98' 530 rocker panels replacement.

[Despapito]

Hello

Ive been watching my rocker panels slowly rot away, to the point that all jackpoints wanna find themselves inside the car.
So i thought i finally take them head on started taking car apart and saw that damage is even worse than i expected.
It seems i dont have much material left under the car to attach new panels.
I just thought i come and ask if anybody has done that kind of job or should i not even bother..

Here are some of the photos i took: https://imgur.com/a/g0rbg84

Thank you for any kind of advice.
Cheers

[SW530]

The picture link says you're over capacity.

I recently did a rocker on one side of a 99 Cherokee and it was a far harder job than anticipated. With a 530i being so inexpensive, I'd think it would be easier to buy a parts car or inexpensive used car and start over transferring any investment in parts or nice stuff from the car with the bad rockers over to new car.

[Despapito]

Thing is that i live in a area where most e39 have that issue and i kinda dont have money or want to buy another one, after the time and money i have put into this..
Since im kinda new to all of this im looking if anybody with exp has ever done this

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

Man, that’s really bad. Lots of fabrication work, in your case, it would be better to order the replacement rockers from BMW. When they come in, inspect them very well, see what you have to remove from the car. There will be more rust to cut out once you get the old rockers cut out properly. Grind that metal down properly without getting rid of what is good, from there, you will see what you need to add/fabricate to set it up properly for the new rockers.

This is bigtime metal work, you need to know how to properly seal the unexposed sections of metal, sections that you will not be able to get to, once the new rockers are welded on. You need to know how to properly weld, and that when you weld, there will be bare metal that will just start rusting within a month, if you do not prepare sections to have a port that you can later plug with proper rubber grommets, these ports are how you will be able to get a tube in there, and cake in wax to cover up all the welded points. When doing this kind of work, you always have to keep hammering into your head, “How am I going to get in there to seal the exposed metal”. It’s all about keeping rust from taking root, and starting all over again.

I did the rockers on my 2001 530 back in 2013, I did metal work at a body shop at the time. This is not a small job, but if you are capable, have the right equipment, tools, material, time, and the space, it is a very doable, satisfying job, good luck.
Looking at your rust, that is BAD, mine was not that bad at all. One of my jack points was sketchy, I could have patched it, but the jackpoint got me thinking, just rip the old rockers out and do it right.
You will need to pull the interior, the carpets, pull them up, prop them up with stuff, I used 2x4’s, all the foam comes out, They were all brittle and crumbled all up, pulled wiring, some of the modules, so they don’t burn up from the welding. It’s a lot of work, if this is too much for you, its stupid to dream of doing it all yourself.
A shop will charge you about 17 hours per rocker, the rockers were $300 for each side when I got them from BMW, materials, probably about $400+, and then, you still need to paint…. That’s just the rockers, looking at your pictures, it looks like the bottoms of your doors also have bubbles of rust, I guaranty if you remove the seam sealer on the inside seams, go halfway up the doors, rust will all be up in there, that all needs to be wire wheeled off down to clean bare metal, treated with POR15, new epoxy seam seal and repainted. The red paint on your car looks like it’s all faded, and has seen better days, won’t be color matching, you would think about a full repaint after all that work if you want to car to look good, so you need to think, how much money, time, and work are you prepared to pour into the car? Doing everything yourself? Sure, if everything I outlined is all in order, you will find more hidden surprises, there will be more to consider, how far are you willing to go? Others mentioned just replace the car with a better example, seeing your car, that is the direction I would go. Where you live, all the cars are equally just as bad? Then look farther out, find a good car, keep all the good parts you know you have from the old car, scrap the rest. Move on.

[Despapito]

Im starting to think thats gonna be too big of a job for me, welding part wouldnt be hard for me its just rest of the stuff.
I have new rockers waiting in the baasement
I think that i could cut rockers right under the door bc metal there is good atleast from outside, haven't had look inside yet.
Biggest problem is gonna be underside where rockers attach to bc it seems alot of it is gone, but im keeping my hopes up.
Also having to refab new jack points.
Im thinking about sealing new rockers with zinc paint, i just have to think the way to seal the welds inside like u said

About the door, i did door on the other side little welding, re sealing etc.. end look was decent, jusy used wrong shade.
Do u think it's possible to give paint and blend together with some polish?

And biggest thank you for answering my question.

[KeysCoupe]

You need way more than rocker to fix that rust. Its well into the floors and all the supports above/around the rockers.
It a shame where I live, the junkyards are full of cars with no rust. Overheated engines from failed radiators, or electrical glitches send most most these cars to scrap.
If you had an un-rusted donor shell, or even a donor with solid panels to cut larger sections out of, maybe your car would be worth repairing. There is likely much more rust you don’t see. The labor to fix yours is likely more than the value of the car.
-Donny

[SW530]

Thing is that i live in a area where most e39 have that issue and i kinda dont have money or want to buy another one, after the time and money i have put into this..
Since im kinda new to all of this im looking if anybody with exp has ever done this

We've all been there. It sucks because every dime you put into that car are funds lost and funds you could save for your next. Its probably not even safe to drive. Either get a shell and move the good stuff over from your current car, or part out your current car and use the funds to go out of your area and get one without rust. I live in the rust belt myself, we had one Cherokee that reminded me of Snoopy's Pig Pen, everywhere you parked it left behind a pile of rust. Another had holes in the floor, rockers, etc, that we patched with an old license plate collection we got from a garage sale for $10. But we finally got rid of it after realizing the bolts holding in the seat belt were just for show, everything below the carpet was rust dust.

When you manage go you a clean version of the car you like, protect it. I use Fluid Film once a year on the cars that get driven during the winter. The cars I like are stored for the winter. Living in the rust belt, you either learn to ignore rust completely, or you learn to live with by compensating in different ways like I've had to do. The only exception is the wife's car, when her car shows any sign of rust it's replaced. A lot of people do that. Many who live in these parts just get a new car every 3-4 years before they show any signs of rust other than the undercarriage they don't have to look at.

8-9 years ago we flew 2000 miles to California to pick up a clean E30 and drove it back on square wheels to get a clean car. Last year we flew over 1000 miles to Texas for a clean 2003 540i/6 that has turned out to be a really good move. At $6500 it was a decent price and that was right before the used car market went crazy. Pigeonhole away some funds and have then ready to go when a good deal pops. I keep cash at home just for that reason. The other day I go to CL and there's a 2003 530i, 22,000 original miles, single owner garage kept. They were letting it go for $2000, exactly what the dealership offered them, they just wanted someone other than the dealership to have the car so they sold it for the price the dealership offered. I missed it by five minutes! I stopped and got gas because it was 5 cents a gallon cheaper.. so I saved 40 cents and lost a great car.

My point is, if you're ready these cars are out there. It takes a bit of discipline. We got a original owner XJ with 38,000 on it, garaged it's entire life a perfect car other than some freak rust on a rocker.. $4200.. The same car, color, year, equipment, wheels, but with 10,000 more miles and it didn't have the tweeters in the doors that were an option that ours had.. it went for 24k on BAT.. We thought of selling it on BAT, but it's kinda cool to drive around one of the ten cleanest XJ's on this planet..

Anyway, sorry to talk so much but.. with patience and discipline, you can go from rust to riches also. Just stop throwing money at your current car..

[Despapito]

Roger roger, luckly i have another car to use.

What im gonna do is probably strip the whole car and see just how much is affected by the rust, just leave it as project car that probably never gets finished, if that happens im probably gonna make proggress post about it for everybody to see the struggles 😄 i really enjoyed driving that bastard.

[ross1]

Roger roger, luckly i have another car to use.

What im gonna do is probably strip the whole car and see just how much is affected by the rust, just leave it as project car that probably never gets finished, if that happens im probably gonna make proggress post about it for everybody to see the struggles  i really enjoyed driving that bastard.

that one is a goner. If you do strip it down just sell off what you can now while there is still some demand for the parts and crush the rest, remembering it fondly. Even if you manage to fix all there is now there is FOR SURE more(lots more)rust lurking elsewhere just waiting for you to have spent a fortune in cash and time before showing it's ugly face.
Repairing that car is an exercise in futility and upside down economics.

[aristoc]

I also looked into it but instead had a body shop do the best they could within my budget. That was replace major rusted holes, repaint. Mine was not as far as yours.
You could just get it cosmetically fixed on the outside that is visible.
BMW doesn't just sell the rocker. It is connected to the column pillar.
Major expense. Usually warranty I would think.
rr.JPG

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

That’s how you get the part. For replacement of the rocker, you section it between the hinges. They will sell you the part, all you have to do is order it. What they won’t do, is sell you that same part, if the car is a newer one with an aluminum shell. Only aluminum certified shops can order them.