Posted by Al from Oz on April 27, 2003 at 03:16:05 from 198.142.147.34
I have stumbled across something scarey. Yesterday I removed the rear seat of the M535i to fit a parcel shelf 3rd brake light and noticed some dis-coloration on some welds that join the main rear bulkhead to the shock towers. The welds had in fact broken, I checked further....both welds on the panel over the transmission tunnel had also broken! Clearly the result of MAJOR body flex. Each shock tower is apparently determined to to it's 'own thing'
Ok I think, maybe this is a result of my past rust problems adding stress there, BUT today I carefully inspected two other E12's...both have many cracked welds, and in one case a small tear.It would appear to be very common.
Everybody, this is a major structural area of our cars, so go out to the garage, remove the rear seats and look at all the welds behind and under those seats. Look carefully at each weld using a flashlight,they are about 25mm long, any cracks will be right next to the weld along the sheetmetal and may be slightly rusty. A body shop can repair these areas in less than an hour, you can prime the welds and the jobs done. Ignore this issue and your car will simply continue to fall apart at the seams.
I'm going to add more welds and fit a rear shock brace to transfer some of this stress.
Al.
Broken '81 M535i