Jerad

Sam, I'm looking for any A4 2002 or newer with less than 50k miles. Any older and it would have to be the perfect car. There's a 2003 a couple miles from me that looks really nice from the ad. I'm going to look at it tomorrow and see if I can make a deal.

SamGrant951

I do like A4's alot - good luck with it. Ill call you and Mike next time Im in town - its been awhile.

Greg- Is your 328 earlier than a 97? From what I understand some 97's+ got moveable consoles meaning I can rearrange the way things are organized. Yours looks fixed - so not sure If it would work being a different design and all. Thanks for the tip though - I will look into it.

gregeast

Yep, mine's a '96 and the console components are fixed. I still wonder if the ring might not fit in the front cupholder, it would just compress the springs. I'd suggest pinging your local BMW CCA list to see if anyone has an older E36 w/the ring that you could try.

Mike Murcia

Hey Sam. Have you tried using the crack filler in the kit? I'm interested to know how flexible/durable it is.

SamGrant951

I tried it on one of the bolsters Im having replaced just to get a feel for it. It sands easy and was very plyable / moveable once set. I do not plan on using much of it although there is a guy on bimmerforums who did an old set of seats and crackfilled the heck out of them. He said a year later it was still looking / feeling great for the most part and the dye to took the filler easily. He was impressed even with his very worn out seats. I can find the thread later tonight. Lots of before/afters on bimmerforums.

Mike Murcia

Thanks Sam. I'm thinking of using the crack filler on the spare dash I have. They claim it can be used for dashes, and I could dye it with the same seat dye that I will have to have mixed to match the seats. Hmmm...

SamGrant951

It would be worth a try, but man I would hate to go through all that work of installing it to see it crack again in a year. Heres one link of a before/after and after one year.

http://home.insightbb.com/~todd.kenyon/leather.htm (E28 M5)

You can tell some of his cracks became visible after a year but he says they are more like a crease than full on cracks... I have minimal "cracking" on mine besides the bolster I replaced. I am more in it to have them look new again - a few lines here and there wont bother me but on a dash I would be concerned. We should do a junk dash and leave it in the sun for a year straight. rofl

83na944

I'm pretty sure those rings fit. Less than $5 IIRC. Dealer can order them, but you'll have to take them the part number or they won't believe you that they exist.

Steve

Mike Murcia

I have a junk dash... As long as the UV/heat protection is there, it should hold up better than the seats that are put through flex/stretch stress. The coverlay is really getting to me.

SamGrant951

Have you ever looked underneath your coverlay? Wonder what its like under there... Heck if you have a junk one I say its worth a shot. (I remember you saying you were getting one now.) How are they colormatching? Have a spare swatch/sample to send them? Sweetness!

Mike Murcia

I've never removed the coverlay, but I can cracks see under the curling edges. I will probably play with the spare dash, as I'm pretty sure it has fewer cracks than the original. They just require a 1x1 sample of the color. I can come up with that. I think I can do the seats and dash for under $150. How far does the dye go? About how many ounces would a 951 seat take?

gregeast

I have a spare dash that I picked up just to experiment with. My intention was to try a method I found on the 928 board where you sand the cracks down, cover the whole dash in fiberglass re-inforced Bondo, re-sand, texture and paint. That requires pulling the dash of course, just filling the cracks would be much simpler.

Sam, do you have some extra crack filler and dye that you'd be interested in donating for an experiment on a crack or two?

SamGrant951

Greg - I think I will have plenty of crack filler leftover if you can wait a couple weeks. I have a small jar and havent really used any. I probably wont use it on the Porsches seat and may only use a little on the M3's drivers seat. I want to visually inspect the porsches though and its in another town. Should be back there soon though - Ill keep ya posted

The dye seems to go a long way. I bought the 16oz bottle and did 2 coats on my passenger seat. I would say I used maybe a little over an 1" out of the bottle. Just a guess here but I bet I could do all 4 seats and still have well over 1/4 bottle left.

gregeast

Sam - No rush on my end, just let me know.

Wade B

Alright Sam!!! Looks great man!!!! Nice write up.
I wondered from the directions provided with the stuff whether you actually had to let the seats cure or dry in the sun like it says. Looks like it's not really necessary.......

Now you've inspired me to get off my duff and do the N/A's passenger seat. I've only had the Leatherique laying around for a year and a half or so......

Only the seat bottom is bad on it, but I do hope the dye matches my other seat when done.