Sill removal - Does front wing have to come off?

[fish]

Can anyone confirm or deny, when you take the side sills off, do you HAVE to removed the front wing? Seem to be seeing conflicting information about this….any comments, thanks

[Jonco]

IIRC you have to take it off to access one of the sill mounting bolts. Have just had a look through the photos I took of mine to support this view
It is straightforward to remove and I would advise you take it off anyway to examine the wing internals as the front bottom corner is a corrosion point.

[Jonco]

This shot is of the driver's side sill on a 98 pre-facelift.
The left hand bracket is accessed from wheel arch with liner removed - the centre one needs the wing panel off to access - the right hand one is accessed through the door jamb.

[fish]

Ok, thanks for info...been having at look at some info too....so front wheel off/liner off, then that gives me access etc....ok...yeah getting it all jacked up for refurb work and wanted to sit the jacks in the "raw sills" as well as check for rusting and wax up a bit....let the fun begin....

[Jonco]

Have a look at this if you haven't already - I followed it when I did mine.
http://zroadster.org/wiki/bmw-z3/mainte ... rotection/

As already said check the inside of the wing panels for corrosion and also mask the bottom front corners of the doors. It is very easy to scratch them with sill bracket especially if you are working on your own.

[fish]

Hi,
Got the first liner off last night.....managed to find all the screws after some feeling around.....yeah, can see all the wing nuts now.....also, can see first part of sill from inner and it looks very clean indeed, but wont know the full truth until its off....am amazed at how clean the body panels are behind the arch liner etc.....i.e. surface rust on control arms and wishbones, but body work looks great....(used to have a 1972 beetle...it never looked this good...)...