Reply With QuoteSurprised nobody's said this yet: the "crack" just behind the front wheel is where the front fender overlaps the rocker panel. You cannot fill this. Think cracked bondo and water traps for rust.
3 Grand Master
Ah so if I find a junker 95 I can get m-tech skirts... niceI hope they aren't glued on.
Major Contributor
Surprised nobody's said this yet: the "crack" just behind the front wheel is where the front fender overlaps the rocker panel. You cannot fill this. Think cracked bondo and water traps for rust.
Anthony
03/64 production
'91M5 - 11/90, was mine, it's Jim's now.
Big, Big Time Poster
Excellent... this is the kind of advice I was looking for! So don't fill the crack behind the front wheel... but I'm assuming it's fine to go ahead and fill the "crack" below the rear doors. Maybe it has always been more of an indentation there than a crack. Would smoothing it over trap water there too?Originally Posted by Anthony (M5 in Calgary)
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2 Grand Master
I would not fill either seam/crack. The rear seam may be where body panels are bonded together. There may be enough flex to crack and trap water. I believe those seams are on my 95 but hidden by the m-tech skirts.
Thanks,
1995 525i Auto, M50TU 2.5L, EAT chip, 1/95 build, USA, 205/65/15 tires, ASC+T, HID, lumbar, EC Mirror, BMW Alpine 5 radio with BMW-Pioneer CD Changer, abt 236k miles, Oxford Green/Parchment
Big, Big Time Poster
Don't fill them in and paint your bottom trim all the way around dark grey metallic like the M5. That paint tone difference is one of my favorite details of my M. That way, it will 'hide' the differences/cracks more and give an interesting detail to your car. Just my $.02
2 Grand Master
Not glued on. Check real oem for mounting clip info.
Thanks,
1995 525i Auto, M50TU 2.5L, EAT chip, 1/95 build, USA, 205/65/15 tires, ASC+T, HID, lumbar, EC Mirror, BMW Alpine 5 radio with BMW-Pioneer CD Changer, abt 236k miles, Oxford Green/Parchment
Amazed at some of the conclusions being made here...
Your rocker paint isn't "orange peeling". It's just that the surface of the rocker panels is textured. If that annoys you, grab 60-grit sandpaper and start smoothing it, and work your way to a 400-grit, then repaint. It will be smooth. What most people don't realize is that below the black/gray coating of the rocker panels, is a perfectly painted, body colored panel. Why BMW chose to add the black/grey textured coating on top of it is beyond me. They did this an all mid 90s models, E36s, E34s, E32s, E38s, even some late E30s.
As far as filling in the indendation at the rearward part of the rocker panel, that will disappear as well when you sand it down.
Personally, I think you should acquire a set of M-tech skirts from any 1995 model, as they all came with them, and install them.
You will need to drill holes in your rocker panels and acquire clips from the dealer to install.
Best of luck!
Last edited by horseheadnebula; 10-12-2006 at 11:55 AM.
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Big Time Poster
Don't have my baby today but I'm pretty sure there are no cracks on the skirts you are talking about. Here are a few old pics which you can take a look at but they are not that close up. You can kind of see that the skirts are pretty smooth. I can have close ups posted later in the evening. Hope this helps.
Excess within control...
1995 BMW 525i
Big, Big Time Poster
Hahaha.... thanks for the input, guys... and the laugh. Apparently more than one didn't realize the date on this threadI had it painted a few months ago, right after that post. It looks much better now. Only thing I didn't realize wasn't normally painted until after the fact were the little plastic pieces between the grill and foglights. Does this look good or should I sand them back to black?
Last edited by swenpro; 10-12-2006 at 09:45 PM.
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