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Rust
Since we are talking about rust, I'd like to ask a question. Where I live, in Idaho, even though we do get some snow, road salt is not used, per se, rather a tiny bit of salt is apparently mixed in with the sand that gets laid down on icy patches. Cars do not rust very much in my area and any rusted out car you see is almost always one that came from elsewhere, or it is really really old, back to the time when cars were not made with much rustproofing.
I had the misfortune to buy a 2001 Z3 Coupe that was billed as pristine, with no rust, coming out of Massachusetts. I turned out to be a rusted out hulk, and I sent it back to the seller, in the end losing about $20K after legal fees and expenses as I ended up needing to sue the seller. Not a good experience and not one I would recommend to any of you, never buy an old used car sight unseen.
I also have a 1M, which was owned and driven in Eastern Canada for 3 years before I imported it into the USA. The mileage was pretty low at around 25K miles, and there was obvious rust damage underneath that was fairly extensive but did not very deep. It took a lot of pressure washing underneath to get rid of all the caked on salt. My BMW tech, who is the lead tech at the dealership, commented on the rust when it was up on a lift, saying it was considerably worse than what he sees here, but "not that bad." I researched what I could do and decided to use a product called Corroseal, which is used by the US Navy, and apparently changes rust into a stable form of iron called "magnatite," that supposedly can form a seal against further rust.
I brushed the stuff on from underneath on a lift to the point where virtually all of the rust was painted and did turn black as the instructions said it would. Some areas were applied on twice. This was about a year ago. Subsequent inspection by my tech and by myself has shown no progression. The car only has summer tires (PSS) and is never driven in cold or snowy weather, only in the Spring, Summer, and Fall. I don't even usually drive it in the rain. It is kept clean and garaged all the time. I put less than 2500 miles a year on it.
I have been told that the body panels and underside of a car of this vintage (2011) is way better protected from rust than cars made in earlier decades, and that so long as I continue to use the car as I do, as a trophy car protected from bad weather and garaged, that the rust I saw initially should not progress and it is unlikely that I will experience problems going forward in this car, used in this way.
Does anyone here have experience with a car that was driven on salted roads in the rust belt for the first few years of its life, experienced modest rust underneath in superficial areas, but subsequently was protected from salt and bad weather in a dry climate not close to the ocean? I am assuming that the car will be OK going forward, but am curious to know of others' experiences. Thanks.
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