Re: What to look for (archive)

My son's rusty old E21 is declining rapidly to the point where it should really be parted out (180,000 miles), and we've seen an ad in the Newport News, VA paper (just began to run today) for a '81 528i with only 132,000 miles, so he wants me to check it over for him tomorrow. I know all about where to look for rust on an E21, but are there any special different hiding places on an E12? Don't worry about mechanical things -- I'm pretty competent to check those aspects of almost any car. What might be the parts of the '78 E21 which should be saved for an E12? Heater core? Relays? His new fuel pump?? Anything at all???
John actually considers the E12 his favorite Bimmer design.

OK, there are LOTS of places E12 rust.

1) Inside lip of trunk lid and around trunk seal.
2) Inside lip of bonnet
3) Front lower valience
4) Bottom of front fenders (and also check the inner fender sills especially along the top as crud is thrown there by driving --a perfect dirt trap that rusts quite well)
5) Dog legs behind rear doors
6) Rear fender lips
7) Door bottoms and also check the door hinge mount locations
8) 9) Floor pans (especially if the heater valve has been leaking!)
9) Below front windshield (I've seen this mostly on euro cars but E12's has a tendance to rust right at or below the seal at the lower corners (many body guys fill with bondo --instead of welding it right and then paint!)
10) Rear tail light openings
11) Spare tire well
12) Under hood drip catch (where the wiper washer jets are) --can be very rusty.

So, basically check the entire car over..........

As for parts... I imagine many of the relays are the same. Fuel pump --not sure.

Not much else will probably switch over...

Make sure if you buy the car --pull the valve cover and check the two small oil flow bolts that hold down the oil spray bar. These loosen with time and can fall down in the engine! Suffice to say you will also have high cam wear too!

Mechanically though the E12 is pretty robust. Valve seals could be going so check that. Front suspension bushings also go.... Shocks etc.

PS there are alot of unrusty E12's on the west coast starting from $500-$3500 for a nice original (unrusty) car.....

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