Is rust an issue?

L

Lazza

Member
 Wokingham
I come from a Mazda MX5 background so take this with a very healthy dose of pessimism but my E89 is going to be my daily, will be used in all weathers and is going to live outside. Are they well protected or should I take any precautions to make sure it stays in the perfect condition it is in? Are there any particular weak areas I should be aware of i.e. drain holes that can get blocked?

Thanks. Any advice will be gladly accepted.
 
Main rust you will find is underneath, structural reinforcement bars and similar. It’s surface rust and will likely be 20 years before requiring replacement. No body issues I’m aware of.
 
My cars coming up to eight years old, the only rust i have seen is on, discs and rear brake calipers, the rear axle support frame work which is thinly painted steel, a few brackets in that area and the rubber strips along the bottom of the side windows where corrosion is causing the rubber to bubble slightly as that used to on my old TR7 (that was a rust bucket), so nothing has advanced there in 40 years. Why the internal strip is not made of stainless, would have prevented that.
Also the badges in the centre of the wheels corrode and my original BMW alloy wheels i don't think were as good quality as the ones i had on Rover MGTF and that's saying something.
I think the Zed will look tidy for a long time seeing that it is mostly aluminium and plastic.
 
All good then. MX5s rust for fun in the sills, rear arches and front chassis rails so to have one as a “keeper” it needs a healthy dose of underseal on anything exposed and in all the box sections.
In the spring I will get under my Z4 and clean up any exposed metal I can find and give it a coat of hammerite and stop worrying so much :thumbsup:
 
My E86 will is now 11 years old, and the only corrosion issue I've had was rear brake lines just behind where they pass under the passenger seat - but I don't know if E89s have the same arrangement.

Still "Ducklakeview" replaced them in copper for me a couple of months ago, so that's my advisories sorted! :thumbsup:
 
Well, rust could be more or less an issue under the E89, very rarely on the surface.
Check out our discussions:
https://www-zroadster-com.translate.goog/forum/threads/rost-am-unterboden.109731/page-3?_x_tr_sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=de&_x_tr_pto=wapp#post-3204455
 
RobbiZ4 said:
Well, rust could be more or less an issue under the E89, very rarely on the surface.
Check out our discussions:
https://www-zroadster-com.translate.goog/forum/threads/rost-am-unterboden.109731/page-3?_x_tr_sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=de&_x_tr_pto=wapp#post-3204455
Click to expand...
Thanks for sharing - I'll have the car up on a 2-post lift next week for a better look, but given this is going to be used all year round I'm tempted to get her undersealed anyway. I've also bookmarked your preventative roof maintenance thread :)
 
My car now 12 years old. No body corrosion, but usual suspects rust, so get annual lick of black paint.
Mainly rear trailing arm links and wheel mounts at front and rear are steel.
Few brackets for the lamp levelers, tension bars, bump plate stiffener.
Discs can spray up. I used just cheap silver paint does the job and rear caliper is steel so might need a few coats to stop rusting.
Nearly everything else is alloy.

When i pulled off one plastic side sill to replace due to a mark, there was a lot of dirt behind it.
I keep meaning to pull the other side to clean, but no sill corrosion.
 
Under plastic sills where mud gathers.
20161003_104329.jpg

My original 17 inch wheels from factory. I think this damage done by BMW fitting tyres, something to look out for.
2013-06-21 12.00.25.jpg
 
Isn't the body made of aluminium? So rust is out of the question for the panels, basically, maybe just some parts underneath.
 
SSF said:
Isn't the body made of aluminium? So rust is out of the question for the panels, basically, maybe just some parts underneath.
Click to expand...
Only the bonnet, front wings and roof panels are aluminium. The bootlid, doors and rear wings are steel. It's to do with BMW's famous 'near 50-50 weight distribution' thing. The roof being ally helps in lowering the centre of gravity and means smaller motors and hydraulics to move it.
 
SSF said:
Isn't the body made of aluminium? So rust is out of the question for the panels, basically, maybe just some parts underneath.
Click to expand...
But rust is just the name given to corrosion on iron or steel. Aluminium can corrode too.
 
Correct.
And there were lots of E89 with corrosion on the roof panels made of alloy.
 
Pondrew said:
SSF said:
Isn't the body made of aluminium? So rust is out of the question for the panels, basically, maybe just some parts underneath.
Click to expand...
Only the bonnet, front wings and roof panels are aluminium. The bootlid, doors and rear wings are steel. It's to do with BMW's famous 'near 50-50 weight distribution' thing. The roof being ally helps in lowering the centre of gravity and means smaller motors and hydraulics to move it.
Click to expand...
Didn't know that, I just assumed it's all aluminium. But it does make sense.
 
Had to take some rubbish out so just checked my car with magnet.

Aluminium...bonnet, roof sections, front wings.
Steel....doors, rear quarters, boot and the main floor pressing.

I assume side and rear is steel to meet crash worthiness specs.
No reason why the boot and rear wings couldn't be ali.

Is 50/50 weight thing with roof up or down?
 
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