Rear Quarter Weld or Bondo?

[laine34]

Hey Guys,

It just finished the drivetrain restoration on this 535 and it's time for paint. Do you guys think this rear quarter needs a replacement panel? BMW still sells this quarter for approx $275. Someone here may hack one off for me as well. Just wondering if I even should go that route, or can this be straightened out? It was a slow 1MPH crunch from a Haul that turned into the 5er while parked.


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[zkd]

if it was me I would knock it back, cutting rear panels is not the best idea for me.

[ross1]

That's a lot of hammer and dolly time there but a good metal man could save that corner. probably more cost effective to weld in a replacement section. As that area never rusts I'd just carve a piece from a junkyard car. I'm sure one of the regular dismantlers here would be happy to cut that off for you as well.
The yellow tape for the turn indicator is a nice touch

[heifetz17]

That wouldn't be a hard repair, but be aware it'll be an expensive one. There's no break from the quarter to the roof so after you lay your color you'll have to carry your clear across the roof and down the other quarter as well as both roof rails. If you burn in the clear it will eventually fail.

[BlackSpeed66]

Agreed w/ Heifetz above. That's not pretty. My concern is the opening around the tail lamp pocket. If you can even find someone willing to take that sort of repair work on, there will be a significant amount of labor involved in just getting the lamp pocket to mate with the tail lamp properly again. If that's not done correctly, there will likely be water leaks and, eventually - rust.

[zkd]

I would do it by welding bolts and pulling the dented metal. then just hammer the small creases. it would take 2-3 hours of work.. cutting the panel and welding a new one will have to cut next to the roof post and down the rear door sill. plus you have to drill out the weld spots. so I see it as a bigger job that banging it back to place.

just an opinion.

[GregT53]

That's a really unlucky hit. Some guy backed a stake bed truck into mine about two years ago. Luckily he hit the trunk so the repair was putting in a whole new trunk ordered from Germany (he paid for the repair). I'm thinking along the same lines as Ross and BlackSpeed: replace the whole quarter panel, especially since a new one is not over the top expensive. By the time you get one cut out you're probably into it for $150 anyway. Hammering that out will be costly and the skill required to get it exactly right so the trunk and lights fit properly may be hard to find these days where most shops are high volume, production businesses. Sorry this happened to you. Best of luck getting it sorted.

[heifetz17]

Don't replace the whole quarter panel just for that. Each cut and weld introduces a new place for possible corrosion in the future, as well as possible repair failures. The least intrusive repair is always the best. A good metal worker can have that straight in a few hours.

[demetk]

Quite obviously, bondo is out of the question.

[laine34]

Thanks for all the input. BTW, this entire car is getting a paint job, not just a rear quarter patch. 25 years is long enough. The whole drivetrain car has been rebuilt and it's time for paint. I'll post the build thread soon when I get some time, as I'd like to share some of the thousand hours of knuckle busting mods.

The majority here think that welding is a "No go". I'm still on the fence though.

demetk says, "Bondo is out of the question." I don't see how, even if the metal is pulled out, that there won't be any bondo in the process. If they would fill it with lead, like the old days, then—who cares!!! I don't wish that process on anyone however.

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BMW sells just the rear corner, instead of the whole quarter panel. The body shop could even cut this shorter. Wouldn't this be the best solution, to get a good fit with the taillights?
I'm not a body guy, but I've talked to a few shops—and none of them seem too concerned—that's what bothers me!

Anyways, I looked at some paint swatches today. I wanna add some flare to the standard black. I saw the new Honda Burgundy Night Pearl. It's black unless direct light hits it, then it looks burgundy-ish with some metal flake. Kinda cool. I wanna add something more than standard black. I already have a black X5.

What's the best color to paint over a black E34?

And what the hell should be done with this rear quarter panel?

Thanks for all your input. For myself, you guys are the Counsel of the Coolest BMW Owners and Builders.

[Tre0Tre34]

I'm no bodywork expert, but that seems about the worst place to need repairing. The crease, curves and corners will not be friendly (or i think possible) to bang out or pull out in a satisfactory way.

My opinion would be to replace the panel with the part you have posted. Just dont see that damage being worked back into the proper shape no matter how many hours are put into it.

[bluptgm3]

I would start with pulling that back into shape, then if the tight contours pose a problem cut and weld the critical portion. The benefit is full access to the back side, the down side is the possible stretch of the thin materials used compared to 'old days'.

Look at Eastwood I think there is a non-lead metal filler.


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[Hofmeister]

Its not gonna be easy to pull out, I took the job myself i had a pretty bad rust spot in that quarter when i first bought the car. It eventually cracked off

I wasnt too adventurous back then so i ground off as much as i could, patched and bondoed

Worked for a bit but by 3 years later i was noticing rust was still growing. I cut out a section from the junkyrad and welded it on then bondoed for imperfections. In the process found out the previous bodywork had just glued a new QP over most of the old one and bondoed straight.

Ill be honest i rushed it so in person if you look for it you can find imperfections. I plan on taking my time and finishing proper when i redo the plastidip

[laine34]

[QUOTE=Worked for a bit but by 3 years later i was noticing rust was still growing. I cut out a section from the junkyrad and welded it on then bondoed for imperfections. In the process found out the previous bodywork had just glued a new QP over most of the old one and bondoed straight. [/QUOTE]

That's insane. And you did a nice job. And that emerging rust and cracking filler is exactly what I wanna avoid.

What's that car in your sig though? The color is awesome, like a burnt orange. Love it. I wanna add some color into the black for this paint job.

Looking at the previous posts again, I decided to order the replacement part from Schmeidmann. I'll have the shop weld it in.

Appreciate the help with this one.

[Hofmeister]

That's insane. And you did a nice job. And that emerging rust and cracking filler is exactly what I wanna avoid.

What's that car in your sig though? The color is awesome, like a burnt orange. Love it. I wanna add some color into the black for this paint job.

Looking at the previous posts again, I decided to order the replacement part from Schmeidmann. I'll have the shop weld it in.

Appreciate the help with this one.

It’s the same car just plasti dipped lol

this is more what it looks like