Leather Refurb
Leather Refurb
The leather on my Z was looking tired on the drivers side bolster due to entry / exit ie it hard worn down through the dye to the bare leather in the creases.
Also the leather had become "dry" (probably not helped by heated seats) due to it not being treated by previous owners and in places especially around some seams had become "hard" and very inflexible.
nb my car has the ///M nappa sports seats and has done 80,000 miles but the inside is otherwise in excellent condition.
I had done some research a few months ago into the best product to allow me to re dye with as near a perfect colour match as possible.
Several German sites and our own Z1 guys seemed to recommend a german company called
Leder-pflege
I decided to give them a try and emailed requesting information / recommendations to solve my problem. I had several email corresponding with a very helpful german lady (all in english ) in which she directed me to the products to use. She even disuaded me from some products I wanted which reduced my costs.
I ended up buying:
Care set (cleaner/protector)
Liquid leather repair (neutral)
Leather Fresh colour restorer BMW colours for the blue
Leather Fresh colour restorer normal colours (black small size)
I started off using the cleaner to clean the leather. To be honest this seemed no better / worse than other leather cleaners I have used before and I think a standard weak pure washing flake and warm water would have done just as good a job.
The blue and black dye's were an absolutely perfect match for the blue/black in my leather seats (I gave them the colour code when ordering). They were a doddle to use. The main bolster area on the drivers seat required about 4 coats about 15 minutes apart but the remainder only required one easy coat. I left to dry overnight and there was no streaking at all and even after drying, perfect colour match. Any unwanted "over" paint was easily removed with a clean damp cloth before it dried.
nb I used the small neutral liquid leather to fill a small "tear" in the passenger seat seam, only a few millimetres but did not want it to "catch" and get any worse. The liquid leather acted as a "filler" and when the dye ran over was very hard to see afterwards.
I then gently worked in the leather protector. This contains oil that soaks into the leather rather than rubs in to "soften and nourish". I applied several coats to the areas of "hard" leather and it was readily soaked up. I then lightly "buffed" with a clean cloth.
To say I am chuffed with the results is an understatment. The colour match is fantastic and I can't believe how good the result is. The whole seats look "fresher" and obviously the bolster is a massive improvement and I can't imagine a better job possible.
The protector was also a revelation for me. The seats do not have the "matt" look of brand new ones (I've seen mint seats in the flesh which have a matt sheen to them) but they did not have this before I started - the leather is now very supple and flexible even on the previously hard seams of the lower drivers bolster.
I would thoroughly recommend the dyes if you have similar problems (not cheap given the euro but well worth it for perfect match to BMW colours based on my experience).
Autoglym cleaners/protectors are probably as good as the ones I bought though
Piccies tell a thousand words but don't really give the results justice.
Also the leather had become "dry" (probably not helped by heated seats) due to it not being treated by previous owners and in places especially around some seams had become "hard" and very inflexible.
nb my car has the ///M nappa sports seats and has done 80,000 miles but the inside is otherwise in excellent condition.
I had done some research a few months ago into the best product to allow me to re dye with as near a perfect colour match as possible.
Several German sites and our own Z1 guys seemed to recommend a german company called
Leder-pflege
I decided to give them a try and emailed requesting information / recommendations to solve my problem. I had several email corresponding with a very helpful german lady (all in english ) in which she directed me to the products to use. She even disuaded me from some products I wanted which reduced my costs.
I ended up buying:
Care set (cleaner/protector)
Liquid leather repair (neutral)
Leather Fresh colour restorer BMW colours for the blue
Leather Fresh colour restorer normal colours (black small size)
I started off using the cleaner to clean the leather. To be honest this seemed no better / worse than other leather cleaners I have used before and I think a standard weak pure washing flake and warm water would have done just as good a job.
The blue and black dye's were an absolutely perfect match for the blue/black in my leather seats (I gave them the colour code when ordering). They were a doddle to use. The main bolster area on the drivers seat required about 4 coats about 15 minutes apart but the remainder only required one easy coat. I left to dry overnight and there was no streaking at all and even after drying, perfect colour match. Any unwanted "over" paint was easily removed with a clean damp cloth before it dried.
nb I used the small neutral liquid leather to fill a small "tear" in the passenger seat seam, only a few millimetres but did not want it to "catch" and get any worse. The liquid leather acted as a "filler" and when the dye ran over was very hard to see afterwards.
I then gently worked in the leather protector. This contains oil that soaks into the leather rather than rubs in to "soften and nourish". I applied several coats to the areas of "hard" leather and it was readily soaked up. I then lightly "buffed" with a clean cloth.
To say I am chuffed with the results is an understatment. The colour match is fantastic and I can't believe how good the result is. The whole seats look "fresher" and obviously the bolster is a massive improvement and I can't imagine a better job possible.
The protector was also a revelation for me. The seats do not have the "matt" look of brand new ones (I've seen mint seats in the flesh which have a matt sheen to them) but they did not have this before I started - the leather is now very supple and flexible even on the previously hard seams of the lower drivers bolster.
I would thoroughly recommend the dyes if you have similar problems (not cheap given the euro but well worth it for perfect match to BMW colours based on my experience).
Autoglym cleaners/protectors are probably as good as the ones I bought though
Piccies tell a thousand words but don't really give the results justice.
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- Joined: Mon 29 Jan, 2007 22:28
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Try herecosmosblack wrote:your seat look great a big improvement, where do i find out the exact colour of my seats so i get some please cheers
http://www.bmwmregistry.com/model_faq.php?id=16#colors
or here
http://users.belgacom.net/bmw_z3/bmw_z3_interior.htm
Deano
I put a little of the black on the steering wheel (ie the residue left on the sponge before I washed it) but did not really spend any time on this as surprisingly my wheel has no wear to the leather apart from the expected "smoothing" effect to the grain ie there is no colour loss on the leather (I have a feeling the wheel has been replaced at some time as I would expect more wear from an 80k mile motor?)
So hard for me to tell with the wheel, sorry
I put a little of the black on the steering wheel (ie the residue left on the sponge before I washed it) but did not really spend any time on this as surprisingly my wheel has no wear to the leather apart from the expected "smoothing" effect to the grain ie there is no colour loss on the leather (I have a feeling the wheel has been replaced at some time as I would expect more wear from an 80k mile motor?)
So hard for me to tell with the wheel, sorry
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- Joined: Wed 12 Mar, 2008 14:33
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jontt i love you, im so happy i found this...I was thinking i'd have to resort to a retrim of the bolsters. Its come up absolutely fantastic. I'll probably wait a month to see if its still as good before ordering some, please give us an update so we know how durable the repair is.
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Looks great mate. Good job! Good to know these products are available.
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Yalden, why not sent them an email, they may be able to do your colour?
Shanty,I will post up durability but unfortunaltey I'm hardly driving the car at the moment so am not the best to test this side out as I only do a couple of thousand miles a year in it (don't worry I'm still roofless but in another car ).
Aj, don't forget to post up your results as well. Just be patient I did mine over 3 days (as don't drive car a lot) ie day 1 clean and dry, day 2 dye, day 3 protector. I think you could dye same day as clean (leave a few hours to dry) but leave at least 1 day before protect. I would not use the seats between dye and protect as some dye will come off!
Shanty,I will post up durability but unfortunaltey I'm hardly driving the car at the moment so am not the best to test this side out as I only do a couple of thousand miles a year in it (don't worry I'm still roofless but in another car ).
Aj, don't forget to post up your results as well. Just be patient I did mine over 3 days (as don't drive car a lot) ie day 1 clean and dry, day 2 dye, day 3 protector. I think you could dye same day as clean (leave a few hours to dry) but leave at least 1 day before protect. I would not use the seats between dye and protect as some dye will come off!
Looks very nice Jonttt - good find
aj2007 wrote
No doubt Titan will be checking your "rear" for any signs of blue at Harewood
aj2007 wrote
I've just emailed to check if they have got my color - so that will be another one coming over for you to work your magic on. Always believe in leaving it to the expertsHi Jonttt, looks fantastic, I have placed an order on the strength.
When do you want me to drop my car round for the treatment
No doubt Titan will be checking your "rear" for any signs of blue at Harewood
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- Vixi
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- Vixi
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Der engage brain girl !!Jonttt wrote:Vixi
Prices are on the website links above but as its euro's depends on exchange rate
Thank Jonttt
also how often do you use a leather conditioner on your seats ?
I bought some gliptones leather cleaner and conditioner , which I am very pleased with , but not sure how often I should use the onditioner
thanks V
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- Vixi
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My leather
Hi, I was hoping to sometime get these products as the result is really astounding! I was wondering though, does anyone know the name of the red colour of the seats in z3s pre 2000, i.e pre-facelift models? Its the popular colour with the red bolsters and the red middle parts with red dots. lol
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