Mulberry Leather on Previously Dove Interior?

[m3f_Radmobile_91ebf71d54]

Has anyone put mulberry leather seats in a previously dove interior? Or does anyone have shots of what it looks like?



I'm looking at long-term plans to reupholster my interior with the Autoberry set unless I can find a cheap great set of Recaro Speeds to reupholster.



I love dove, but I really enjoy the mulberry being slightly darker and less prone to dye transfer from jeans. I also really like the subtle marbling that mulberry features.



A couple things I'm mindful of which has me asking this question:



Mulberry has a darker carpet

Mulberry has an all black dash

Mulberry has matching door cards

Mulberry has a black seat cushion housing

I figured the dove interior is already a smattering of greyscale so what's one more grey that would match the arm rest grey?





(I know my seats look good here. They're slowly getting worse and my OCD, 'car must be in as near perfect condition as it can be' personality has me planning the long-range project when the inevitable rip or massive hole happens.)

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7553/16117983730_e5e85b376c_b.jpg

[m3f_zhp43867_7e80676f55]

I definitely wouldn't do it if you don't plan to match the door card inserts and back seats. Having said that, I can't imagine how it would look with the above mix, could be great, could be meh. If it's meh, I suppose you'd just slowly swap to black parts like the carpet, dash, and vinyl door panel bits.


And yes, jean transfer to dove is a royal pita!

[m3f_Radmobile_91ebf71d54]

That's all what is running through my head. The dash would probably be okay. It's the doorcards, seat housing, and carpet I'm concerned over. Having a darker leather over a lighter carpet looks off on just about every car I've seen. I'm not up to making that drastic of a change.


I would do the rears as well just so it'd be a perfect match.


If it has any shadow of a doubt looking off then I'd re-do the dove. I actually quite like the dove interior. I've had it for 4.5 years and the majority of the wear has likely come prior to my ownership so I'm confident I can keep them up when starting from fresh.

[m3f_andreialta_031128bd71]

FWIW


https://farm1.staticflickr.com/587/22961342284_0d5bbc841c_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/AZ1T6N)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/AZ1T6N) by andreialta (https://www.flickr.com/photos/7981236@N07/), on Flickr


I wish my Mullberry interior is near this condition

[m3f_Radmobile_91ebf71d54]

That looks almost like a dove carpet, no? Matching door cards and all-black dash make it look really good.


Man, it's not a drastic change but enough where the dove grey door cards and seat housings are the areas where mismatch is most obnoxious.


I have plenty of time before I get to the point of replacement. So hopefully by then the grey hurricane cloth will be reproduced. Already jealous of the black rain reproduction.

[m3f_Jim E._fbe6fa1324]

Has anyone put mulberry leather seats in a previously dove interior? Or does anyone have shots of what it looks like?



I'm looking at long-term plans to reupholster my interior with the Autoberry set unless I can find a cheap great set of Recaro Speeds to reupholster.



I love dove, but I really enjoy the mulberry being slightly darker and less prone to dye transfer from jeans. I also really like the subtle marbling that mulberry features.



A couple things I'm mindful of which has me asking this question:



Mulberry has a darker carpet

Mulberry has an all black dash

Mulberry has matching door cards

Mulberry has a black seat cushion housing

I figured the dove interior is already a smattering of greyscale so what's one more grey that would match the arm rest grey?





(I know my seats look good here. They're slowly getting worse and my OCD, 'car must be in as near perfect condition as it can be' personality has me planning the long-range project when the inevitable rip or massive hole happens.)



The rear deck needs to be replaced to black. Came in a light gray when the car was ordered in estoril. Not sure about silver.



The plastic all around the seats are light gray so they need to be replaced along with some other bits and pieces here and there. Not hard to find but additional work.



You can get away with the original carpet imo.



Here are some pics of mulberry door panels which are good color representations of mulberry color to give you an idea. They are not shiny for obvious reasons. And you can really see the marble effect which is one reason I love mulberry.



http://www.pbase.com/dandoun/image/162040338/original.jpg



Lux package:



http://www.pbase.com/dandoun/image/162040339/original.jpg



Mullberry floor mats vs. anthracite. The picture of your dove carpet doesn't appear to be accurate because I know it's lighter than mulberry.



http://www.pbase.com/dandoun/image/155011816/original.jpg

[m3f_EricSMG_87c5092dff]

The biggest fopaux I see with these cars are half-assed attempts at a color change. Please don't do that. Either do it 100% or don't but the end result must be in the factory palette or it looks, to me, cheap and out of balance.



Further, you happen to be of the few with good taste - you like Dove



Dove is freaking TITS when it's clean. Nothing like it. Mint Dove blows mint Mulberry away by a landslide in person. My vote says restore the Dove as necessary. Plus - it's not like you're going to find a mint set of Mulberry components to do the swap so why put yourself through that pain? You'll end up recovering pieces anyway.



Take your car down to Autobahn interiors in Sorrento Valley and talk to them. See their work. Get a quote. Then save up and pull the trigger

[m3f_Jferrante_e9b90f406f]

Sent you a PM - grey cloth is an option since early models came without cloth door cards.

[m3f_Jeff_DML_2df5b6955b]

yeah I am not a fan of the pic andreialta posted, too much of a mismash. I keep my arm wrest up all the time so do not notice the different color leather. I vote convert to black leather or cloth.


Yeah dove does not wear well but not sure if I like all black leather cave either. Black cloth would be my ideal. (Edit, just noticed your car is silver so I vote black leather since easiest to convert)

[m3f_Radmobile_91ebf71d54]

Thanks guys. I do love the marbling look of mulberry but it really takes the right light to get it.


I agree with you Eric regarding half-assed attempts. And that's my biggest fear and ultimately why I'd likely stick with the dove. Ironically there are more black/black e36 M3s than dove/titanium. I do need to go to Autobahn to at least get a sense of what I'm dealing with. There are a few minor items I'd like to address in the interior that they may be able to do in the meantime to keep me happy.


It's all a long-term plan for the car assuming I keep it. I just need to have a long-term plan in my head so that I don't tire of the car. It's something to live for rather than replace the car with something else.

[m3f_EricSMG_87c5092dff]

Agreed Jeff - that the pic up above doesn't look good. That's a perfect example of what not to do.



Silver/Dove is very sharp. In fact I think any exterior color/Dove is sharp. Mulberry is so "grey" and can look very dull so it only goes with select exterior colors. I don't think it'd suit your silver exterior at all, but that's just me. And, Mulberry never "pops" like Dove.



Now, if you must change color then my vote is all black since silver/black is timeless. I had a '99 Tiag/Black car for a while and it was gorgeous. Like yours on the outside except I had DSIIs and 35% tint. And with the HR OE sports it was pure OEM sex. Let me find a pic....



Here you go. Drool worthy. Except this was with ST's but whatevs.... still a hot car.



http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii144/ericfortin/DSCF1571.jpg (http://s263.photobucket.com/user/ericfortin/media/DSCF1571.jpg.html)

[m3f_Tock172_79ea4947dd]

Just a note, when I had my M3, I needed to replace the floor mats. From what I gather, the actual Mulberry mats are NLA. I purchased a set of genuine BMW floor mats for mine that were called 'titan gray' which is the only grey option available today. The mats actually appeared quite a bit darker than the carpet in my Mulberry coupe.

[m3f_Matt15_66b8e7390d]

And, Mulberry never "pops" like Dove.





Yeah. When I first bought my car I just thought the seats were dirty. When they still looked the same after spending all afternoon cleaning them, I realized what Mulberry was all about. But over the next while I really started to appreciate them and wouldn't want anything else.



with that said, if doing a swap I'd go black or a more basic colour. I imagine finding quality Mulberry pieces would be a headache.



Pic of mine:



https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8833/18579810745_598d995bf3_c.jpg

[m3f_zhp43867_7e80676f55]

Clean TV/Mulberry :wub:

[m3f_Radmobile_91ebf71d54]

Agreed Jeff - that the pic up above doesn't look good. That's a perfect example of what not to do.



Silver/Dove is very sharp. In fact I think any exterior color/Dove is sharp. Mulberry is so "grey" and can look very dull so it only goes with select exterior colors. I don't think it'd suit your silver exterior at all, but that's just me. And, Mulberry never "pops" like Dove.



Now, if you must change color then my vote is all black since silver/black is timeless. I had a '99 Tiag/Black car for a while and it was gorgeous. Like yours on the outside except I had DSIIs and 35% tint. And with the HR OE sports it was pure OEM sex.



Believe me, I hear you loud and clear. I absolutely love the OEM look. So much so that I also plan to do a square set of contours. Forget the LTW wheels. I also have 35% tint with Eibach Pro springs which lower it ever-so slightly.



Black would be out of the question considering it'd be a full dash and carpet replacement. If that's the case, I'd almost rather try to get magma or something as close to cinnamon as possible. Silver Grey or Steel Grey and Cinnamon is by far my favorite color combination on the e46, just not sure how it looks on an e36 and on Titanium no less.



Realistically if it's not a grey (leather or cloth), it's not happening.



Just a note, when I had my M3, I needed to replace the floor mats. From what I gather, the actual Mulberry mats are NLA. I purchased a set of genuine BMW floor mats for mine that were called 'titan gray' which is the only grey option available today. The mats actually appeared quite a bit darker than the carpet in my Mulberry coupe.



I have both black and grey mats. I much prefer the black because the dove seats pop off it. When I got the grey mats all that there was mentioned was 'grey'. Not even titan or mulberry. But mine match my carpet perfectly.



Clean TV/Mulberry :wub:



Yup. I blew a chance at one when I connected a TV/mulberry seller with a buyer. Ever since then I've been hooked on mulberry.



---



In all honesty, I'll probably keep it dove but get it freshly done. Braymond's stock-looking Recaro Speeds (black with m-stripes) looks soooo good. I'm not a fan of aftermarket seats especially as the Vaders are something that I feel make the e36 M3 special. They are the only aftermarket seats I like and would consider reupholstering in dove. Or even wilder, grey hurricane, assuming it gets reproduced.