Sill removal and tidy up

[Brian4]

One thing leads to another as they say so last weekend I was looking at what needs doing the remove the rear subframe and to make life easier to see I thought I would take the rear arch liner out and as these are a bit of a pain I hadn't removed one side before.

Anyway when I removed it I could see along the inside of the rear of the sill and a fair bit of scabby looking bits.

Set to this weekend and removed the passenger side first and pretty scaly paint for the first 8" from the rear wheel, after I cleaned up no actual holes but a bit thin so treated with rust converter and primers so should last a bit longer.The Jacking points were pretty corroded as well.The jack pads seem to be a mud and water trap so need checking as sill covers can be replaced but the actual sill can't, or not easily.

 

[Brian H]

Good work Brian, keeping on top of these jobs is the key to longevity.

 

[Brian4]

Hi Brian

Couldn't agree more I was quite shocked with the corrosion around the jack points, passenger side worse than drivers.

 

[Brian H]

I had my sills off last year but may just drop off the jacking pads to take a look.

 

[Bozzy]

This is a job i'm hoping to get done on my zed some time over winter so it's interesting watching these threads,just hoping that once they're off i don't find too many horrors

 

[andyglym]

This is a job i'm hoping to get done on my zed some time over winter so it's interesting watching these threads,just hoping that once they're off i don't find too many horrors

Me too, big and brave .........

 

[Brian4]

The worst bit I found was getting the rear arch liners out.

 

[Bozzy]

The worst bit I found was getting the rear arch liners out.

It's funny,the bits you imagine to be easy turn out to be a wrestling match
Thanks for posting this as it will be a help when i finally summon the courage to tackle it

 

[jonco]

............I was quite shocked with the corrosion around the jack points, passenger side worse than drivers.

Having done mine and found little corrosion around the jacking points I have been surprised to see the corrosion others have found in this area. I think it's important to remove the jacking mounts periodically and clean the slots out and also check the drainage slots along the length of the sill.
I did not find actually getting the liners out too bad - getting them back in is the fiddly bit. For those yet to do the job - make sure you spray release agent on the liner retention bolts in advance. I found the worst ones were the ones where the front liner goes under the footwell -these are plastic cap nuts on very fine studs. Part 10 on this http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=CH72-EUR---Z3-BMW-Z3 1.9&diagId=41_0035 I sheared a couple of these off.

 

[t-tony]

The worst bit I found was getting the rear arch liners out.

I removed to O/S one on my car last year to change the central locking cable and rod for the fuel filler flap. I found getting the liner back in was the hard bit. In future I would work on those during the warmer months when they are more pliable or take them indoors for a while before attempting to re fit.

Tony.