[tadaska]

This morning I went to fix a stone chip near the rear offside arch and when I looked closer I found a few paint blisters on the edge of the arch. I removed the paint where there was rust underneath with the tip of a Stanley knife and sanded off the rust then applied some primer. Will do the paint and clear-coat later. Also found two blisters on the rear nearside arch and one on the front offside. Dealt with them the same way.

But now I'm thinking there will be more and more blisters every year. I'm guessing stones make a crack in the paint and water ingress starts the rusting process? I don't fancy having to keep fixing them and I'm trying to find a way to protect them. There are some stick-on tapes but they are too obtrusive. I'm thinking coating the inner edge of the arch and a strip on the outer edge with clear sealant would do the job of protecting them from stones and could be peeled of if needed. But I'm not sure I could apply sealant nicely so it doesn't look ugly. Is there a similar product that would cure into the same substance like the sealant but in a more liquidy form so it can be applied in multiple thin layers with a brush?

[Phil325i]

I paint thick underseal on the part of the arch that rolls under (so it's unseen, but still protects from chipping). Not sure what you can do about the part you can see. I suspect any rust will start from chips on the 'hidden' part of the arch...

[rasa bmw]

could put that rust eater on,,but only way to deal with rust really is taking it back to bare metal and treating,then normal coats of primer etc,,or cutting it out and adding new metal..my e46 is gone on the rear arches,,pointless fixing as the car has 153k miles and its 15 years old and worth around £1500..cost outweighs car worth..still drives like a yputhful pup thogh as mechanically its still spot on,marvelous engines the m57tu euro 3/4

[wallsmk2]

I doubt it needs any new metal so I suspect it would relatively painless to get a body shop to take back to bare metal, treat and paint. I have just had the same done for not very much money.

[tadaska]

Last night I was considering clear plasti dip. At the moment I'm considering just spraying a few extra layers of clear coat around the edges and buffing it it.

[tadaska]

Originally Posted by rasa bmw

my e46 is gone on the rear arches,,pointless fixing as the car has 153k miles and its 15 years old and worth around £1500..cost outweighs car worth..still drives like a yputhful pup thogh as mechanically its still spot on,marvelous engines the m57tu euro 3/4

My rear arches behind the wheels are all rusty too. Some time later in the Summer I'm planning to take off the rear sub-frame for bush/control-arm replacement and while it's off I'm going to attempt to remove as much rust as I can, paint it with rust converter and then with rubberised paint. There are no covers to protect those rear inner arches so I guess they suffer a lot of pebble impacts.