Seat & Door Card Upholstery

BonBon · Post by **BonBon** » Sat 22 Feb, 2014 21:38

Can anyone recommend a supplier for a retrofit leather seat upholstery? (std seat '98)
Don't want the whole seat - just the skin.....
Time and the sun has gotten the best of the vinyl/weave seats and door cards.....
Driver's seat with brownish "sunburn"and the mediocre bolster

Passenger seat

....and sick looking door card

BladeRunner919 · Post by **BladeRunner919** » Sun 23 Feb, 2014 11:47

This has been discussed a few times on another Z3 forum and from people's experiences this rarely gives a satisfactory result. You'd be better off finding an upholsterer, giving them the seats and letting them do the job properly.

bertiejaffa · Post by **bertiejaffa** » Sun 23 Feb, 2014 13:57

Related to this, I am looking for a good supplier of leather for the interior? Estoril Blue preferably.

BonBon · Post by **BonBon** » Sun 23 Feb, 2014 14:42

This seems to be a good value alternative: (good Ebay Feedback and attractive pricing)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1996-2002-BMW-Z ... 1552957%26
I'll go for it. Seems like many are getting a set for under $300 & postage.
They are very cooperative an for a few more bucks they threw in a matching leather piece for the door cards. (One piece of 85x42cm2 is enough for both)
My car is Montreal Blue- so I'm going for a D4 (mid Grey) leather and Navy Blue stitching.
I should get it in 3 weeks.

BonBon · Post by **BonBon** » Wed 26 Feb, 2014 16:57

Getting started....took off a card and removed the upholstery section. What a friggin mess.
1) Virtually all of the heat-welded pegs that support the upholstery panel were broken

2) So I dare not remove the upper "mini hockey stick" section from the card. So I just pulled out the material.

3) I'll need to feed an upper 7mm lip of the leather into the gap underneath the "hockey stick".

4) The support panel was broken into two.
5) There seemed to have been a thin red foam that supported the upholstery. That together with the adhesive completely decomposed to a mix of dust and gooey stuff

.

BonBon · Post by **BonBon** » Wed 26 Feb, 2014 17:09

Clean up and surface prep of door car upholstery support panel:
Yes - it was a nice sunny "winter" day
1) Scrape clean with doctor blade (both sides that will eventually need to stick to adhesive)
2) Solvent clean
3) Sandpaper
4) Connect the broken parts with flexible member (made with woven mesh and Super7 silicone) - Just for support when laminating the leather to the panel.
Now wait for a few weeks for the stuff to come. Hope to do the seat bushes when I do the seats...

BonBon · Post by **BonBon** » Thu 20 Mar, 2014 09:19

The covers arrived from Seats01 (and the spare piece for the door cards)
Leather is thick and consistent (Mid-Grey color D4). Workmanship is very good (with thick Blue stitching of my choice).
The covers are lined with a layer of thin foam.
It will take me a few weeks to find the time to sideline the car for a couple of days....

The back has a zip

David · Post by **David** » Sat 22 Mar, 2014 12:58

I'm very interested to see how the seats turn out. With the view of purchasing a set myself, if all is up to scratch.
It's a very good price - let's hope the fit and quality is just as good!

David · Post by **David** » Sat 22 Mar, 2014 13:37

I have found this guide for replacing the seatbelt guides. Part of the process for this is to completely remove the seat covers, so it should be of benefit to you.

Hope it helps!

http://zroadster.org/wiki/bmw-z3/mainte ... lt-guides/

Post by **Robert T** » Sat 22 Mar, 2014 13:43

Or you could just look in the knowledgebase on here... http://www.zroadster.net/forum/viewtopi ... 32&t=24517

Cheers R.

Southernboy · Post by **Southernboy** » Sat 22 Mar, 2014 18:10

That looks like a neat leather job...look forward to seeing them fitted..

BonBon · Post by **BonBon** » Sat 22 Mar, 2014 18:56

Just completed the door cards.
Here are a few pics.
I used adhesives as the "rivets" were all shot. The only hassle was to slide the 7-10mm upper leather lip under the hockey stick that I chose not to remove.

I already laminated the underside with contact cement (cobbler's glue)
Note in the pic above - the releases for the hockey stick rivets marked out to be cut

Panel glued to the card with Super7 Silicone which is quite robust.

Somewhat nicer that the sad cards show in the earlier post

Now onto the seats...not sure when I can spare a couple of car-less days and coordinate with DrSasha to help me with the seat rocking washers...

Southernboy · Post by **Southernboy** » Sat 22 Mar, 2014 19:16

Nice work...

BonBon · Post by **BonBon** » Sat 22 Mar, 2014 19:27

Not completely happy with my color choice.
But.....any darker and would burn my ass on the leather on sunny days and any lighter the grime would eventually show.
If Seats01 had royal (estriol) blue, I would have gone for it.

BonBon · Post by **BonBon** » Sun 23 Mar, 2014 12:42

Did the seat belt guides today.
As there seems to be a lot of stress on the holes supporting the guides - I decided to go for a widened pinhole vs a punched hole.
These are the tools I used (if you're wondering what the Stanley knife is for - I beveled the tips of the guide pins - and with a bit of soap I squeezed the guides into the holes in the leather). Yes, there are now a couple of gouges in the present seat covers.

Note that the guide is a bit widened at the bottom - and will probably crack in the next couple of years. So ordered a set of "Mods" from Sothernboy. http://www.zroadster.net/forum/viewtopi ... =9&t=38769
Another small touch

David · Post by **David** » Sun 23 Mar, 2014 13:56

Looks good BonBon!

I'm in conversation with the seller at the moment about getting some leathers for my seats, so I'm eager to see the final product!

Tell me, did you get charged by customs for the seats?

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BonBon · Post by **BonBon** » Sun 23 Mar, 2014 15:34

I did not import into the UK - but he was generous with the customs form

David · Post by **David** » Sun 23 Mar, 2014 16:37

I'll take that as a no then!

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David · Post by **David** » Wed 26 Mar, 2014 11:04

Just found this comparison review of seats01 after 2 years of use. Albeit not on a z3 seat, but you get the idea.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yxvv5Qy0uSo

...Looks like perforated leather is a huge no no.

BonBon · Post by **BonBon** » Wed 26 Mar, 2014 11:12

Yeah - I saw that too - but it was a few years ago and for that reason I specified in my order in bold "No Perforated Leather"

David · Post by **David** » Wed 26 Mar, 2014 11:17

I'm glad I found it.

I am (was) very close to ordering perforated inners.

I'm planning on going for red leather, black piping, with diamond/quilted stitching on the centre (inner) panels.

I've contacted the other company on that video (not leatherseats.com) for a quote also.

Out of interest, how much did seats01 charge you?

BonBon · Post by **BonBon** » Wed 26 Mar, 2014 12:03

As outlined above

David · Post by **David** » Sun 13 Apr, 2014 22:27

Hi BonBon, any news on this?

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BonBon · Post by **BonBon** » Mon 14 Apr, 2014 04:34

Not quite yet.....

BonBon · Post by **BonBon** » Tue 29 Apr, 2014 19:48

Did the bushes myself at the end (Forum Member Dr. Sasha was overseas and came back overloaded).
Back at it now.
Removed the old covers off the seats. Surprised to see that there are no hog rings - the covers were glued to the foam. So peeled them off while trying to minimize damage.
The foam is a real mess - especially the bolsters.
Tomorrow will try to revive the foam with steam and then try to rebuild the damaged foam with silicone RTV reinforced with nylon netting. I hope the RTV sticks to the foam which is very "dusty" due to it's age.

Southernboy · Post by **Southernboy** » Tue 29 Apr, 2014 19:51

..... brave man ! looks a mess in there...

BonBon · Post by **BonBon** » Wed 30 Apr, 2014 08:32

Yeah. Not so brave when there is no other option.
The top left "fix" in the pic from the last post is rework by BMW as it's difficult to fill the production molds.
Anyway - the foam is so old that the steaming took out the stiffness - but it did not make it expand and revive parts which have been impressed over the years. (look at the front edge of the foam that was under the seams on the seat bottom).
The patchwork is not elegant but should outlive the new covers. Super7 Silicone reinforced by a PP non-Woven. I'll probably cover the bolsters with a patch of 3mm Poron foam laminated with 3M adhesive.

BonBon · Post by **BonBon** » Wed 30 Apr, 2014 10:46

Another break in the A/C...
Here you see the Poron in place (this is the passenger seat).
I also added a piece of foam under both seats.(in pic) The butt is not as firm as it used to be.
It fits smoothly - but a big difference will be the fact that I am not gluing the cover to the chair. It won't look picture perfect like the OEM. Perhaps with time in the sun the leather will take the shape of the chair. I will also need a bit of improv on the edges in the backs as they don't not come with the OEM plastic bits sewn onto the covers (it comes with a loop for wire).
Note that with the way my seats were fabricated - I could have fixed the seat belt guides without removing the seats.

BonBon · Post by **BonBon** » Wed 30 Apr, 2014 17:40

The ice cold beer was well deserved

Not OEM but an improvement at an affordable price. (the leather is quite nice but seems "fragile" - time will tell)
I found a little plastic plug on the table that who knows where it came from under the seat?? (on the chair in the pic)

Now finally in the car. Plastered the connectors with contact cleaner so the airbag light would not come on....
Bolsters feel like they had Viagra (at least that's what I think the effect is...)
The seat belt guide fix is a nice touch

I'm confident the creases will work themselves out in the sun as the seams find their place in the foam.
I just need to fix my wing mirror that snapped last week and then a dose of Carnuba.

Southernboy · Post by **Southernboy** » Wed 30 Apr, 2014 17:46

.... Congratulations on completing a daunting task ! I like the "soft" look leather...

.... and I really like the seatbelt guide fittings you have too....

BonBon · Post by **BonBon** » Wed 30 Apr, 2014 17:52

Yeah....useful and a nice touch. Thanks.
Sorry the elbow rest is homemade....
I finally went to leave feedback on Ebay and Seats01 is no longer a registered user.....probably show up under another name sometime.....

BonBon · Post by **BonBon** » Fri 02 May, 2014 13:39

......and of course this morning the airbag light stayed on

I did everything right.....perhaps I shouldn't have doused the buggers with contact spray.

BonBon · Post by **BonBon** » Wed 11 Mar, 2015 13:17

The final touch on this project....
The plastic surrounding the radio has started to crack....

I really did not fancy taking all apart after finding a used part.
So went for laminating an extra piece of leather to the panel from the seat/door panel project.

The heater rings are from The Tuning Shop and the 3mm chrome strip on the bottom is from China.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/280748400324
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221245945747

peter2b · Post by **peter2b** » Wed 11 Mar, 2015 16:13

there was some thing on the telly the other night on wheeler dealers getting leather seats repaired some where in the Midlands,
peter2b

zroadster.net

Seat & Door Card Upholstery

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