When our BMW E36 320i Coupe came to us in 2016, it was still in a good condition for its age, it was already 20 years old (built in 1996). The previous owner had invested a lot in our BMW 320I Coupe. He had just had the brake lines and hoses from the ABS block to the rear wheels remade. The rear brake discs of the BMW E36 320i Coupe and pads were also completely new. The vehicle had new tires and the air conditioning was also being refilled, as the sticker in the engine compartment told us. The paintwork on the outside of our BMW E36 320i Coupe was also still relatively good and neat, due to the age, minor quirks and damage everywhere.
The jack mounts of the BMW E36 320i Coupe were, as was to be expected, not exactly through, but more than rusty. The reason for this was once again the missing rust seal paired with clogged water drains in the sills, which is known to be the case with all BMW E36 models, including our BMW E36 320i Coupe affected by the brown POest. The front frame on the A-pillar was already completely through to the passenger footwell from the inside. The result: wet feet for the passenger.
So it was time to get the carpet floor out of the BMW E38 320i Coupe and order sheet metal. All sheet metal parts affected by rust were, as far as possible, generously separated and the remaining edges treated with a rust converter. We use 2 different products for this. We use Fertan for the areas that can be washed off with water after two days of exposure. For all other places Epoxy Brunox. We always spray the latter into the hollows when we cut open the basic sill on the E36. Then you can spray the container with a stone chip protection pressure gun into the A – B and C pillars up to the roof.
You should also remove the door panels on the doors, clean the inside and close the drains, not only for the BMW E36 Coupe models, this applies to all vehicles of the BMW E36 series, and then also inject epoxy Brunox. The folded sheets on the door edges and folds are thus sealed. Open the drains again after approx. 6 hours, be careful not to change anything, otherwise there will still be a mess on the floor after 6 hours of exposure, and then seal again with wax-based cavity preservation.
Then dents, dents and rust on the painted surfaces were also removed from the vehicle, the rust spots were treated with Fertan again and after this was allowed to act on our BMW E38 320i Coupe for two days, washed off with water, dried, treated again with Epoxy Brunox and sealed , then rust stop on it and the affected areas finely filled and filled and after the wet sanding of the surfaces with P800 sandpaper, all surfaces were wet sanded and then again in the car color light red, with which our BMW E36 320i Coupe left the BMW W factory in July 1996 , newly painted.
The sills were also painted black again, as our BMW E36 320i Coupe did not have any plastic sill trims. The interior of our BMW E36 320i Coupe was also relatively clean, but not clean enough. The light equipment variants get dirty quickly. All the seats and carpeting were outside anyway. We cleaned these thoroughly with a Tornador and then with a wet vacuum cleaner. Vacuuming the carpet well and since it was hellishly hot in summer, we cleaned the carpet for hours with a high-pressure cleaner and then hung the ultra heavy carpet part, which was soaked with water, over three trestles to dry for a week in the summer heat. After the headliner and all plastic panels were thoroughly cleaned and treated and rubbed several times with plastic care, we reinstalled the seats in wool velor and completed our BMW E36 320i Coupe again.
Here is the picture gallery of our BMW E36 320 i Coupe.
The front water drains in the frame box on our BMW E36 320 Coupe were still in tact on the passenger side towards the floor. The external water drain directly on the fender was blocked. Therefore the side wall towards the fender is rusted through.
Here, too, the sills at the rear ends of our BMW E36 320i Coupe were through.
The rear jack support on the passenger side of our BMW E36 320i Coupe at the beginning of the repair.
The same places on our BMW E36 320i Coupe. approx. 2 years after the repair.The same places on our BMW E36 320i Coupe. approx. 2 years after the repair.
Die gleichen Stellen an unserm BMW E36 320i Coupe,. ca. 2 Jahre nach der Reparatur.
On the passenger side, the door of our BMW E36 320i Coupe had a couple of dents and rust, which are certainly normal signs of wear given the age of the vehicle. The previous owner had the fender welded to the sill, as you can see in the picture, because it rusted through completely on the passenger side at the water drainage box, where the fender is attached to the frame below with 2 screws normally or better in the ideal case and these attachment points were no longer available.
There were also slight dents and rust on the driver’s door of our BMW E36 320i Coupe, especially here on the edge of the door, where our driver’s door often had contact with buildings.
The tailgate and the rear end panel of our BMW E36 320i Coupe also needed attention. Here, too, under the handle of the license plate light, the brown plague had lodged and had to be removed. After removing the rust, we treated all the damaged areas on the outside that were affected by rust several times with Fertan, left it on for 2 days and then rinsed it off thoroughly with water. Then the rust areas were pre-primed with a rust stop, sanded again (not sanded through) and then filled and finely sanded. In order to remove all traces, all surfaces were filled and sanded again wet with 1000 mm wet sandpaper before the color light red and the clear lacquer were applied.
This is also a typical rust spot on all BMW E36s. Our BMW E36 320i Coupe also had a slight incipient rust on the rear end of the wheel arch to the side wall. However, this could be easily removed.
The rear apron of our BMW E36 320i Coupe obviously had frequent contact when parking on both sides and in the middle, so that there were numerous scratches, some of them deep. We had therefore decided to paint the entire bumper of our BMW E36 320i Coupe after removing the scratches to filler and finally to paint it completely.
The front apron of our BMW E36 320i Coupe had often docked somewhere and also had a lot of stone chips, so the front apron was completely filled before painting.
The masking sheet of our BMW E36 320i Coupe also had numerous stone chips due to the age and use of the vehicle, and was also completely filled in before painting in bright red.
The front right fender of our BMW E36 320i Coupe was just too rusty. We had therefore decided to order a new front right side wall from BMW.
The front left fender of our BMW E36 320i Coupe, on the other hand, was OK, except for a few slight damage and we were able to save it.
On this side, too, the rail for attaching the fender at the bottom of our BMW E36 320i Coupe had to be rewelded. After the painting on our BMW E36 320i Coupe, nothing can be seen of the repair of the box. Unfortunately, only the cable has gotten some paint.
The door on our BMW E36 320i Coupe also turned out well.
Our BMW E36 320i Coupe can be seen again.
BMW E36 320i Coupe after painting
The rust and the filling work cannot be seen on the rear of our BMW E36 320i Coupe after painting either.
The front apron and the masking plate of our BMW E36 320i Coupe also looks neat again.
It’s hard to believe that our BMW E36 320i Coupe is already 24 years old.
