In a process of hot dip coating of metal strips, in particular, of a hot rolled steel strip, in which the metal strip is transformed into a continuous strip in an unwinding station with an adjoining welding machine, and then the continuous strip is subjected to a downstream modifying process including primary and secondary prickling and, in the final treatment step; in the hot dip coating section, guiding the continuous strip through a melt bath, a variable coating process with reduced costs becomes possible when the continuous strip, in a first treatment step, is directly transported into a pickling installation. In a suitable installation for effecting the process, the primary pickling installation is located in the entry section which is separated from the hot dip coating section by an entry accumulator.