Lower section of Front Wings - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

richardbaxter · 8th November 2009, 00:02

With most well used cars (like mine) I thought it might be useful to highlight the rust issues at the lower section of the front wings.

The inner wing plastic shields do protect the vulnerable area behind them but only to a certain extent!

5 years ago I noticed some rust bubbles on the wings just above the plastic sill covers. After removing the sill covers and the wings the build up of fine silt was quite amazing and of course this material holds moisture allowing rust a feeding frenzy. The lower section of the wings had been eaten away leaving the lower section paper thin in metal content.

I decided to replace both front wings and in so doing prepared them for longer term protection by having the inside painted and then covered the new paint with waxoyl.

This weekend I removed the front spoiler (for repaint) as it is stone chipped to buggery, the inner wing plastic shield has to be removed (to remove the front spoiler) and it gave me the opportunity to check the lower front wing.

These were again filled with 'moist crud' and fortunately the earlier protectant has just about! done a good job in keeping the rust at bay.

So it seems to me this is a very vulnerable area and would strongly advise a 3 year check to remove the crud and check all is well!!! My concern is whether in the years to come the front wings will still be made available if not this will be a tricky repair to carry out.

Preventive maintenance is crucial here!

1day · 8th November 2009, 00:34

thanks Richard,

I have been wondering just how long the rust repairs currently underway on my car will last, and root causes....

car currently looks like this...

it's strange when you see your car semi naked...

Ratty · 8th November 2009, 00:37

I've just cleaned all the silt from my front sills too... exactly the same as described.
I dried it all out with a hair drier and it's still solid. Someone had painted it a few years ago, so I used a rust killing primer and topcoat.

Should keep the worms at bay for a while longer

Josco010 · 8th November 2009, 02:49

Thanks for the tip Mr Baxter, one thing bothers me though how come this is the case with this cars, i know that is a silly question to ask but i read somewhere the regular e34's don't seem to have this issue although i don't know this to be fact. I (I'm 2nd owner)have an e30 //m3 from '87' it's got 102k's on it and recently someone went over the car inside out and it is bone dry(No rust) so although i was told this was unusual in my case but i suspect there are others in good condition aswell, so for a later car i am amazed moreso because it seems to be common with this cars. Thanks once again.