M3 seat skins

[James31]

Anyone know where I can get oem e46 m3 black nappa Seat skins or if anyone has bought, how much were they and what was install like. I couldn’t find anything when I looked.

thanks

[ATB88]

I've seen them at various points on ECS in various colors, for $700+ per seat panel.

this should give you an idea of installation: https://thebuildjournal.com/diy/e46-...ther-swap-diy/

edit: huh. ECS can give you enough to fully upholster your front seats in fresh OE Kiwi leather for just $1600/seat. other than that they only seem to have odds and ends in grey and cinnamon right now https://www.ecstuning.com/BMW-E46-M3...r/Seats/Cover/

[James31]

Thank you Very much. Very thorough.

[Titaniu//M]

I would suggest finding a custom auto upholstery shop, might be more cost effective than OE seat covers. Are yours just worn out? A couple places do restoration too, they might be salvageable.

[rbg]

In my opinion e46 m3 seats are not very good for a sporty car to begin with, I'd save some money and get Recaros or Cobra. (I know that it is not what you were asking, just another option maybe)

[James31]

I’m big on the stock look. My seats are good but I’m ocd so always looking for near perfect. Didn’t know how much this would be and if I could do the work myself.

[ATB88]

I’m big on the stock look. My seats are good but I’m ocd so always looking for near perfect. Didn’t know how much this would be and if I could do the work myself.

Yeah this has been one of the biggest sticking points for me fully enjoying being in my car. Refreshing the leather with new OE would do incredible things for my OCD, but would cost 1/2-2/3 what my car's worth. One option I'm considering is getting new covers from AutoBerry, who apparently do good work (https://www.autoberry.com/bmw/3-series). Unfortunately for most M3 owners, though, they only seem to have them in the normal E46 sport seat style (which the M3 vert has), rather than the M3 coupe seats. There's got to be other upholsterers out there that could do the same for the M3 coupe seats at a similar cost, though. I don't believe that BMW are the only people who know where to get soft napa leather, so, the custom option is out there but will take some research and still a pretty good chunk of change.

[poth2034]

Lseat.com has replacement seat covers for $350. not sure of the quality tho

[James31]

Yeah this has been one of the biggest sticking points for me fully enjoying being in my car. Refreshing the leather with new OE would do incredible things for my OCD, but would cost 1/2-2/3 what my car's worth. One option I'm considering is getting new covers from AutoBerry, who apparently do good work (https://www.autoberry.com/bmw/3-series). Unfortunately for most M3 owners, though, they only seem to have them in the normal E46 sport seat style (which the M3 vert has), rather than the M3 coupe seats. There's got to be other upholsterers out there that could do the same for the M3 coupe seats at a similar cost, though. I don't believe that BMW are the only people who know where to get soft napa leather, so, the custom option is out there but will take some research and still a pretty good chunk of change.

I didn’t know convertible seats were different the. The coupe.

[ATB88]

I didn’t know convertible seats were different the. The coupe.

Yeah, it's quite regrettable: the M3 convertible's seats are the same as the standard "sport" seat you can get optioned in any E46 (see the autoberry link for pics). The reason they couldn't put the M3 coupe seats in the convertible is that there's no appropriate place (B pillar) to mount the front seatbelts to the chassis like there is in the coupe, so, the convertible requires to have a seat that has the seatbelt mounts built into it, which the standard sport seats do. If you wanted to mount better seats in the vert, you'd need to install a roll cage in the back seats to mount a harness to. Really dates the convertible's interior aesthetics.

[James31]

Yeah, it's quite regrettable: the M3 convertible's seats are the same as the standard "sport" seat you can get optioned in any E46 (see the autoberry link for pics). The reason they couldn't put the M3 coupe seats in the convertible is that there's no appropriate place (B pillar) to mount the front seatbelts to the chassis like there is in the coupe, so, the convertible requires to have a seat that has the seatbelt mounts built into it, which the standard sport seats do. If you wanted to mount better seats in the vert, you'd need to install a roll cage in the back seats to mount a harness to. Really dates the convertible's interior aesthetics.

Learned something new. Thanks for that.