Just bought an '88 535is and found this...

[Zinnobot]

I'm usually more careful but I made up my mind about this car before giving it the once over and may have made a gnarly mistake... Drove it, liked the guy selling it so, because of my confidence in my ability to fix these things I didn't do my due diligence. This is what I found when I got it home and went to put it on jack stands...



How bad off am I here??? All the gaps and seams in the doors, trunk and hood are straight and uniform so I'm hoping it's not that big of a deal but...

Any thoughts? (On the car and the damage please, not my stupidity )

[dsmith]

What problem? Looks like you have an oil leak.

[Kyle in NO]

The frame rail dent?? They most all have damage there because people use that area to lift the car, and it gets damaged. There is a reinforced box area just rear of the front wheel well that is great for lifting, and jack stands can be placed where you show them with something like a block of wood to spread the load out, preventing damage.

[Zinnobot]

What problem? Looks like you have an oil leak.

Lol, there's a lot of stuff leaking at the moment but that dent in the frame rail is what scared me

[Zinnobot]

The frame rail dent?? They most all have damage there because people use that area to lift the car, and it gets damaged. There is a reinforced box area just rear of the front wheel well that is great for lifting, and jack stands can be placed where you show them with something like a block of wood to spread the load out, preventing damage.

Okay, I feel a little better now... I was a little panicky at first because I completely missed the dent in the frame rail and when I went to the lift the car I was all, WTF??? I always use blocks of wood to lift any vehicle or put it on stands but know that not everyone does. I guess I wasn't sure if what I was looking at was jack damage or if the thing had bottomed out hard on something. Everything else on the car certainly seems straight and there's no strange wear on the tires so I was hoping it wasn't too serious. This is gonna be my DD anyway so I guess I won't sweat it. I just wanted to get some other eyes on it to be sure.

Thanks!

[Dale3783]

The frame rail dent?? They most all have damage there because people use that area to lift the car, and it gets damaged. There is a reinforced box area just rear of the front wheel well that is great for lifting, and jack stands can be placed where you show them with something like a block of wood to spread the load out, preventing damage.

Okay, I feel a little better now... I was a little panicky at first because I completely missed the dent in the frame rail and when I went to the lift the car I was all, WTF??? I always use blocks of wood to lift any vehicle or put it on stands but know that not everyone does. I guess I wasn't sure if what I was looking at was jack damage or if the thing had bottomed out hard on something. Everything else on the car certainly seems straight and there's no strange wear on the tires so I was hoping it wasn't too serious. This is gonna be my DD anyway so I guess I won't sweat it. I just wanted to get some other eyes on it to be sure.

Thanks!

If you were worried about the dent, why would you then put the weight of the car right on it??

[Zinnobot]

The frame rail dent?? They most all have damage there because people use that area to lift the car, and it gets damaged. There is a reinforced box area just rear of the front wheel well that is great for lifting, and jack stands can be placed where you show them with something like a block of wood to spread the load out, preventing damage.

Okay, I feel a little better now... I was a little panicky at first because I completely missed the dent in the frame rail and when I went to the lift the car I was all, WTF??? I always use blocks of wood to lift any vehicle or put it on stands but know that not everyone does. I guess I wasn't sure if what I was looking at was jack damage or if the thing had bottomed out hard on something. Everything else on the car certainly seems straight and there's no strange wear on the tires so I was hoping it wasn't too serious. This is gonna be my DD anyway so I guess I won't sweat it. I just wanted to get some other eyes on it to be sure.

Thanks!

If you were worried about the dent, why would you then put the weight of the car right on it??

I looked up where the safe jack points were and had started on the passenger side. Confident in the rigidity experienced with a block of wood there, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to further the damage by doing the same on the driver's side. Not to mention I wanted the stand on the driver's side in the same location as the passenger for the sake of even weight distribution. I really thought the damage on the drivers side was from some sort of impact and not necessarily a poorly placed/improper jack...

[ahab]

What Kyle said. Appears to be impact damage to me, as opposed to improper jacking. I wouldn't worry about it at all. A bend in the metal form is 1000X better than a straight, rusty frame rail. Move on, nothing to see here.

[Zinnobot]

What Kyle said. Appears to be impact damage to me, as opposed to improper jacking. I wouldn't worry about it at all. A bend in the metal form is 1000X better than a straight, rusty frame rail. Move on, nothing to see here.

Thanks!

[stuartinmn]

"They all do that sir."

Also, a little oil leak isn't necessary a bad thing...I figure it's cheap rustproofing.