New front Seat Leather Sport seat install

[brickwhite]

I visited local upholstery shops in the area (St. Louis, metro) most quotes I got back for leather job was $3000-3500 for the 2 front seats and one guy said he does the same thing I"m doing here, buy the kit and put it on his quote was $1800.

So, being that this car is not ultra low mileage, nor concurs worthy and my wallet is not huge I thought I'd tackle it myself. (I'll keep the original leather parts if I sell it one day an someone asks for it)

I purchased a Leather kit from an online retailer. I sent them a swatch of my leather and had them match as it close as possible. Grain is not exact but the color is very close. They mailed the kit in 2 weeks! Not bad.

If the kit goes on well and I'm happy with the quality, I'll let everyone know who this retailer was and what is cost at the end. (there's a couple things I see already but... time will tell)

And I thought I'd try to document my process. Bare with me.

These are my manual sport seats from my 85 M635csi in current condition. (Rough)





Pulled from the Car, (driver is really rough)



I sent them the Driver inner bolster to match (as you can see it's missing above.

These are the swatches I got back to match it:



I picked the smaller grained on the bottom.

Next the Package arrives.

[hornhospital]

Subscribed! Very interested in this subject....

[brickwhite]

The box came in a couple weeks after payment.

Checked the material i'd say it's mostly leather, sometimes they only put leather on the seating but this kit has very little vinyl used.







Toy car did not come with!

However the headrest leather is treated to a plastic backing for ease of install, Nice! (I did get 2, only pictured one)



Install of the headrest leather. (Headrests were supposed to be hardest to install. Not too bad putting on , but taking off the old was a pain.) The telecom pick came in handy. Don't miss the ol 66 blocks.



Time to disassemble the old seats

Also need to go to the upholstery supply for some hog rings and pliers.

[olympia57]

An interesting thread and one I look forward to following , upholstery was always beyond the ability of my big Scottish fingers ........

[dwcains]

Subscribed. The leather in my '85 Euro is actually not bad, but I want to swap it for some higher-quality vat-dyed hides from World Upholstery (perhaps).

[slofut]

Man that's gonna look nice! Thanks for the thread.
Subbed

[ericono]

Bumping this to the top to see if there are any updates.

Eric

[brickwhite]

no, sorry, picked up an e23 I've been working on and haven't made it to the Upholstry shop for tools and hogrings.

Maybe this weekend

[ericono]

No problem, I was just checking. Sounds cool about the e23. You should post something in the Saloon with a few pictures. Lots of love for the e23s around here.

Take care,

Eric

[Pod]

I'm watching with interest too!

[Tim Bradham]

Nice, thanks for sharing

[brickwhite]

Ok so I started the Passenger Seat last night.

but didn't get too far.

Remove the old leather and seat parts.









hog rings removed, leather unconnected and out comes Upper Center panel.





Next - the uppper bolsters



pull them off the Foam -


Test fit the New leather- not attached by the way.





That's it for tonight, it's late and I have to get up early.

[slofut]

Where did you get the leather? How expensive was it? Did you consider new foams?

[brickwhite]

I'll let everyone know what I paid and where I got them after I finish the project.

New foams would have been nice, but really didn't look into it.

[slofut]

I'll let everyone know what I paid and where I got them after I finish the project.

New foams would have been nice, but really didn't look into it.

I just looked ...$600 + PER SEAT!! That's a shame. Pay to play I guess.

[bpoliakoff]

Had mine done with new Napa leather for $650. Not for one, but for both. It took me a while to find the right guy, but they are out there. Rears ran me an additional $400

[brickwhite]

$650 for fronts installed in Leather. Wow that's cheap.

Other places I went locally, Quotes were from $2000 to $3000. But that's in the midwest.

Closer to the border guess you can find cheaper labor.

[hey-yo]

Definitely interested to see how these turn out. I think I know who you got them from but I wont spoil it. I have been considering them myself but I was leary of an $1800 mistake.

Bpoliakof, where did you get yours done? I have family in phoenix and its not to far to drive.

[zinnocoupe]

Very interesting thread. Eagerly waiting for more install details and pics. I would also be interested in who did your front seats for $650. Although being in Canada I would have to get it as a kit and install myself.

[bpoliakoff]

Just a local rip, shit and bust guy who works for shop that does sun roof additions and installs after market leather upholstery. He worked out of a lean to on the back of his house. Definitely wouldn’t be able to get a kit there.

i think GAHH sells a kit for the fronts for $1300. Very high quality product.

[Da_Hose]

Damn, Bert. A resource like that is worth his weight in gold.

Do you think he would be hip to having people send over stuff, if there is no pressure to get it back quickly? I had a hell of a time finding someone local to get my seats done. They turned out OK, but fit/finish is lacking in a couple of small areas, and it took 5 visits and 2.5 months to get them finally done.

Jose

[bpoliakoff]

Jose

I truly wouldn’t get in the middle of this. I used him for 2 reasons. His boss recommended him and I am local so I could stay on top of him. I don’t want to be responsible and can’t make promises as there will never be any recourse

Several months ago, I looked at a Z3 coupe for someone on another board. I drove the car and gave him as accurate a description as I could. He wanted a ppi so I sent him to a well known good indy shop.The shop told him all was well except for the cooling system. They bought the car and when it got to the buyer and his friend, they were extremely disappointed. The things they were unhappy with was a fender replacement at only 700 milesm and they felt the color match was way off, not noticeable to me in bright sunlight, a window that rattled, which I didn’t notice when driving with the windows up,but did check they worked, and the shocks were shot. I had told him the car rode very rough after I test drove it. I should add it was a 90K car and they felt they were buying on the cheap. It is the old story of greed. The better the deal seems,the more common sense goes out the window.

Never again will I get in the middle of a car deal, period.

[Da_Hose]

I hear ya, Bert. Some people ....

Jose

[zinnocoupe]

Bert, Thx for the info and your honest opinion. I agree with what you've said. Not everyone sees things the same way and when it involves $ and peoples passions (cars) sometimes tempers flare. I had rear leather headrests done for my car recently and the price was great but it didn't turn out the way I was hopping. Looks good but not great. Would love to see pics of your seats. Great job on the reupholstering!

[zinnocoupe]

I am really hoping for for an update to this thread, off to a great start. I am considering doing this myself