Author Topic: fender removal (Read 8111 times)

4banger · « **on:** January 28, 2010, 05:16:11 AM »

its time to do some body work. driver fender and hood. hood is a easy task. but ive never had to replace a fender on a e30. can some one give me a quick and dirty walk thru?

DesktopDave · « **Reply #1 on:** January 28, 2010, 08:46:55 AM »

Lots of 8mm bolts. I was planning on doing this myself later on. I was just going to work my way around. I've pulled the front bumper and the wheel well liners are next - there's a pair of screws holding on the rear bumper retainer clips from the inside.

4banger · « **Reply #2 on:** January 28, 2010, 11:28:16 AM »

thanks dave. how in the hell do you get to those 3 or 4 bolts that are behind the door lip?

body man here in town that i was gonna get to cut out and weld in a few patches quoted me$1250 just for about 2hrs worth of work. he must be drinkin some strong kool aid :rolleyes: needless to say i brushed up on my tig skills and did it my self for under $200.

4banger · « **Reply #3 on:** February 09, 2010, 02:34:11 AM »

im gonna go at this fender replacement tomrow afternoon. so do i gotta remove the door to replace the fender?

1991 E30 M42 · « **Reply #4 on:** February 09, 2010, 02:59:29 AM »

no, you can get at the bolts with an extension and some patience

4banger · « **Reply #5 on:** February 09, 2010, 03:02:58 AM »

thanks!. it was easy at the junkyard beause i allready had the door off and on another car lol

Jorgeconrico · « **Reply #6 on:** February 09, 2010, 06:53:57 AM »

Let me know how it goes because i'm getting ready to replace the passenger side fender when the weather breaks.

fabe · « **Reply #7 on:** February 09, 2010, 08:52:14 AM »

a bit of logical thinking and keen eyes would definitely help.. haha..

1- remove the bolts from the top.
2- remove the wheel well plastic cover.
3- remove the 2 bolts from inside the wheel well towards the door... a torch would help.. or small hands.
4- remove the bolt securing the lower portion between the wheelwell and the door
5- remove the front bumper
6- remove the headlight grill, unscrew the 2 bolts securing the front portion on the fender
7- remove the side bumper bracket..
8- all bolts should have been done. lift the fender outwards and upwards.

description may not be all that accurately but shud be clear once u start on it.

4banger · « **Reply #8 on:** February 09, 2010, 02:53:02 PM »

it went smooth. body lines arent lined up now. i have a feeling ima have to replace the core support.

4banger · « **Reply #9 on:** February 09, 2010, 07:34:30 PM »

got the front end tore off this evening. got a core support comming from ebay. looks like this is gonna be a motherfucker of a job. not looking forward to it.....

BlueBMW · « **Reply #10 on:** February 09, 2010, 10:24:02 PM »

Let me know how it goes because my R/F fender is a little pushed back. I have a feeling replacing just the fender wont get the job done....

4banger · « **Reply #11 on:** February 09, 2010, 10:27:58 PM »

the coresupport will be here in 2wks. $160 somethin shipped from ebay. i didnt wanna risk getting one from a scrapper that has been bent or wrecked before. when its all said and done this 4door is gonna have everything new from the grill back lol

shouldnt be a bad job for someone with a little paience and a mig welder. its just a pain in the ass tearing the whole front end off the car. measuring twice. cutting the old one out. clean the areas up to weld the new one in.

BlueBMW · « **Reply #12 on:** February 09, 2010, 10:49:14 PM »

My fender is pushed back about a half an inch, but its also bowed out so I'm hoping its just the fender mangled up.... but you never know.

4banger · « **Reply #13 on:** February 10, 2010, 03:51:49 AM »

hopefully yours isant mangled as bad as mine is. i hit a 250lb deer at 65mph comming home from the airport last fall. im damn lucky she glanced off the corner of the fender and just took out the fender and buckled the hood up. if i would have hit her head on i may have totaled the bastard.

BlueBMW · « **Reply #14 on:** February 10, 2010, 06:41:13 AM »

Sounds like a close call! My hood seems fine its just the fender that doesn't line up with it right. Everything else seems ok though.