[rpmsongs]

I've been shopping hard for a 2006 or newer 3 series. I've seen a lot. Test drove a lot. Had a 2006 325xi all picked out. It was so clean. Literally the cleanest interior I've ever seen, new or used. I put my down payment together, figured out the financing, jumped through all the hoops, took it to a mechanic and BAM. "This car has a real rust and corrosion problem." I knew it was a New York car, but I hadn't put 2&2 together to even consider it could have issues. The mechanic said it was probably going to cost "thousands and thousands" to undo the damage. Lesson learned...
That's a deal-breaker huh? Would it be worth trying to talk the guy down a few grand?

[M.Power]

No man.. Stay away that looks f*cking horrible

[Volasko]

That looks like years of salty winter driving combined with warm underground storage. The freeze/thaw cycle you get when you store a salt coated car in warmish underground garages can do lots of damage to susceptible parts. I bet the body still looked great though. I still haven't seen any pictures of rusted out body paint on any E9x platform, which is really promising for these cars!

[rpmsongs]

Originally Posted by Gevojanyan

No man.. Stay away that looks f*cking horrible

That was my reaction. Never owned one, so I didn't want to OVER react.

[PhaseP]

Suspension parts, bolts nuts etc on the first few pictures doesn't seem too concerning for a 9 year old car living in winter/salt area. They have rust but seem structurally sound and a mechanic experienced with cars from north can deal with them without much problem if they need service.

But the subframe welds if rusted and became soft, as the other pictures looks like, is concerning. I think they need to be poked to be able to understand for sure, if it is only surface rust or going deep weakening the structure. But some of them are already showing like delaminating sheet metal.

This is based on my limited experience owning several cars and working on them in North Eastern climate. I smile when I read posts like "it is always easier to take apart then putting back together".

[siphor1989]

Just a car that's been winter driven up north... nothing to see here. Only surprising to people who are from the south where they don't see any snow lol

[jc_bmw]

Looks like typical surface rust for a winter driven car.

I have seen other makes that looks like that after 3-4 years of winter driven.

If the price is right, that isn't a horrendous amount of rust; especially if it's contained to the above parts, which are all relatively easily replaceable and you'd probably end up upgrading anyway. How's the rest of the car look? Pumpkin/diff/rear axles and subframe/etc. They all look the same as the front?

I agree with Volasko; haven't seen one example yet of body rust on these cars. However, I did recently read a couple cross posts over on the Mazda forum showing body rust on 8 month old Mazda 3's

[feuer]

Originally Posted by rpmsongs

That's a deal-breaker huh? Would it be worth trying to talk the guy down a few grand?

Depends on how much you can get it for. The rest of the car looks clean so if the engine and tranny ar OK is worth it

Originally Posted by Gevojanyan

No man.. Stay away that looks f*cking horrible

Very common, nothing alarming.

Originally Posted by Volasko

That looks like years of salty winter driving combined with warm underground storage. The freeze/thaw cycle you get when you store a salt coated car in warmish underground garages can do lots of damage to susceptible parts. I bet the body still looked great though. I still haven't seen any pictures of rusted out body paint on any E9x platform, which is really promising for these cars!

Agreed! Salt will do that if it stay on the car wet at above freezing temp.

Originally Posted by siphor1989

Just a car that's been winter driven up north... nothing to see here. Only surprising to people who are from the south where they don't see any snow lol

Originally Posted by jc_bmw

Looks like typical surface rust for a winter driven car.
I have seen other makes that looks like that after 3-4 years of winter driven.

Typical for cars that have seen salt but never a proper car wash. if you keep hitting the drive thru and never ever was off the under carriage from the salt this will happen.

Originally Posted by PhaseP

Suspension parts, bolts nuts etc on the first few pictures doesn't seem too concerning for a 9 year old car living in winter/salt area. They have rust but seem structurally sound and a mechanic experienced with cars from north can deal with them without much problem if they need service.

Other things would go bad sooner before the subframe becomes a structural concern.

If the price is right and I'm shopping for a car like this I would totally consider it.

[rpmsongs]

Originally Posted by siphor1989

Just a car that's been winter driven up north... nothing to see here. Only surprising to people who are from the south where they don't see any snow lol

Hey now! We see snow... On tv.

Thanks for the thoughts guys. I'm gonna sit on it for a little while. It was for sale at 10k, and my second thought was to offer him 6k.

The rear diff was cosmetically wrecked, though mechanically it wasn't affected. I didn't bother to take pics of it. It was obvious that who ever owned the car respected the car and took it to bmw every quarter according to the carfax. I'm surprised they didn't keep the undercarriage cleaned. I'm gonna try to squeeze in a few more test drives before school starts up next week.

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

I think that's way beyond winter corrosion from salt. I'm familiar with winter corrosion and that looks more like salt corrosion. Probably a car flooded from hurricane Sandy.

[mmmnot]

Originally Posted by rpmsongs

Hey now! We see snow... On tv.

Thanks for the thoughts guys. I'm gonna sit on it for a little while. It was for sale at 10k, and my second thought was to offer him 6k.

The rear diff was cosmetically wrecked, though mechanically it wasn't affected. I didn't bother to take pics of it. It was obvious that who ever owned the car respected the car and took it to bmw every quarter according to the carfax. I'm surprised they didn't keep the undercarriage cleaned. I'm gonna try to squeeze in a few more test drives before school starts up next week.

Dude, you're in ATL?

Check out IQ Auto in Marietta. Great ass people, honest, fair and stand behind their cars. Ask for Tony.

Trust me, I never drop names unless I would put my own reputation on them.

[kong24680]

If you do buy the car, I have a ton of stock suspension components off my 335i with sports package i will sell you for dirt cheap

[chris82]

holy SHIT! That's a lotta rust!

[rpmsongs]

Originally Posted by mmmnot

Dude, you're in ATL?

Check out IQ Auto in Marietta. Great ass people, honest, fair and stand behind their cars. Ask for Tony.

Trust me, I never drop names unless I would put my own reputation on them.

Nice! I'm gonna look at their inventory now. Thanks for the tip!

[rpmsongs]

Oh! A little out of my price range...

[mmmnot]

Originally Posted by rpmsongs

Oh! A little out of my price range...

Ah, sorry - from what I've seen they get fleet cars with around 30K miles, so the price is kind of higher - but lower miles and one driver usually.

Sorry it did not pan out - goodluck in the search.

[TheBigYahi]

That's a little worse than what mine looks like, a 2006 330xi that has spent its whole life daily driven in Syracuse, NY and garaged (much freeze/thaw).

[feuer]

Originally Posted by Jeff@TopGearSolutions

I think that's way beyond winter corrosion from salt. I'm familiar with winter corrosion and that looks more like salt corrosion. Probably a car flooded from hurricane Sandy.

This is just rust from years of neglected under carriage. Nothing else. Highly unlikely is from Sandy. If it was flooded it will show elsewhere as well > electrical components > modules and harness, then the body > rocker panels, door packets, floor, and other suspension parts like shocks and springs. On one of the photos the spring looks pretty clean. Same with the rear toe arm > is clean.

If this car runs and drives good and the asking price is bellow $10k it deserves a second chance.