[fravel]

So, ever since I bought my 330i last year I've been looking for a set of sport seats to go with it. Car is monaco blue with grey interior - fnding a set of grey leather sport seats with full power and heat turned out to be a special trick indeed.

In early Jan. I finally located a set at a junkyard in Oregon. I called them up and they quoted me $125/apiece! I was ecstatic - couldn't give them my money fast enough. A few days later I received an e-mail containing pictures of my seats all wrapped up and ready to ship: to my dismay, the seats in the pictures were black

At first I was pretty bummed, but I got such a good deal that I decided to just make a project out of it and re-dye them to match my interior rather than hassle with sending them back. I contacted the guys at leatherique and ordered a kit.

After I got the supplies, it was time to start setting up.



Yes, I made a spray booth in my bedroom.

First step was to apply the rejuvantor oil and let it soak in.



Why is there a mess in the paint booth already?



After the rejuvantor soak and a quick cleaning, I started stripping the old dye by wetsanding prep agent and 800 grit sandpaper.



After the first coat...



I was very impressed with how well the light color covered the old black after only 2 coats.



The grain is still very prominent, which was my biggest concern since this system is more or less a "painting" technique.



After 3 coats, the seats are looking good. I'm going to let the dye cure for a couple days, then wetsand with 2000 grit and apply one last coat. I'm hoping to have them installed by the weekend.



I'll update as I make more progress. I also refinished an M3 steering wheel over the weekend (no pictures yet) that I plan to install at the same time. Stay tuned!

[Nigelo]

Looks like a fab job!

[fravel]

Thank you!

[Spensaur]

Did you ever think of dying your rear seats black and having black interior? Or do you prefer gray instead?

[fravel]

I considered it, but then I would've had to change all the door cards too, along with the carpet and dash.

It's interesting that you mentioned that because I specifically chose this path to try to save myself work, but the dye color is just slightly lighter than the grey that is currently in my car, so my OCD will probably end of forcing me to do the rear seats/door cards to match anyways. If I'd have planned on that from the start, I would have done a full conversion to terra brown.. ohh well though. I actually really like the color they are turning out to, it's got a silver tinge to it.

[Crewchief05]

That is pretty awesome. Nice job.

[roadkillrob]

Very nice -what dye system are you using?

[just4kickz]

how well does this match ur interior? very nice job! are u using a drill to sand?

[ForgedDistributing]

Fun project!

[fravel]

Originally Posted by Crewchief05

That is pretty awesome. Nice job.

Thank you!

Originally Posted by roadkillrob

Very nice -what dye system are you using?

Thanks! I'm using the leatherique system - kit number 3 to be exact.

Originally Posted by just4kickz

how well does this match ur interior? very nice job! are u using a drill to sand?

It's turning out to be slightly whiter than the dakota gray. It looks like dove gray to me, but with more of a silver tinge in it. It's hard to describe, but I really like it.

In fact, I think I'm going to end up doing the rear seats to match, along with the leather portions of the door cards. Then I'll be swapping in a black carpet and doing the center console and vinyl/plastic portions of the door cards along with any gray plastic trim in black. Eventually I may do the headliner too, but that will be awhile.

Originally Posted by ForgedDistributing

Fun project!

Fun, indeed. It's starting to become a bit more work than I originally planned on, but I think the results will be more than worth it.
__________________________________

Last night marked the end of the 48 hr cure period for the dye, so per Leatherique's instructions I proceeded to wetsand the seats to prepare for one final coat. It's about this time that I learned how important proper preparation is, and was reminded that no matter how much you do there is always room for more...

I started wiping away some of the dirty water from the seats and noticed that the dye was peeling in some areas!

At first I was really upset, and thought I had botched this entire project, but as I continued along and started actively trying to peel up the new dye I discovered that the problem was more or less localized to the deeper seems in the seats.

Driver:



Passenger:




The pictures show what I was able to remove after going back and trying to peel up as much as I could. The adhesion is very good everywhere that there is still dye on the seats. This leads me to believe that this problem is an indication that I simply failed to prepare those portions of the seat properly, not because of a poor product - this hypothesis is further supported by the fact that the driver seat obviously needed more attention than the passenger seat and I prepped them in the same manner.

So, it would appear all is not lost. I decided to wait another day before going back at those areas with sandpaper and prepping agent so that I can be sure the new dye around those areas have plenty of time to cure.

For now, the plan of attack is to wetsand with prepping agent over the "bad" areas tonight, then use a small artists brush to re-apply the dye in those seams. The following day I will proceed with a full re-coat of the entire seats, and perhaps even a second. We'll see.

Either way, my schedule has been delayed, and it's highly unlikely that I will have them ready to go in the car by this weekend. Ohh well...

At least the M3 wheel I refinished has turned out well; I bought it out of a wrecked car and it was in terrible shape. I had to use crack filler in about 15 areas and spent every bit of 6 hrs across several nights wetsanding it with prep agent. Now I just need to re-finish the trim and it'll be ready to go in the car.

[gaza01]

This is brilliant work. That leatherique dye seems to be really good! Looking forward to the completed product!

[just4kickz]

er i meant a sander not a drill lols.

[BklynTico506]

Looks niceee.

[fravel]

Originally Posted by just4kickz

er i meant a sander not a drill lols.

Hahaha, nope, doing everything by hand. You aren't trying to remove material so much as just trying to work the prep agent in and lift the old dye up out of the leather.

[fravel]

Well, it would appear that things are going to get worse before they get better. Project is on hold for the moment until I get the free time to start back on it.

[Anon007]

wow nice work

[///M3NACE]

Damn amazing price! Now sell me your stock ones for the same price...lol im serious.

[fravel]

Just realized that I've forgot to update this thread.

Originally Posted by JasonDCarton

wow nice work

Thank you!

Originally Posted by ihsanshaik

Damn amazing price! Now sell me your stock ones for the same price...lol im serious.

If you want to meet me halfway I'd be down on that. I'm in Cincinnati.

__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __

After re-prepping my failed first attempt at the drivers seat, here's what it looked like:





After another couple coats though, she's starting to look good again, this is how the seats sit currently:



Barring any more hiccups, I'm planning to install these this weekend (finally). Then I'll be starting on the rest of the interior.



I also got the steering wheel finished and installed that, so that small victory has been holding me over until I can finish the seats... Soon!

[Red_Bean_Bun]

What happened to the steering trim ?

[fravel]

Originally Posted by Red_Bean_Bun

What happened to the steering trim ?

The entire steeting wheel came out of a wrecked M3, the leather was in pretty bad shape and the trim had some nasty gashes in it.

I refinished the leather portion with the same leatherique kit I used on the seats. The trim was extensively sanded and then I re-painted it with flat black spray-paint.

The ///M-sticker just hadn't been glued back in place when I took the picture.

[fresh_LA]

the coolest thing about this thread is the home-made paint booth in your room!

seats look great!

[Sweattdogg]

Great job!! I've seen a few people on the porsche boards do this.