SamGrant951

Hey guys,
First off this is not a sales pitch - I Just wanted to write a quick review of the leather restoration kit I just used for my BMW. More people should try this for their seats as its easy and the results are amazing! ( www.leatherique.com ) I am going to do my 951's seats as well as I'll have plenty of dye leftover.

First off the seats in the M3 were not up to my standards when I purchased it. Im pretty picky about seats as they are the first thing you see when you open the door. The passenger seat was hardened/dry and grayish rather than black. It even had some kind of water spill that caused the leather to deform a bit. The drivers side has 2 holes/cracks and plenty of wear/color fading. I am having the bolster replaced next week and then will redye it as well for a nice perfect matched pair of seats. With this kit you can repair holes but I am choosing to do it the right way as the bolster is already too thin from wear for my liking.

The process basically involves wet sanding the top layer of leather off which also takes some old factory dye as well. (300-500 grit) This allows the new dye to bite. After sanding with the prepping agent you can then fill in any cracks with the crack filler and sand again. I chose not to do this with the passenger seat as it wasn't necessary IMHO. Alot of cracks disappear with even a light sanding. I will probably use the filler on the drivers seat however. I then let the seat sit overnight to allow the prepping agent to set.

Today I applied the dye in 2 coats back to back (the drying time is pretty quick) using 2 differently sized acrylic type brushes. (Getting around the ///M colors was a pain btw.) The seat now needs to cure for 48 hours inside and then be buffed out to shine and to remove any excess pigment. Due to the sanding I was able to remove all the hardened old leather and somewhat erase the deforming leather. The result is a nice new black seat again! Cost was around $110 bucks for the kit I think - well worth it as Ill have enough to do the Porsches seats as well. (Came with prepping agent, dye, a leather cleaner, oil rejuvinator, and crack filler)

Not a sales gimmick even though it sounds like one I see alot of Bimmer guys use this and not alot of Porsche owners. So if your seats are tired looking this is definitely an option vs. recovering. I will post better pics once both are finished and some before/afters and them installed in the car. Hope this helps someone save some cash!

As purchased:



After sanding:




After 2 applications of dye:

SamGrant951

And the final result as it sits curing:

Riff

Looks great! How do you think it will work on the Porsche seat?? Will the piping take the dye too???

SamGrant951

Yeah, the piping should take the dye as far as I can tell. I think it will work great on the Porsche seats - probably easier to work with then the Bimmer. My Porsche seats are in nice shape already but after working with this stuff its a no brainer.

GOBOGIE

Thanks for the write up and post Sam. You did an excellent job from the pics!!!

Keithr726

Thanks, Now I know what to do with my cracked but not ripped and faded 930 seats.

AndyK

Now that's a nice looking Vader seat!!! Can you put your standard leather care stuff on a dyed seat, same as the original finish?? I always think of dye as a paint that may come off. But it wont, right?

SamGrant951

Andy, I plan on caring for them just as I do any leather, however I may use Leatherique's Cleaner and Conditioner rather than the Lexol I have used in the past. Ill just see what I like better and go from there.

In regards to dye: I had my 968 door panels dyed black about 3 years ago I would say - and although it looks great I bet the dye was not of the quality this stuff is. They are holding up great and I use Vinylex on them w/ no issues. I figured I would have had to redye them by now, but just no need. They look exactly like they did they day I got them back.

AndyK

Very nice! And you are always leaning on the panel with your arm (I assume), so the dye must be pretty rugged to hold up that well.

Do those door panels just pop right on to our doors? They look like they would absorb more road noise, as well as looking more modern! Are they leather?

SamGrant951

I always lean on the door panel - thats one of the advatages of the 968 panels - they are curved out unlike the stockers which fall off at a 90 degree angle.

The door panels bolt right in (you have to drill one extra hole in each door.) Well worth it. Dont think they are leather, vinyl more than likely. (The extra cover on the lower armrest may be leather) - when I bought these they were champagne colored. I have pics if you would like to see them. Got the set with speakers/grills for $230 shipped. That was a great deal.

AndyK

Bold of you to go from Cashmere to black! Glad it worked. Were they from a wreck, or someone changing out their panels for racing, etc?

SamGrant951

Andy - They were a wreck / parts car. 92 IIRC. Yeah, I was glad it worked to, otherwise I was going to have an ugly set of door panels on my hands

Heres a before/after:

944CS

what size speakers fit into that door?

AndyK

And does the door pocket go over the speaker? What good is a speaker that far down the door anyway?

Those look really ugly by themselves, but I guess in a nice black 968 w/ black n tan interior, they would look fine.

SamGrant951

I didnt measure them - All I know is they sound way better than the stock speaker I replaced. Im not much of an audiophile. (esp in a porsche) Andy - they are low and its kind of a stupid spot - but its better than nothing and they were cheap which rules.