BobbyT

The left bolster of my driver's seat back is worn a bit, and both side bolsters of the bottom cushion have some surface cracking. Otherwise the seat is excellent, and the passenger seat is perfect. Has anyone tried getting just the worn panels replaced in these seats? It seems a waste to replace the entire seat cover...

Bull

Have you thought about having the bolster re-dyed, if it is "worn a bit". My wife's 13 year old, 67k mile Benz had the left bolster problem, was re-dyed and looks like new.

p_carfan

Bobby....Your right, it is a waste. Just grab your local "Yellow Pages" check out the upholstery section any experienced competent shop should be capable. Just ask a lot of questions and I think you'll be surprized how reasonable the pricing will be.

Good Luck

MarkD

This is very easy to do yourself. I refurbished my seats with great results... leather is tough. The cracks are actually in the color, not the leather. Read more here:
http://www.colorplus.com/frameset_products.html
no affiliation, etc.
They have some Porsche colors in stock or they can match anything. They had to match mine and did an excellent job. They probably have other colors not listed on their web site that they have already matched.
I ordered their "Soffener" and "Sureflex" products, followed their directions, the seats looks like new.
There are other companies that sell similar products... some have posted in other threads I've seen.

farmerjohn

You can also "rotate" the seatbacks after re-dying them. They are interchangeable left and right.

gregeast

I recently had the seats on my 951 redyed. Here's a couple of pics to give you an idea of what's possible. (Ignore the difference in color, they match perfectly, just different lighting when I took the pics)

Total cost for both front seats was $125.

Side bolster:


Seat bottom/bolster:

jlb_94611

wow.. that looks pretty good for $125. Wonder how long it lasts? And its nice and soft still?

mborkow

that is amazing!

gregeast

It's been a couple of months since I had it done and it's still in good shape. I'm going to do a Leatherique treatment this week and that will soften it up even more, just haven't had time yet.

The process is pretty wild, it's essentially like doing bodywork. She sprayed a solvent on the leather, sanded down the spots where the dye was cracked, used some kind of filler to fill in the bigger cracks, sanded that and then sprayed the dye on in several layers. She didn't even have to take the seats out of the car!

Howdy993

pcarfan -

Is there an upholstery shop you've used or recommend in Ft W?

Thanks

friar93

gregeast,

is the 'her' that did your seats the one in your avatar? is that the uniform she wears while doing the work? 'cause I'll drive to CO from Boston to get it done.

Blue Ocean

I've had several past BMW seats redyed. It's very durrable.

Howdy993,
Call Texas Leather Service. They are in The Colony. 469-384-9414. This is who Classic BMW uses.

Howdy993

Thanks Jeff

MarkD

When doing this you are essentially doing the same thing that is originally done to the leather, with the addition of cleaning and "sanding" any sharp edges in the color cracks.

From what I have read it will last as long as the original did... all depends on the wear/tear the seats are subjected to day to day.
Steps given with the products I bought (mentioned above) are:
1. Clean the crap out of the leather. Sand any rough edges in cracks. Wait a day.
2. Soak the leather with some sort of magic leather replenishing stuff. Wait a day.
3. Apply color coat. Wait a day

gregeast

My advise is to talk to your local Porsche, BMW or Mercedes dealer and see who they use. That's how I found my 'Leather Lady'

Friar93: No, the one on the hood is the paint detail girl...