Does your 8 Series rust? Mine has. Check it out. Post your pictures

[Winkie]

BMW 850i 1991

[Koizumi]

Hiya Winkie, hope you're doing well these days

That's a lot of rust! My 8 doesn't have any, but most every older than 1989 BMW I've owned had rust problems to deal with. The 850 that I'm currently restoring has a decent amount of rust, but your pics put it to shame.

In Southern Cali, cars tend to be rust-free... But I can see that N.I. is, well, damp!

Cheers

[TxGR8White]

WOW!
I don't know what scares me more, the pic of the rust, or the patch job...
Are you using any rust inhibitor/converter on those areas that don't get welded? I hope those are just some quick tack-welds, because if the whole weld looks like that, you better have gotten that work done for free.

No rust here in Dallas, but I am going to have nightmares now from seeing your car's ailment.

[argentic]

Rust is no good but thanks good my in SO CAL doesnt have any. I noticed all the cars from east have rust if they were used as daily driver.

[argonaut]

I assume you live near the coast? Or that the car did for much of its life anyway. I've never seen rust like that on an 8 before.
Nasty looking rust there plus the welding would need to be much improved (sorry if it's your own work). In mainland UK, any repairs to areas such as sills or any structural areas must be continously seam welded. I hope you get it fixed up.

[olinjohnston]

Youch!

Why is the center drag link spraypainted red?

[Joelchester]

I live in rainy manchester so I daren't look......My local petrol station seem to be coping quite well though.....

[wokke]

...In mainland UK, any repairs to areas such as sills or any structural areas must be continously seam welded. I hope you get it fixed up.

that's funny. In Germany exactly the opposite. Seam welding weakens the material and is forbidden for that reason.

@OP
do yourself a favor.

1. if someone else did the welding have him rip it all out and let a pro do it.
2. if it is your job: see 1.

If you leave this "welding" job as it is you might as well just do nothing. Your car will keep rusting and in a few years from now it is just a parts car.

[Winks]

First off good name......secondly is that a hint of bondo I see in the first pic? from what I see it looks to be a little thicker then primer? I would wonder if this car has been repaired once before in the past, I bet you the repairer did not use an epoxy primer. Epoxy primer is almost equivalent to the E-coat cars come with from the factory. This coating actually acts as almost a battery and is oxidized quicker then the steal of the car, that means the metal it coats cannot rust. Make sure on the repair you remove as much rust (impossible to remove it all) and apply a nice coat of epoxy primer. I have been taking body work classes at the local collage (just for personal interest on the side) and every paint and body teacher there swears by this primer. The only problem is the price is high but worth every penny, and I know here that less then one percent of shops use it because of this cost or just to save on the amount of paint steps. Good luck with the repair....

[bobn8er]

I purchased from original owner a Dr. who lived in Chicago (nasty winters). Rust on bottom edge of passenger door and bubbling above right rear wheel,. Door has since been replaced with a good door and the entire right side has been re painted and rust removed from above wheel. I didnt even bother trying to fix the rust on the door since I was sure it would return eventually, Thanks to Randy for supplying me with a good door and personally dropping if off at my house. BTW the door in the photo is available to anyone for FREE if you want it.

[Johnb850]

Hey Winkie.

Very normal for an E31 to rust in the sills.

My 850 rusted in the exact same areas. The side skirts just hang onto all the muck and dirt flicked up from the road and the the dirt hangs onto the moisture which in turn does the damage to the metal work. I would recommend anyone to pull them off and clean behind them and recoate the sills with body-shoots/underseal.

However the rust on my car was'nt anywhere near as bad as yours. My car just rusted around the jacking points at the rear of the car. Like you I had to replace fuel and brake lines due to rust.

I keep meaning to post up my E31 restoration since I finished and sold the car nearly 6 months ago. . I had to replace the front wings as well. So I think you're doing ok with just a bit of welding on the sills.

BMW's are rot boxes. Fact. Might'nt be an issue to our friends from warmer clims but here in Ireland and the rest of the UK, BMW's rust. Not just because of our moist climate but also because our roads are salted in winter time.

AFAIK its only since 2004 that BMW's come with a 12 year anti corrosion warranty.

As per the welding you are having done. Should'nt really leave such big gaps to fill with weld. Bad practice!

[Jenya]

Our winters and summers are really dry here... this is a first for me - I have never seen an 8er with rust let alone with that much! Always thought BMW used better metals then most other companies which kept the impurities out.

My old car (Japanese) was really bad for rust though...

Good luck with your repairs.

[Johnb850]

Our climate is hard on the cars.

I've seen E46's needing wings replaced after only 6 years dure to rust around the edge of the arch. Or at least body repairs/paint.

I make a point of keeping my wheel arches clean on any of my cars to reduce the chance of retaining any moisture. I also waxoyl in behind the wheel arch liners.

The E31 is also prone to rust around the sunroof rubber and the windscreen/sheild rubber where the drain for the sunroof comes out.

[wokke]

my experience is that BMWs are of lower quality if built after 1994 (roughly):
E38 can't keep up with E32
E39 can't keep up with E34
Might be valid for the later E31 as well? I don't know but wouldn't be surprised.

[Johnb850]

my experience is that BMWs are of lower quality if built after 1994 (roughly):
E38 can't keep up with E32
E39 can't keep up with E34
Might be valid for the later E31 as well? I don't know but wouldn't be surprised.

My 850 was built in 1993 and the car featured above was built in 1991.

Our roads are salted during the winter to prevent them icing over. We rarely get heavy snow but temperatures regularly drop below 0 degrees celcius therefore because of our damp climate there is a high chance of ice forming on the road surface.

Its the salt that does the most of the damage.

[olinjohnston]

my experience is that BMWs are of lower quality if built after 1994 (roughly):
E38 can't keep up with E32
E39 can't keep up with E34
Might be valid for the later E31 as well? I don't know but wouldn't be surprised.

This could not be farther from the truth. Rust is a huge concern for BMW collectors of cars older than 25 years. Since the time of the e31 and e32, bmw's corrosion protection processes have only been improved. This explains the extensive lengthening of rust warranty coverage. Also the rust prevention methods used on the e31s did not change or decline over its production time. The only true "rust weakness" attributable to BMW is he sunroof cover. Anything else is due to owners negligence or letting salt accumulate on it. I don't know why anyone would subject an e31 to those conditions anyway.

[ELIBEEMER]

that much rust, I can only guess, that 8 was driven during the winter on freshly plowed/salted roads...

cool "winter beater"

[Winkie]

that's funny. In Germany exactly the opposite. Seam welding weakens the material and is forbidden for that reason.

@OP
do yourself a favor.

1. if someone else did the welding have him rip it all out and let a pro do it.
2. if it is your job: see 1.

If you leave this "welding" job as it is you might as well just do nothing. Your car will keep rusting and in a few years from now it is just a parts car.

They are just tack welds I will post pictures of the finished weld there had been some patch work done on the car before I cut the worse bits out

I assume you live near the coast? Or that the car did for much of its life anyway. I've never seen rust like that on an 8 before.
Nasty looking rust there plus the welding would need to be much improved (sorry if it's your own work). In mainland UK, any repairs to areas such as sills or any structural areas must be continously seam welded. I hope you get it fixed up.

The seams will be continously welded they are just tack welded to get all the bits to fit

Hi everyone I think my son has done a great job on both cars the finished welds look great
the 850 is 19 years old lots rust fixed over the years I just wanted the bits fixed to get a new MOT as I am still finishing the 840Ci I started to fix last year it had very little rust check it out.
The 850 link bar was a orange colour I just made it stand out more hehe














Hi everyone I think my son has done a great job on both cars the finished welds look great
the 850 is 19 years old lots rust fixed over the years I just wanted the bits fixed to get a new MOT as I am still finishing the 840Ci I started to fix last year it had very little rust check it out.
The 850 link bar was a orange colour I just made it stand out more hehe

First off good name......secondly is that a hint of bondo I see in the first pic? from what I see it looks to be a little thicker then primer? I would wonder if this car has been repaired once before in the past, I bet you the repairer did not use an epoxy primer. Epoxy primer is almost equivalent to the E-coat cars come with from the factory. This coating actually acts as almost a battery and is oxidized quicker then the steal of the car, that means the metal it coats cannot rust. Make sure on the repair you remove as much rust (impossible to remove it all) and apply a nice coat of epoxy primer. I have been taking body work classes at the local collage (just for personal interest on the side) and every paint and body teacher there swears by this primer. The only problem is the price is high but worth every penny, and I know here that less then one percent of shops use it because of this cost or just to save on the amount of paint steps. Good luck with the repair....

Hi Winks
I have treated the rust with a rust treatment cant remember the name done it every where I could get to and then used epoxy primer dont worry car will last longer than me

[prit singh]

Mine has started to rust a little from the bonnet however that Is due to a bad paint job that was extremely expensive. Very difficult to find top painters.

[Fatandre]

That sure is a lot of RUST

[84tsport]

Mine has started to rust a little from the bonnet however that Is due to a bad paint job that was extremely expensive. Very difficult to find top painters.

hi prit. im still looking for someone too spray my nose/ bumper, if you find a decent shop pm.
Tony

[Skinny Puppy]

OP are you welding with a car battery and a clothes hanger?

Thats a rusty car.

I shouldn't even be in this section of the forum

[lexusmuscle]

Holy ccr@@p...Now I remember why I moved from Indianapolis... Every car I touched there fell to pieces in a pile of rust. My 85 Supra (RIP) was the last victim before I moved to Arizona. Now I'm in Kuwait, which is rust free like Az. I should be shipping back all of these rust free carcasses I find at the junk yard.
When you're done. Make sure the painter sprays a coat of sealer on it.

my experience is that BMWs are of lower quality if built after 1994 (roughly):
E38 can't keep up with E32
E39 can't keep up with E34
Might be valid for the later E31 as well? I don't know but wouldn't be surprised.

I feel the same way about Japanese cars. The Hondas and Toyotas of 94 and newer were the best. Look at a new one and locate a sensor. Chances are its not made by Denso anymore. They're cheapening everything on them.

[wokke]

I wonder what your front windshield frame might look like. My 850 had barely any rust, but this is what it looked like when I removed the windshield (after a wire brush treatment):

[Winkie]

will have a look at the windows and get back to you I know the rear wheel arches are bad
Just saw your car pictures finished that a great colour and and paint job