Early Warning Signs

"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion) 08/21/2017 at 22:27 • Filed to: None

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Recently I noticed the early warning signs of that infectious disease to which all cars of the northeast US of A will eventually surrender. My lovely blue 2003 bmw 325 wagon has developed a bubble.

Of course, it’s right around the rear wheel arch where it meets the bumper. I am not aware of any former bodywork in this area, but it’s possible I suppose. The question is, should I poke the bear? Should I grind that out and fill it, paint it? All I have is touch-up paint, so it’s not going to be real pretty. There’s no way I’m respraying that whole quarter panel, nor am I going to try and blend such a small area. That is, if I get into it at all.

But if I start scraping and poking, am I just asking to accelerate the rust reappearing in that area? If I leave it, though, I’m afraid it will become unmanageable after another year, getting further into that hard-t0-fill fender flare kind of thing this car has in that spot. Then a part of me wanted to get out my little dremel and grind away the rust the moment I saw this.

The car has 160k+ miles, but is in great shape overall and I have no intentions of selling it any time soon, especially now that we have a third car to share the wear & tear. There is no other visible rust on the body anywhere.

So... what does Oppo think? Other than the fact that I could stand to get a better picture of this issue...

Flynorcal: pilot, offshore sailor, car racer and panty thief > functionoverfashion 08/21/2017 at 22:31

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Grind it down, hit it with some anti-rust stuff and don’t even bother filling it back out. Just paint it with touch up and call it a day. No need to let perfection stand in the way with the other scuffs you’ve got and it honestly won’t look bad at all. It won’t catch your eye like you’d expect if the color is right.

UPDATE: I picked up a tire retread on the freeway in my old 540i which put a big dent and rust spot on a wheel well and I only sprayed over the rust so use that as a yardstick while evaluating my advice.

19JRC99 > Flynorcal: pilot, offshore sailor, car racer and panty thief 08/21/2017 at 22:34

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Exactly what I was going to suggest.

19JRC99 > functionoverfashion 08/21/2017 at 22:34

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Word to the wise: Chassis Saver is cheaper than POR-15, and works just as well.

MM54 > functionoverfashion 08/21/2017 at 22:46

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I’d clean it up and pray it’s not coming through from the other side (if it is, there’s nothing you can do short of major metal replacement. Clean it up as best you can (keeping the area as small as possible), treat the bare metal, and put on some touch-up paint. It will look no worse than the bubble and will slow down the progression.

notsomethingstructural > functionoverfashion 08/21/2017 at 23:12

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I’m convinced that all that happens when you get a blister is the water sits inside of there and it’s exposed to more water than if the blister was popped.

This is based on nothing.

Frank Grimes > functionoverfashion 08/22/2017 at 01:11

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If you are going to grind and sand out the rust you might as well use some filler and do a bit more sanding to fix it properly. Also keep in mind what you see on the outside is only the tip of a rusty iceberg.

IWouldAddai4U > functionoverfashion 08/22/2017 at 01:43

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I’d go all the way, but that’s only because I’ve been down that road when I had too much time on my hands. It also explains why we have primer on both rear wheel arches on our Outback.

IWouldAddai4U > IWouldAddai4U 08/22/2017 at 01:43

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So I guess what I’m saying is maybe don’t go down that road unless you’re okay with not finishing it. I’ll paint ours someday .

functionoverfashion > IWouldAddai4U 08/22/2017 at 06:46

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This is my dilemma. I’ll probably dig into it because I can leave it for a few days without driving it, so hopefully I will just go start to finish in one go.... hmm

pip bip - choose Corrour > functionoverfashion 08/22/2017 at 07:20

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fix it now!

functionoverfashion > pip bip - choose Corrour 08/22/2017 at 08:41

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yeah... I think I’m leaning this way. What’s the worst that could happen? Ha.

Nisman > functionoverfashion 08/22/2017 at 09:31

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Sell.

BigBlock440 > notsomethingstructural 08/22/2017 at 09:48

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That’s definitely true. I started getting bubbles on my rear wheel arches of my DD, now I can (and regularly do) push on the bubbles and water comes out. I don’t care enough to fix it though, nor do I have time to, but yeah, water will sit in the bubbles and accelerate the process.

functionoverfashion > Nisman 08/22/2017 at 11:08

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Haha, I was thinking, scrap metal.

Nisman > functionoverfashion 08/22/2017 at 11:21

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Haha that’s a low blow! It’s still worth more as a driver. If I had a choice I’d always sell at this point. If I didn’t I’d sand it down to the metal and try to touch it up properly.

functionoverfashion > Nisman 08/22/2017 at 11:33

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Nah, I was kidding! I’ll probably try and grind/sand it down and touch it up; I plan to keep the car for several more years at least.