DON'T let this happen to your BMW Sills!

This 2000 BMW E39 M5 with 155k miles failed it's MOT (UK safety test) on holes in the Rear Sill & Jacking Points due to corrosion.
What's more surprising is that this owner had another company carry out some form of Rear Sill repair work just 4/5 years ago!
It's clear the techniques the other company used hadn't lasted, as well as several area's, were never attended to.
So, the owner found us (@RedishMotorsportbmw) and asked us to take care of it once and for all.
We set about assessing the vehicle first, then stripping everything off underneath including the plastic fuel tank.
We found the left rear outer sill had a fair amount of filler to disguise a previous section that has been lap-welded rather than butt-welded.
Amazingly, we found the left rear inner sill had new metal not even welded but tucked inside the old sill.
With workmanship like that, it was no surprise to find the NEW inner sill someone added 4/5 years ago had ALREADY rotted and had corrosion holes in it.
We also found a sizable corrosion hole in the left rear floor pan allowing water/dirt to enter the cabin and contact the foam-backed carpet.
Then it was a case of cutting out all the old corroded metal and working out what reconstruction work was required.
We could then see inside the sills and found the join lines of previous sill end pieces both sides (lap-welded) with no signs of weld thru primer or cavity wax - it was just rusty weld lines and zero preparation inside the previously repaired sills some 4/5 years ago.
Once we removed corrosion from the inner jacking point support we used a rust converter on that and all bare metal.
Before any welding work commenced, we treated all contact points on the vehicle and new metal work to weld-thru primer.
For the inner sills, we made up new sections.
For the outer sills, we used aftermarket new sills (as the BMW panels were £3,994 just for 2 sills)!
We created the originally shaped right-angle lips on the inner sill lower section too.
Once all the fabrication work was complete, we protected the new metal with Graphene Primer, High Build Primer, Sprayable Seam Sealer, and E-coat top colour.
Then a little black paint to blend into what someone else had done years ago on the textured lower section.
Finally, extensive cavity waxing of the internal sills, box sections, jacking points, and all cavities in the areas we worked on for maximum longevity.
If you have a similar requirement get in touch by calling 01179 781889.
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Thanks for watching.

[@stuartyaxley5308]

It's nice to know that there are garages out there that take real pride in there work. Fantastic work guys.

[@matteofabrizio409]

It's great if you want to spend 4K on this kind of quality of repair...

[@carsyoungtimerfreak1149]

Excellent work. What always surprises me is that an owner does not stay on top of this. I drive a '98 C180, nowhere as special as a E39 M5, and these Mercs also know how to rust. My car drives about 5000 miles a year as most of my travels are on 2 wheels. Yet it does drive in the worst weather, when it is not really prudent to ride a motorcycle. So once a year I inspect and clean the underside. I use a mixture of paint and Owatrol to protect the underside and the sills, doors, what have you are drenched in cavity wax. Dirty jobs but it will make the car last longer without expensive repairs. After all, there are no cars that rust, there are only cars that are maintained badly...

[@stevenpower3780]

I thought rust is a problem here in south germany but it looks like UK is the motherland of rusty cars

[@henlienr22]

nah the uk is fine, look at scandinavia, especially finland, sweden and norway, especially norway, every. singel. car is rotten to the core 😢 thanks to the insane amount of salt we use not just in the cities but on every singel piece of road...

[@chrisg4rr377]

@@henlienr22 you should see cars from Scotland. Pure rot boxes

[@jamest5149]

Yep, combination of road salt and cow poo will dissolve a car quickly.

[@jameslawrie3082]

If you care about a car you can’t use it through a Scottish winter.

[@lrdisco2005]

Lack of wax oil injection at point of manufacture. Don't start on the quality of sheet steel.

[@AlexGSi2000]

As an owner myself, this is terrifying.

[@computiNATEor]

As an owner whose jack pads have holes not far, yes indeed.

[@garrydavis3475]

Unfortunately you need to check sills and plastic trim urgently BMW’s rust alot

[@hoonaticbloggs5402]

It’s only money 💵, or time if you have the skills

[@adriansecker3124]

Wow what a great video which I found very informative and detailed, was very impressed with your company’s attention to detail on what turned out to be a very labour intensive process and after 35 years of being in car body shops seeing some shoddy work/repairs on cars we’ve had to put right its nice to see a proper job/repair done 👍

[@richlee509]

These guys are bloody heros. Extremely good job.

[@bunabuna9287]

Cracking job. Great to see masters at work doing it the right way. Thanks for the video 📹

[@herridge819]

Loving the quality and the attention to detail using all the proper fittings.

[@laurencefalconer5242]

As always love the quality of your work. Inspiring truthfully. Keep up the content 👍

[@adogmcdizzle]

Amazing work by Redish. The owner can be reassured about a top job this time around.

[@LondonDiagnostic]

Great attention to detail, good work again lads. Will see you with my e46 m3 in May need some bushes and diff seals changed (cars still in storage after we did the inspection 2 with yourselves last year)

[@Juupke]

Awesome work again guys, keep these videos coming!

[@lewis72]

Great work. I had my '99 E39 M5's sills and arches done almost a year ago... I'm just seeing some small bubbling come up on the arch though, so I need to go back to them with that. You can see why the lower-spec E39s end up getting scrapped if they have corrosion like this, which is a shame as many of the lower-spec E39s are still great cars.

[@lewis72]

@@traubengott9783 Not quite so sure about that. Many of the cars of the '80s and '90s rust like mad.

[@traubengott9783]

@@lewis72 modern cars too! Many are worse protected against rust than old 90s cars. Thats cause most people lease cars today and throw em away after 5 years whereas in the 80s you would drive a car for 10-20 years.

[@lewis72]

@@traubengott9783 Well I can only agree with you to an extent. '80s cars generally rusted like mad. Ford's were notorious for it. They never did work out how to rust protect their rear arches. My dad's '86 Granada needed new rear arches after 5 years.

[@traubengott9783]

@@lewis72 well Fords... Im talking Audis and BMWs and Mercs. They were alright especially Audis.

[@alexgunner1882]

@@traubengott9783 bmws have had rust issues until 2003 or so, mercedes 2008? Audi has started having issues since 2008.

[@mickpurcell272]

Absolutely cracking job best I've seen in a long time,well done 👍

[@YootubeUK]

Lovely job chaps! I bet the owners heart sank when he saw the rot! Turned out very nice though, I do like seeing your BMW resto vids!

[@obsessedcloset2638]

Sensational work as always chaps.

[@ThePrimebeef]

Lovely quality work done! I was a bit skeptical on the thing sheet steel used but it came out nice!

[@bobfrankish8883]

Hi Everyone! Just found this channel. Sorry for length of this thread, but it may answer some questions and help some people. I have 3 BMW's at present, and have restored 3 cars now. I currently have 2 projects on the go, a 1989 E34 535i and a 1998 E31 840Ci. Both these cars had rotted out around the jacking points, ALL BMW's can or will suffer from this at some time depending on many factors. I have seen a few terminally rotted E46's. The main problem is plastic side skirts or sill covers. water is trapped behind the plastic and the rot is hidden away until it reaches a stage where it is bad enough to scrap the car. If there are any owners out there who genuinely want to take care of their cars, then remove all the bits of plastic trim, especially wheelarch liners and have a good look and poke about and rectify any corrosion you find. The clips retaining the fuel lines and brake pipes are common across many models. They all fail in the same way, the M4 set screw rusts and seizes into the captive nut welded to the floor. The way to sort this problem is this: drill off the head of the screw, easier said than done because they are hardened steel, so use either a cobalt drill bit or Bosch make a multi-purpose tungsten drill bit that will drill masonry or steel (available from Screwfix) 5mm is ideal. as soon as the head is drilled away, the stainless steel clamp can be removed, then the plastic clip. This will reveal the captive nut with a few mm of M4 thread left protruding. Get some penetrant on this, let it soak, keep re-applying etc., if you are lucky enough to own an induction heater, now is the time to use it! If not, you can safely apply some heat with a fine blowtorch flame after properly protecting the brake and fuel lines from the heat (I bent some scrap thin steel sheet around them). Using a small pair of grips, lock onto what is left of the M4 machine screw and unscrew it. All of mine except 1 came out no problem, for the one that didn't, I ground it down a bit and drilled and tapped it M4. You then need to drill out the hole in the steel clamp slightly with a 4.5mm drill, then replace all the screws with M4 stainless steel machine screws. The rotted out fuel breather pipe can be replaced with 8mm soft copper pipe, easy to bend and shape, and you can solder a brass olive onto the pipe to form a ridge for the rubber hoses to grip onto.

[@Bavarian_M]

Great stuff please we need more videos from you.

[@Zodiam.]

Good work bringing that thing back..happy with my decision to let my E92 sit inside until spring even though E9x is much better protected, we have a E91 325d 08 with nearly 510 000 km and that that thing has lived through 13 swedish winters with no rust apart from tiny specks in the wheel wells from stone chips.

[@jeddi6]

I just luv the detail in your videos

[@holmicus]

Fabulous work. If i had one i would take it to you. The knowledge and thoroughness are v reassuring to watch.

[@soundseeker63]

Welcome to the UK! 😣 All the salt, mud and slush over the winter period is what does that. Nasty, insidious, corrosive stuff it is. I'd bet 75% of scrapped MOT failure BMWs went that way due to corrosion, not mechanical issues. If you own an M car then it's worth investing in work like this (and you can probably afford it). With a regular 5, probably not (at least not at current values) but I'm going to hang on to my old 528 anyway in the hope that one day prices will justify it for even normal spec E39s once they get rare enough and are fully-fledged classics. This is quality workmanship.

[@RuperScooper]

Such great work guys and detailed video fascinating - big respect to the quality of workmanship so many cowboys out there and great production in the video 💥👌

[@dantheman6698]

you did a good job fixing that. bad thing is that rust and rot has crept under all seams and brackets everywhere on that car.

[@rodney4159]

i done all 4 sill ends last summer on e39 , took me a few weekends after work on my mot ramp

[@markfarrier1711]

Brilliant work

[@robertdewar1752]

Beautiful work.💪

[@chrisg4rr377]

I would like to see some of the paints, primmers, and sealers getting applied

[@odortiz]

such outstanding quality of work.

[@bimmfan8524]

Great job!correctly done.

[@Khaledghaffari]

Welcome back 👍

[@samwoodfield8901]

Good god that is some amazing work you wouldn't believe it was ever that bad well done guys 👌👌👌👍👍👍✊️✊️✊️

[@mrnapster2310]

awesome work you have done on this car - as always. Please continue with your great work.

[@technique275]

Presentation skills are excellent. Atb.

[@sydsnott5042]

Very impressed with the attention to detail. Something missing in other garages unfortunately. Very labour intensive. I'm sure everyone wants to know. What did that customer pay for those repairs? I can only imagine it was as much as the value of that car if not more.

[@alexgunner1882]

This is a 15k+ M5 so hopefully not lol

[@iain4853]

Nice work lovely car. It soo deserves to be done the proper way.

[@anthonymackintosh4776]

Great video just wondering how much it would cost to replace just the inner sill on a e39

[@astront917]

Excellent work, Not cheap I'm sure but worth it if you want it to last.

[@Stop..carry-on]

Fantastic work credit where it’s due.

[@antonkronberg8619]

Looks amazing now

[@Jrk450]

Love watching restoration projects. Very nice work. Must cost an arm and leg to get all this done. But it’s worth it, if you appreciate a car this much 😁😆

[@trifaor26]

Great job 😎👍👍👍

[@medievilassassin]

Great work , how do you get the brushable seem sealer so smooth?

[@tonynightingale4400]

It's good to see that someone else puts pride in their work above compromise as to accepting work at the customers economic wishes...😀😀😀

[@stevensumner3146]

As your video states, doing a quick fix leads to higher expense down the line, proving the old saying: A stitch in time saves nine.

[@onkelmicke9670]

Exactly the same problem I have had on mine.

[@rupert1124]

Excellent video. Was a certified welder needed for this work or could it be done by any welder who is capable? There's no doubting the quality of this work. It's very likely more extensive work like this will be done on cars in the future if there are going to be less diesels and petrol cars available on the market. I'm in the trade and it's good to see quality work. Thanks

[@mirzha001]

I wish there was a company like redish in the us i could save up and save mine

[@hsingh630]

Awesome work. I feel my e36’s will need doing in the near future. What rough price was this repair?

[@jimbobrust]

Liked and subscribed I’ve got a 2003 e9 The back end of the archers are just going which I think I can tackle I’m more worried about the fuel filler drain pipe that just drains into the spare wheel well past the battery Are the any fix’s for that? Cheers

[@franktrivoluzzi6202]

I have thie same issue all 4 points on an e39 540 / 6. I could do this work but this makes me think sell.

[@vincenzodigrande2070]

Quite often te problem of these repairs isn't just improper sealing, but rather improper drainage holes. Often nothing is fabricated in and will make water just stand in there. When these are properly applied, they will not just drain any condensation moisture, but also vent it dry during driving.

[@richardpaulhill]

Proper job.

[@JohnHonda101]

Top job

[@kubakraska6889]

32:50 aquaplane guards? these are just air deflectors to reduce drag

[@TheCounty90]

Excellent work from a fellow Bristolian BMW nut 👏👏

[@grein545]

What’s the wax you use on the heat shield fasteners? I sprayed underneath with fluid film but I believe that stuff burns off near the exhaust components.

[@TheSurroundification]

My 523 is in need of that treatment. I wonder how far the rust has worked its way under the underground protection :/

[@user-pf5nf5su5y]

Один из лучших Мастеров которых я видел. Сам отношусь к любым ремонтам своего е39 523и с максимальным вниманием и соответствию как задумано заводом изготовителем. Привет из России.

[@AcTzGlitcher]

There will be so much more rust if the sills look like that. My E46 had the exact same thing and i ended up just removing the jacking points altogether.

[@CoreRye]

Shame to leave such a crusty rear chassis brace on there but I guess you have to stop somewhere. Top work as always.

[@SA-zoom1]

Very nice work. I would have run a mile from that car seeing the rust.

[@BadMannersGod]

The rear right level sensor link is in the incorrect orientation

[@raitshots]

Everything is well done. Just one thing. Welding work with external and internal thresholds. Do not weld along the union line. The problem is that in the same welding place in the line, water or salt will corrode inside. Because you can't get there with the after-welding primer ekposide. Very difficult. Welding works weld according to the template line connections that bmw factory point weight places. In addition, weld against the plate inside. To hold even tighter the threshold and the racks of dankret. Never weld along line joints. 2 years will be open instead. Inside, moisture corrodes the condensate threshold. You can't see it outside until rust appears. There is a thing that can stop rust with aluminum soldering. Aluminum can preserve rust. With gas soldering only. Because ekposide is not kept close to rust for long. When soldering with aluminum, the heat melts deep inside. Forever. This method of restoration work with old machines has been used for 100 years. Such a method for BMW and other models of cars. 😎 👍 Another ever car problem. This variant long time Save car construction. kzbin.info/www/bejne/aKSnfKtugauYm7c Video weld Mig Honda Accord wagon problematic Threshold and other bearing parts. Likewise for BMW and other car models.

[@viragtamas90]

What aftermarket brand have you used for the sills? I've the same problem actually with my e39 and the OEM sills comes with a horrible price :(

[@ripdawg]

Wish i could find someone like you here in New England for same exaxt issues. What is the rough cost of this kind of project?

[@gnomebmw]

My E39 m sport has rusty rear sills too (some people call them side skirts). Can a steel plate be welded under the area?

[@peterolastokke2229]

How did you unfasten the clips for the brake pipes?

[@dallas4616]

This really does just make more worry about what my car looks like underneath. e39 540i

[@sttm1283]

a rough estimate, how much does a job like that cost? have the same problems with my sills, all four of them wich i will try and attack this year

[@craigmccarthy2114]

Wax oil kit's out halfords are quality one plug into compresser are quality

[@beautgrainger147]

I'm looking at getting an E39 later in the year. Roughly how much does this amount of work cost?

[@wijnandhemelaar6180]

Great work. Wouldn't it be better to leave the plastic sill covers off? I was told that the plastic covers are the reason for the rusted sills in the first place. Is that true?

[@hoonaticbloggs5402]

You welded next to that holed vapour pipe ? 😮

[@stevezephyr]

Wow, I'm guessing that's £2,000 per side for the sill panels from BMW, you can't see where they dream those prices up from. An amazing repair by yourselves though, I've already watched the nut and bolt chassis restoration of the other E39 M5 on your channel, incredible to watch.

[@Arrozconchopsticks]

Wish i knew how to do rust repair. I want to restore my E90. Underside doesn't look as good as the topside.

[@voodoocars2134]

Hmm.. did it fail the mot last year and the year before.. Anyway- fancy working on my E53..

[@thomasshepard6030]

My 17 year old BMW E60 2.5i is completely rust free thank goodness the body is aluminium my previous BMW E 39 2.8 IS was a 1998 and never had any rust and I live in Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 apparently it had been completely rust proofed from new

[@Original_sneakman1]

Hi I’ve just brought a E39 and needs the same repair on the jacking points what would you charge a customer for this repair like the one in the video as a ball park figure? I’m devastated as I’ve only had the car 3 weeks and used my savings to buy the car as it was my dream car.

[@dominykasbaltrunas4129]

It looks less painful when you see that other people have same amount of rust on E39, because on my E39 side skirts looks exactly like on this M5🙈🙈

[@Sir-Kay]

Awesome, if only they were this skilled in Poland.

[@nickfoster2201]

Problem rust with cars and trucks manufactured within the last 20 yrs Stems from warter from condensation And manufacturers no longer inject a wax rust proof into box sections, sills ect Some use galvanised sheet in manufacturing, Unfortunately most of the galvanised sheet used fails with prolonged exposure to condensation in the uk

[@golfr604]

Great job 👍👍 that would be an ideal candidate for a underside dry ice clean . Deserves to be around another 20 plus years

[@dannsmcshane1233]

what cavity was system so you use

[@curlyman7]

What wax do you guys use?

[@borisp9499]

What is "cavity wax"? Is it basically fluid film or some other similar lanolin-based product?

[@ToriL97]

I wish they had this sort of inspection in the US. American car manufacturers are terrible when I comes to rust protection and people drive some seriously rotted out stuff on our roads (early Ford escape and Mazda tribute is a good example). In The area I live, they've started spraying brine on the roads now, instead of just salt and it ruins everything so much faster. Last summer I had to repair my rear arches and rocker panels on my E46 sedan. Still have a little more to do this year on the fronts where the cowl drains behind the fender.

[@daineseboy78]

With the sills that bad. I would have almost said two new sills and get in properly and see what other rust there was. Looks like a nice car to keep on the road

[@GetUpFalcon]

I had the same thought. I think that car will be back in a few years.

[@gsgk9674]

I you have a sunroof, your sills will go down no matter what. There's a drain system from sunroof going to thru the sills. :(

[@matthewbell1968]

Blimey that's terrifying. Looks (more or less) fine from 'up top' but it's horrific underneath, some of those pipes as well are awful....

[@philf5043]

What would a repair like that typically cost ?

[@danielw6882]

What is that for a colour??

[@Ayixlia]

Only in E39 chassis?

[@SaulidSnake]

What was the final bill for this job?

[@Keane-to-clean]

How much roughly to do this job

[@Tim82621]

unreal work, how much would something like this cost? I assume quite alot (but less expensive then inproper repair that needs to be done twice)

[@boonamai8926]

Just do it yourself if you are not rich 😂

[@PompeyMatt17]

given the amount of work.... I'd say about £6k - £7k

[@jonners9540]

Yay!!! Been worried you’d abandoned KZbin completely!!

[@guy4469]

ive just had my E38 2x CIGERETTE PACKET SIZE PLATES DONE ,RITE AT THE END OF SILLS £250 ALL DONE 12 MONTHS mot .

[@photonpilot__]

Sad to see an E39 in that condition. Luckily in the US you can order the entire sill from the BMW dealership and cut and weld a brand new OE part in.