Repair or Replace

DV8OR · Post by **DV8OR** » Sun Jun 28, 2015 2:56 am

From a restoration and value stand point would it be better to repair a front fender that has some minor rust and maintain the VIN sticker or replace it with a different fender that has a different or no VIN sticker.
Or it does not matter since it is not a "concours" car?

sansouci · Post by **sansouci** » Sun Jun 28, 2015 10:11 am

Where on the fender is the VIN sticker? I had a small fender/bender years ago and the D/S fender was replaced with a DOT compliant part. I guess it was non-OEM but what did I know then? Not much, I guess.
--Ken

DV8OR · Post by **DV8OR** » Sun Jun 28, 2015 12:54 pm

sansouci wrote:Where on the fender is the VIN sticker? I had a small fender/bender years ago and the D/S fender was replaced with a DOT compliant part. I guess it was non-OEM but what did I know then? Not much, I guess.
--Ken

om my car (88 m6) it is on the the mounting ridge inside the engine compartment where the 7 or 8 main fender mount bolts are.

dwcains · Post by **dwcains** » Sun Jun 28, 2015 7:41 pm

The VIN stickers came into being sometime in the mid-80's. My '84 325e didn't have them, my '85 635 CSi doesn't, but my '88 M3 did.

I wonder if BMW can supply a replacement sticker?

DV8OR · Post by **DV8OR** » Sun Jun 28, 2015 7:45 pm

dwcains wrote:The VIN stickers came into being sometime in the mid-80's. My '84 325e didn't have them, my '85 635 CSi doesn't, but my '88 M3 did.

I wonder if BMW can supply a replacement sticker?

I doubt they will. I think the purpose of these little vin stickers id to verify that the panels on the car are the one that came with the car, so you could state if it was a "matching numbers" car.

I could be wrong though.

dwcains · Post by **dwcains** » Sun Jun 28, 2015 7:54 pm

I think the stickers are there to protect the parts from "chop shops" selling stolen parts, but who knows? They're certainly not difficult to remove, unlike VIN's etched into body glass, which a few cars have.

If BMW did sell them, they'd likely be ridiculously priced. When I bought my 635 about a year ago, I wanted a spare key, and the dealer asked $400. Got 2 on Amazon for under $10 (genuine, German-made) and spent another $5 to have them cut. BMW bullshit story was that the OEM keys were "special" and could only be cut with a laser.

Brucey · Post by **Brucey** » Sun Jun 28, 2015 9:16 pm

dwcains wrote:.... BMW bullshit story was that the OEM keys were "special" and could only be cut with a laser.

yeah, and the laser would be driven by the monkeys flying out of that guys' butt....

cheers

Pod · Post by **Pod** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 9:08 am

DV8OR wrote:From a restoration and value stand point would it be better to repair a front fender that has some minor rust and maintain the VIN sticker or replace it with a different fender that has a different or no VIN sticker.
Or it does not matter since it is not a "concours" car?

If its only a minor repair, I would do that as :-

i) It is likely to be cheaper than fitting a new wing.
ii) It will keep your car's "numbers matching" originality.

Just my 2c

slofut · Post by **slofut** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 12:09 pm

DV8OR wrote:From a restoration and value stand point would it be better to repair a front fender that has some minor rust and maintain the VIN sticker or replace it with a different fender that has a different or no VIN sticker.
Or it does not matter since it is not a "concours" car?

How minor is the rust? Rusted through? If not can you access both sides of the panel where the rust is (wing off the car)? Careful sandblasting, use MCU rust coating on both sides then finish...
http://www.masterseriescoatings.com/ind ... ts/primer/

DV8OR · Post by **DV8OR** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 12:15 pm

slofut wrote:
DV8OR wrote:From a restoration and value stand point would it be better to repair a front fender that has some minor rust and maintain the VIN sticker or replace it with a different fender that has a different or no VIN sticker.
Or it does not matter since it is not a "concours" car?
How minor is the rust? Rusted through? If not can you access both sides of the panel where the rust is (wing off the car)? Careful sandblasting, use MCU rust coating on both sides then finish...
http://www.masterseriescoatings.com/ind ... ts/primer/

3 spots of surface rust (doesn't not penetrate through) totaling about 3-4 square inches total but there is some pitting.
The reason I ask is I can pick up a non rusted similar year and same color one for around $350 but of course it wont have a matching VIN sticker

slofut · Post by **slofut** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 3:30 pm

DV8OR wrote:
slofut wrote:
DV8OR wrote:From a restoration and value stand point would it be better to repair a front fender that has some minor rust and maintain the VIN sticker or replace it with a different fender that has a different or no VIN sticker.
Or it does not matter since it is not a "concours" car?
How minor is the rust? Rusted through? If not can you access both sides of the panel where the rust is (wing off the car)? Careful sandblasting, use MCU rust coating on both sides then finish...
http://www.masterseriescoatings.com/ind ... ts/primer/
3 spots of surface rust (doesn't not penetrate through) totaling about 3-4 square inches total but there is some pitting.
The reason I ask is I can pick up a non rusted similar year and same color one for around $350 but of course it wont have a matching VIN sticker

Pod · Post by **Pod** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 4:56 pm

DV8OR wrote:3 spots of surface rust (doesn't not penetrate through) totaling about 3-4 square inches total but there is some pitting.
The reason I ask is I can pick up a non rusted similar year and same color one for around $350 but of course it wont have a matching VIN sticker

May be a stupid question, but can the VIN sticker be transferred? I can see the advantages of bolting on a good wing without having to paint & repair!

hornhospital · Post by **hornhospital** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 7:09 pm

Pod wrote: May be a stupid question, but can the VIN sticker be transferred? I can see the advantages of bolting on a good wing without having to paint & repair!

Dang-near impossible. You cannot get one off intact. The tag itself is fairly substantial, but BMW made sure the adhesive was much stronger than the tag itself. The tag will come apart before the adhesive turns loose.

Pod · Post by **Pod** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 9:46 pm

Gentle heat and a razor blade no good then?

hornhospital · Post by **hornhospital** » Wed Jul 01, 2015 4:16 pm

Pod wrote:Gentle heat and a razor blade no good then?

Go ahead and try it. You'll see what I mean.

Pod · Post by **Pod** » Thu Jul 02, 2015 7:42 am

hornhospital wrote:
Pod wrote:Gentle heat and a razor blade no good then?
Go ahead and try it. You'll see what I mean.

Fortunately the UK authorities are not so paranoid as to require that each and every part of our cars are permanently marked/tagged. It certainly makes replacing parts an easier decision over here

hornhospital · Post by **hornhospital** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 6:27 am

Don't get the wrong idea. I wasn't trying to fake-over a VIN tag from a fender, but my daughter whacked a trash can 2 weeks into owning her E36, and rather than fix the fender again (it had been wrecked before I bought it, on that side, naturally) I bought a same-color used one in perfect condition and bolted it on. Before turning the crumpled one over to the junk man, I tried removing the tag, just because I'd heard how hard they were to remove intact. It was an ego thing, "sure, I can do it!"...... and the ego got shot down, big time. I totally failed to remove any of it without damage.

bigcoupe.com

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