is noisy, vibrates, clunks on the rear diff during shifts, needs replacement
- Paint is crap, needs obvious body work
The Ugly: (best done with pictures)
- Rusted through near front shock area, driver left side:
- Worse on the passenger side. Metal is gone along that hood seal in that one spot:
- Rust near rear window edges:
- A few bad spots on the body
- Worst of the rocker panels:
So here's where I need your experience. How difficult and expensive will it be to fix those rusted areas and redo the body and paint? I've tried to find the right front panels from these two parts sites:
http://www.bmwclassicparts.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=cs&Category_Code=cs-engine-bay
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/partgrp.do?model=3431&mospid=47806&hg=41&fg=10
I'm not sure which ones map directly to the rusted shock area / drip rail. I imagine the fenders both need replacement, but the rust sits completely under the hood lid.
The floor pan will be an easy fix and doesn't actually encompass much of that area. I'm not sure about the rear window.
As far as the mechanical aspects.. my inclination is to find a good M30B35 and Getrag 265 to put in, using a megasquirt or aftermarket EFI system for ease. There are plenty of cheap donors and it looks like the motor needs to come out anyway - both for the rust repair and because of the potentially cracked head.
Bottom line is I don't want to invest $15,000 or more into this car just to make it a fun weekend driver / occasional show car. If this can be done for less than that then I will go forward with the restoration. I am realistic about the budget, so I figure if I initially intend to spend $8,000 I will come out somewhere around that mark. I know the "where there's smoke there's fire" rule about rust but I've inspected the underside pretty deep with the car on a lift, I think it was just a few bad seals and stripping material that led to the rusted shock areas and driver floor pan. The car has been garaged most of its life.
If the body work is going to cost $10k alone for a less-than-showroom finish I probably will continue my search for the mythical rust free project.
A good start would be somebody telling me just how expensive fixing the rust near the front shocks will cost, and which new panels I would buy, since that's the worst of it.
Also note that I only took pictures of the bad stuff on the car, I can take more if its helpful.