E46 rust

[They_all_do_that_sir]

Lots of chat around E46s on here recently. This is a video of the underside of my mate's 318i taken by our tame mechanic.....

 

https://youtu.be/2_HIRbJXaLw

 

 

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[Ghosty]

I refer the honourable gentleman to his username.

[Vince70]

I think looking at those pictures I'm just going to keep my E36 forever if that's what a modern BMW looks like.

It's looks like BMW have gone all Renault, so whereabouts has that E46 spent most of its life.

[They_all_do_that_sir]

I think looking at those pictures I'm just going to keep my E36 forever if that's what a modern BMW looks like.image.jpeg

It's looks like BMW have gone all Renault, so whereabouts has that E46 spent most of its life.

Mate is a lorry driver, does distance work so it sat in the yard for 5 days a week...Nowhere near the coast either

 

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[John F]

Wow.

 

That's worse than my 1991 Maserati was BEFORE the welding started.

[Kiltox]

modern BMW

Never change, autoshite.

[fordperv]

Oh my they do rust like a good un you could almost get away with putting a ford badge on

[danthecapriman]

Oh my they do rust like a good un you could almost get away with putting a ford badge on

In all honesty that is without doubt worse! And I'm comparing that to a 70's Ford. That's horrendous!

My Capri wasn't that bad, neither was my Granada mk2 either and that had some serious issues.

 

Modern cars...

[HMC]

As an e46 owner myself I have to agree, but in saying "modern" it was launched about 20 years ago, and it's a cautionary tale about sill covers as much as anything.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

As shit as E46's often are, I've not seen one anywhere near as bad as that. E36's - yes, but only much older ones. A lot of these shitboxes were built in Sith Ifrica and the standard of rustproofing is pretty poor.

 

BMW only learned how to stop cars from falling to bits with rust with the E60 and E90 around 2004 onwards.

[danthecapriman]

As an e46 owner myself I have to agree, but in saying "modern" it was launched about 20 years ago, and it's a cautionary tale about sill covers as much as anything.

True. My mate had a Merc 190 with sill covers fitted. From looking at the car it looked lovely. Once the sill covers were removed it was like that BMW! Holes everywhere.

I suppose it's one of those things, out of sight out of mind. The sills never get checked or washed and they just rot out unseen. I bet there's loads of cars with sill coversfitted like that tbh.

 

I just can't believe a premium car of that age can look like that!

[SiC]

It's looks like BMW have gone all Renault, so whereabouts has that E46 spent most of its life.

Wash your mouth out sir! Renault sorted and stopped cars rusting just before the turn of the century. Laguna II / Clio II / Scenic II / Megane II / etc may all have electrical problems (majority which are from water ingress), however rust isn't one! If there is rust, it's generally from previous poor accident repair damage. Most of the exterior body panels are plastic too.

[tul66]

Thank fuck I drive Alfa's & Lancia's then!

[flat4alfa]

I've had my E46 Tourer up on a two-post and it's nothing like that.  Apart from some peeling underseal on the rear turret lips it's in great order for anything 16 years old

 

Is it a factory QA thing?  Were the Tourers built apart from the Coupes?

[Tamworthbay]

I've had my E46 Tourer up on a two-post and it's nothing like that.  Apart from some peeling underseal on the rear turret lips it's in great order for anything 16 years old

 

Is it a factory QA thing?  Were the Tourers built apart from the Coupes?

+1 mine is 16 years old and mint underneath and on top, not even the tiniest bit.

[Split_Pin]

What? You lot are either really young or have short memories (said in jest of course)

 

Have you never seen under a MK2 Fiesta circa 1998??

[flat4alfa]

MK2 Fiesta circa 1998 were not premium pricetag

 

 

[SiC]

What? You lot are either really young or have short memories (said in jest of course)

 

Have you never seen under a MK2 Fiesta circa 1998??

Your Megane is around that age. What rust is on the bottom of it?

 

... It was never a premium car either.

[Split_Pin]

But thats exactly what they have just been compared to earlier in the thread.....

[Split_Pin]

Your Megane is around that age. What rust is on the bottom of it?

 

... It was never a premium car either.

Hardly any at all (what was there is now gone) and both sills are completely rust free.

[sierraman]

Renault occasionally used to spray the stone chip over the rubber bungs at the back of the sills, the bungs had gaps to allow water to drain out, needless to say when painted over the sills filled with rusty brown water on the ones with sunroofs. The reason it didn’t manifest itself quickly was they often rusted underneath the thick mastic coating. The rear crossmember frequently rots through though this isn’t structural so occasionally just merits an advisory.

[Split_Pin]

Yeah its just an nvh damper.

 

Mine is rotten, gave me a fright at first!

[mk2_craig]

What? You lot are either really young or have short memories (said in jest of course)

 

Have you never seen under a MK2 Fiesta circa 1998??

Specify whether Spanish, English or German-built. In my experience each rusts in different places!

[Split_Pin]

B reg, sills, toeboard and rear arches

E reg: Front crossmember, scuttle, chassis rails, wings, sills and boot floor.

F reg, sills, arches and boot floor.

 

E reg was the worst but it spent most of its life in the NE of Scotland.

[bigstraight6]

Jeez, that’s horrendous. I had an E36 325TD some years back and it was a well made car, no corrosion and even the rear arches were mint. I wouldn’t have a BMW diesel now what with exploding swirl flaps and boat anchor bodywork....

[Tamworthbay]

B reg, sills, toeboard and rear arches

E reg: Front crossmember, scuttle, chassis rails, wings, sills and boot floor.

F reg, sills, arches and boot floor.

E reg was the worst but it spent most of its life in the NE of Scotland.

That’s a lot of it, you can find any car looking white if it’s had a hard life in one way or other. My mate amazed us at Uni by getting a three year old chevette in pea green (we were in 9-10 year old fords) but it had lived by the sea and was fooked, we much have had a stone and a half of sand put the boot and it only lasted another two years despite our collective efforts. Even then five years for a car was terrible.

[Ben_O]

My E46 is pretty much perfect underneath and has spent it's entire life on the south coast.

The rear arches are a little crispy but I may or may not sort them out. Might be a job for the spring.

 

FYI rubber bungs in car sills/floors are not there for the user to remove to let water out, they are there to let the coatings run out when the shells are dipped at the factory. This is why they are often stonechipped over.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

  Were the Tourers built apart from the Coupes?

 

 

No, and neither were Tourings.

[flat4alfa]

Sorry I went all Rover the place there

 

Tourings.

[bigfella2]

In this case it's safe to say that the plastic side skirts are structural as the metal work is deffinately not.