Date: 18 Jun 2020
Distance: 261xxxkms
1. Replaced Tail Light Seals. Genuine BMW part #63211380419. Precautionary replacement; I've read that these are often the source of leakage into the boot. Given mine are thirty years old, I decided to replace them. Fairly straightforward; 8mm nuts (six of). I cleaned out the aperture, no rust (woohoo!), no evidence of leakage. The old seals were in pretty good condition and flexible, though compressed as you'd expect. I fitted the new seals, and applied a light smear of rubber grease to the mating surface. Job's a good un.
Rust-free e30 tail light aperture. phew, relief. The left hand side was the same (more dirt built up), though I forgot to take a picture.
A new Seal, in Wellington. Not the 90's pop star, though. (the right hand).
A new Seal, in Wellington. Not friends with Trevor Horn, either. (the left hand).
View of tail lights showing fixings - bulb carrier removed. Note the six 8mm nuts - and the clamping bracket at the outer edge. The loom and connector un-clip from the tail lights with two squeeze tabs.
2. Radiator Support Panel - surface rust remediation. Light surface rust at the bottom of the radiator support panel had been awaiting my attention. Jon reminded me about it while we had it in the air on Wednesday, and today was the day. A combination of wire brushing and emery paper saw to the prep. Normally I'd use rust converter; time (and low winter temperatures weren't on my side. We used Hammerite rust treatment paint (brushed on), after pre-heating the metal with a heat gun. This stuff works well to stop rust and provide a hard coating. Then an hour later (after more heat-gun to move warm air around and aid drying, I hit it with a coat of Rustolleum all-in-one Satin Black, after pre-warming the can in a water-bath. Another coat (pre-warmed metal) 50 minutes later. An hour later (after some more coaxing with the heat gun), it was pretty-well dried, at least to begin curing. Result.
Yecch. Unsightly, though not serious.
Prepped for surgery (in truth, this was post-paint).
Protection. Though not of the Massive Attack kind. How can I resist?
I'll monitor this, to ensure the remediation is solid. I may get some cavity wax (or just fishoilene) and spray it into the inside of the structure. If the external remediation shows any sign of continued rust, I'll re-do it in summer when there's better temperature and more time.
A couple of disc rotor backing plates in suspension, today. I also painted the backing plates in preparation for the brake refresh job in a couple of weeks. Degreased, keyed with grey scotch-brite, two coats of Rustoleum all-in-one satin black 50 minutes apart (with some heat gun in-between).
3. General checks: - Rain-X'd the windscreen. Twice. It's going to be a very wet roadie this weekend.
Pleased to note that cold starting is much easier with the new CTS from yesterday. Result!