98 328i - separated frame rail

[jonaskvale77]

I've owned this 1998 328i sedan for almost 2 years now, and its had a rebuilt title for probably half its life. I've never spent much time under the car until recently, where I discover this frightening sight: the driver side frame rail has almost entirely separated from the floor of the car. The passenger side is in good shape. I've never seen anything like this before. Does anyone have any ideas to how in the world this happened? I don't know much about the accident the vehicle was in about 10 years ago, if anyone could run a VIN for me that would be awesome. Also, how 'safe' is this for a daily? I imagine it's been like this for close to 10 years, the previous owner had it from 2008ish to 2016 and kept very detailed receipts, and it was before him that the car was in an accident, and I have no history before then. I've posted a link to the photos I hope this is ok. EDIT: nope apparently not. let me fix the photos. Also ignore the fuel filter cover.
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[JEC928]

Wow.

Time to find a clean southern chassis to swap your drivetrain over to, then scrap metal this one.

[XnWarden]

Is it really that bad? It looks like the edge just peeled back a little. Im sure the meat of the frame rail isnt one layer of thin sheet metal bound to the floorpan

I'm not a body pro though. Maybe get a qualified opinion

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[jonaskvale77]

I had my car on a lift today and checked it out, it doesn't seem that bad. The shop I had it at told me not to worry too much about it. It is sorta just peeled back, it's still mostly attached, the pics honestly make it look much worse than it is I think.
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[mikeysentra]

I’d at least weld up the holes in the floor board so water doesn’t enter the cabin.

[hotdish]

Drilling out the rest of the spot welds and welding in a new rail would probably the proper way to fix this, since the floor looks like it just has minor dents. That unibody seems too clean to abandon completely.

[XnWarden]

Drilling out the rest of the spot welds and welding in a new rail would probably the proper way to fix this, since the floor looks like it just has minor dents. That unibody seems too clean to abandon completely.

Hell if it were my car I'd probably just hammer it back down and run a continuous weld the whole length of it and maybe drill a few rosette welds. But then again my car is already heavily modded so im less worried

Cutting it out and putting a whole new frame rail seems a bit extreme to me.

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[E36328Coupe]

Drilling out the rest of the spot welds and welding in a new rail would probably the proper way to fix this, since the floor looks like it just has minor dents. That unibody seems too clean to abandon completely.

Hell if it were my car I'd probably just hammer it back down and run a continuous weld the whole length of it and maybe drill a few rosette welds. But then again my car is already heavily modded so im less worried

Cutting it out and putting a whole new frame rail seems a bit extreme to me.

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More or less this get a new (or second hand rail) and get welding, if need be bolt or screw it together and then plug weld from above. I would probably add some stitch welds too.


As to the cause. Seems to me the rail shows signs of a recent impact so if not you question other drivers. The edges of the spot weld holes do not look to be rusty so this is recent

[66 6]

Hell if it were my car I'd probably just hammer it back down and run a continuous weld the whole length of it and maybe drill a few rosette welds. But then again my car is already heavily modded so im less worried

Cutting it out and putting a whole new frame rail seems a bit extreme to me.

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Spoken like a true cheap bastard!
I'd do the same thing. Beat it down and re-weld.