Faded Parcel Shelf

[Norocehcap]

I absolutely had a mosaic of crumbling sound deadening under my rear seat too haha, I also had to break all the clips holding the plastic piece behind the seats not 1 came out nicely. And yeah also found the center bolt holding the parcel shelf under the speakers the hard way as well.

[cobra]

Reporting back after getting my rear shelf repaired. Learned a lot in this process... skills and knowledge I didn't really need to know . It turned into a bit of a science project...

I highly recommend anyone trying this do NOT try dying the fabric black. I first went with the commonly recommended RIT dye, however RIT is made for natural fibers and the shelf material is a plastic/synthetic. It might look good momentarily, and then it turns into a sharpie and will mark anything and everything black that it touches. If you try rinsing it off, the dye just washes out (even with dye fixative) and you're back where you started.

I also tried the fabric paint and that worked surprisingly well, but made the fibers very rough/coarse. The trick is to do multiple very thin coats if you go this route. Lots of room for user error.

Finally, the simplest solution is just to cover it with new fabric. There are no weird contours that make it hard to do. It also looks the best. I suggest skipping straight to this step.

[karter16]

Finally, the simplest solution is just to cover it with new fabric.

Is that BM-3109 or BM-134? (Or some other fabric)

[cobra]

Is that BM-3109 or BM-134? (Or some other fabric)

BM3109 is a perfect match for the pillars
The stock parcel shelf does not have a felt backer like the BM3109 fabric so some care must be taken to trim it carefully so the c-pillars fit into the grooves and whatnot. I also had to slightly modify the seatbelt plastic guides to fit the thicker material.

[Nate047]

I painted mine, came out “okay” and I would just advise getting two cans of paint and plan on doing a bunch of coats to get good coverage. Also plan on it smelling like paint for a while, leave it out to dry for at least 3 or 4 days.

[bmwfnatic]

I have painted a few now, some things that I have learned are:

Do not bother trying to source paint meant for fabric, the ones that I used this on actually turned out worse, for best results, use simple cheap matte black spray paint.

When painting with the black paint, the initial coverage may seem poor, at which point one might be inclined to add a lot more paint by applying several wet coats in rapid succession.
However, I have found this causes the paint to bead together in certain locations, which leaves a really rough and poor finish, and it still requires a lot of paint to get somewhat decent coverage.

The thing I found that works best is running a light coat not too close to the shelf, and then letting it dry completely, not just flash off for 5 minutes, but for example wait an entire hour, afterwards apply another light coat, and repeat until done.

Doing it this way you need far less paint and see the coverage increase quickly (vs. barely at all when doing wet coat after wet coat) and less paint means a better and less rough finish.

[cobra]

I have painted a few now, some things that I have learned are:

Do not bother trying to source paint meant for fabric, the ones that I used this on actually turned out worse, for best results, use simple cheap matte black spray paint.

When painting with the black paint, the initial coverage may seem poor, at which point one might be inclined to add a lot more paint by applying several wet coats in rapid succession.
However, I have found this causes the paint to bead together in certain locations, which leaves a really rough and poor finish, and it still requires a lot of paint to get somewhat decent coverage.

The thing I found that works best is running a light coat not too close to the shelf, and then letting it dry completely, not just flash off for 5 minutes, but for example wait an entire hour, afterwards apply another light coat, and repeat until done.

Doing it this way you need far less paint and see the coverage increase quickly (vs. barely at all when doing wet coat after wet coat) and less paint means a better and less rough finish.

Definitely agree with your technique if going the painting route. Too much paint will glob up then you're screwed.

The fabric paints they sell are rubbery and flexible compared with a regular paint that might be brittle. But if it works it works!

[bavarian3]

I just completed this and highlighted it in my journal: link

I had BM3109 on hand, but opted to try the paint first because I figured the extra thickness would feel weird, and the little crevices seemed like it would be hard to get right especially with the little trim pieces.

I could always wrap it after anyways if the paint route turned out bad, but I'm happy with the results.

[cobra]

I just completed this and highlighted it in my journal: link

I had BM3109 on hand, but opted to try the paint first because I figured the extra thickness would feel weird, and the little crevises seemed like it would be hard to get right especially with the little trim pieces.

I could always wrap it after anyways if the paint route turned out bad, but I'm happy with the results.

Great job on all the re-covering!