Notice for all Newbies considering buying an E9 coupe / rust warning / steps to inspection / BEFORE YOU PURCHASE

[Krzysztof]

How about a diagram of where these cars are NOT prone to rust?

Roof (without sunroof) and C pillars maybe...

If they will be rusty (perforated) there rest of the car's body would not have been existing already.

 

[paul]

It is a good thing these cars are beautiful and appreciating...otherwise they would all be in the same place with the rest of the early unibody cars.

View attachment 109576

How long did it take?

2 1/2 years Eric

 

[JFENG]

I purchased my car knowing it had rust

The real problem is when innocent folk buy a shiny car thinking is has no rust... this is where knowledge tools and POI are worth their weight in gold. Not everyone isss good a shopper as you.
John

 

[Ohmess]

I would add one comment to Paul's excellent post for newbies.

If you or the shop you hire has questions or doubts, reach out here for help. People here are extremely generous with their time.

I've told my story dozens of times: Peter Coomaraswamy looked at my car for me, and when I flew to Austin to inspect it, he arranged to put it on his lift with HBChris on standby at his son's soccer game for consultation. It was an amazing experience which only enhanced my purchase of the car.

 

[Dan Wood]

I have been very nervous since seeing this post about rust under the rockers. We have had the car almost two years and hadn't removed the rockers. Today was the day and I definitely need to go buy some lottery tickets as it is rust free. There is a little surface rust discoloration but nothing like what I was worried about. Now I will start cleaning and encapsulating to make sure it stays this way.
Thanks for all the excellent posts.

 

[dang]

Seems like this should be part of a "How to buy/How to sell a coupe" section added to the "where they rust" page. Maybe a list of all sections to check and examples of photos to take for sellers or PPI mechanics who aren't experts.

In the Rust Prone Areas in the FAQ section the legend calling out the different areas on the diagram links to pages showing photos of those areas. Those pages can be added to by users.

BMW E9 Coupe Rust Prone Areas

e9coupe.com

 

[Markos]

bump

 

[HB Chris]

Is there any way to make this Forum show as Read? It always shows Unread.

 

[Markos]

Is there any way to make this Forum show as Read? It always shows Unread.

It’s unread because I bumped the thread for a member.

 

[HB Chris]

It’s permanent

 

[Stevehose]

Mine shows as read

 

[HB Chris]

Markos must be yanking my chain, it has never been read

 

[gkb]

Brace yourself folks! Wait at least 30 minutes after eating before watching. This is why it is a good idea to remove your rockers, and to get a PPI.

I went into my budget-purchase knowing full well that the rockers would be toast. I know what I’m in for, and I look forward to the journey!

Note the creaking noise is my suspension, not my rockers!

Thanks for the video. This may be a naive question. Your rocker/sill cover almost fell off. In a car with less rust how much of a deal is it to remove and replace sill cover? In searching I find reference to screws and rivets. I don't want to remove something and not be able to easily get it back on (I just do not want to get in over my head).

 

[nosmonkey]

Thanks for the video. This may be a naive question. Your rocker/sill cover almost fell off. In a car with less rust how much of a deal is it to remove and replace sill cover? In searching I find reference to screws and rivets. I don't want to remove something and not be able to easily get it back on (I just do not want to get in over my head).

Tend to find that where the screws are going through sheet metal after all those years they'll tend to rust. Might have to drill out a few snapped screws depending on how rusty they are

 

[Markos]

Thanks for the video. This may be a naive question. Your rocker/sill cover almost fell off. In a car with less rust how much of a deal is it to remove and replace sill cover? In searching I find reference to screws and rivets. I don't want to remove something and not be able to easily get it back on (I just do not want to get in over my head).

Oh it fell off because it wasn’t secured. It
was already off. I just stuck it on there
to highlight how it conceals rust.

The cover is t difficult to remove. If any screws are stripped then you may need to drill off the heads. You also need to remove the outer stainless trim in the door jamb. All a very simple process.

 

[Krzysztof]

Despite most of the Members will not understand no word, it is interesting to see E9 which spend most of his "life" in Sweden stripped.

According to the current owner, before stripping car looks great and none of repair was visible, being hidden under ~1cm of body protective coat (different flavors of it).

As it can be seen the car faced several repairs during "his" life with the floor being adopted from VW Karmann Ghia (still Karmann anyhow )

 

[teahead]

some horrible welding of ugly patches.

That's why spending >$100k on an E9, best to have restoration photos.

 

[mark99]

Sticky this thread!
Paul, we have not met, but I know of your long experience with vintage BMWs.
I made this video to show how one can get a glimpse of the inner fender cavity from below, even without a borescope.

Also, how does one remove the rear fender/shock tower liners in the trunk without destroying them?

I got my wheel covers off with out damage, I don't think it was super difficult, you just have to be very careful

 

[thehackmechanic]

This is a piece I wrote a few years back for BimmerLife. It's not as thorough as the numbered diagram or the video, but someone may find it helpful.

https://bimmerlife.com/2019/06/22/where-to-look-for-rust-on-an-e9-coupe/

 

[Krzysztof]

Just wondering as my E9 would be good material for the training book or article as it has rust on each part.

Maybe I would earn some money stripping body for science.