Replacing front wings

[Jonnysnapzzz]

Hi all,

I think I’m going to bite the bullet and replace the front wings on my 2.8 this year. They have started to show signs of rust on the lip inside the wheel well. I have had them refurbished in the past, but as you know you will never fight of rust in the long run.
Does anybody have any opinion on replacement parts? I think BMW do them for over £200 a side. However I’ve seen some third-party replacements here for less than half that. Has anybody use them? Have an opinion based on experience?

https://www.motor-doctor.co.uk/fender/bmw/z3/z3-coupe-e36/8829-2-8

thank you

 

[Andy 4D]

Hi there,
I decided to replace the driver side wing when I was doing my sills and was quoted around £250+ for the OEM part. As it's really just a decorative cover and has no structural or mechanical importance I decided to try a third-party wing. I used Autodoc and went with the HD brand item 1250006 as seen in your link as it stated it was zinc-coated. I think including delivery it cost about £75 but that was nearly 2 years ago.
The wing seemed to be good quality but did need a bit of fettling to get it to fit properly. The folded edge at the door side needed hammered down a bit so it wouldn't snag on the door when it opened and a little bit of Dremel with a grinding wheel to tidy up some edges. I used the original wing as a kind of template and tried to match it. It probably only took about half an hour to sort out and once painted you'd never know the difference. From my experience I'd certainly recommend it as long as you're happy to do a little adjusting to get a good fit.

Andy

 

[Jonnysnapzzz]

Thanks Andy, I am planning to take them to a body shop for painting and fitting so I’m happy to let them do that work!
good to hear they worked out ok

 

[Andy 4D]

Thanks Andy, I am planning to take them to a body shop for painting and fitting so I’m happy to let them do that work!
good to hear they worked out ok

That’s fine but make sure the body shop has sorted the fitting before they paint them. You don’t want to be hitting them with a hammer once they’re all shiny!!!!

 

[DomiMik]

Just as Andy wrote, they are of good quality but need some fine adjustments. I can recommend them as well, fitted them three months ago before I ripped everything apart for restoration.

Here's a picture of the new wings together with new sills.

 

[Dxbolton]

If you need a Hellrot Red original nearside wing, I’m sure I have a rot free one I can sell you.
I need the driver side for my other car.
Let me know if you’re interested and I’ll get some good photos for you. Open to sensible offers

 

[Paul H]

I got mine from autodoc when they had one of their sales. 45 a side and the material was thicker than the originals i replaced

 

[Witchsilver]

I haven't found any front or rear wings for mine yet ('98 1.9 auto prefacelift) in any of these companies only side fender panels.

I bought one of the autodoc side fender panels just before xmas and its fitted perfectly so I just gave it a rough sand, wiped with thinner and then primed, painted & lacquered using tin cans... seems good! I want to work my way around the car. Sadly I have some rust on my wheel-arch wings so I am looking to replace with good ones as I know that it will go through once I start sanding! lol