Looking for thread: re-dyeing cinnamon seats

[S3diment]

Anyone do this and have a loose thread on one of the bolsters? I want to do mine but I have a thread pulling out, and am not sure how to fix that,

Need to use a curved needle. Look it up on YouTube on how to sew with a curved needle.

[S3diment]

Does anyone have experience with changing the cushions on the seats? I’m debating between changing the cushions and then paint or dying them original cinnamon seats versus going with a setup with Cobra Nogaros.

[rbg]

It is not difficult, but time consuming. I've done it several times. Will be happy to answer your questions if you decide to go that way. FWIW I think e46 m3 has terrible seats for being a sport coupe. They are super comfortable as even when I had pretty bad back problems I could still drive for 6hrs easily. In terms of performance, though: not enough support and too soft for my taste.

[tnord]

I thought this was a really good video on dyeing the interior.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke57Vxj_SeM

[S3diment]

It is not difficult, but time consuming. I've done it several times. Will be happy to answer your questions if you decide to go that way. FWIW I think e46 m3 has terrible seats for being a sport coupe. They are super comfortable as even when I had pretty bad back problems I could still drive for 6hrs easily. In terms of performance, though: not enough support and too soft for my taste.

Thanks, is the foam? I'm assuming this is different than the non M3 sport seat foam which retails for $50 less. I have the bottom out, I might just take it to an upholstery shop to put the foam in so I don't have to deal with the hog rings.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...h/52102695384/

My cinnamon seats are in pretty rough condition. Would you recommend applying some type of leatherique to soften the leather prior to putting the foam on? What would be an idea order of operations?

[rbg]

I am busy tonight/tomorrow, but I will reply.

[rbg]

Thanks, is the foam? I'm assuming this is different than the non M3 sport seat foam which retails for $50 less. I have the bottom out, I might just take it to an upholstery shop to put the foam in so I don't have to deal with the hog rings.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...h/52102695384/

My cinnamon seats are in pretty rough condition. Would you recommend applying some type of leatherique to soften the leather prior to putting the foam on? What would be an idea order of operations?

Ok so, first of all I thunk that regular e46 foam upholstery is different.
Next, leather rejuvenation:
1. Clean it nicely with dish soap and some water. Don't go crazy, but do not stress out about getting it wet. You can get it pretty wet and if you wipe it with a towel right away after you done cleaning you will be good.
2. I like leatherique cleaner, but chemical guys cleaner works just as good and easily accessible.
3. Leather rejuvenation I tried all available products and found that one works the best: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Better than people beloved leatherique. Similar application where you let it to penetrate and repeat couple of times works the best.
4. If your leather is pretty dry, the fact that it is dyed and topcoat from the factory (yes-yes did not want to argue in the thread about products) make the penetration rate pretty slow. Top it with leather pores shrinkage due to drying and you will see that all those lotions do not do much when applied on a top of already damaged leather. I guess thats whey it works for people who's interior is like new to begin with. So in case of dry leather you need to take it of the seat and separate it from the foam. Next you take a blade/scissors and very carefully make a cut on the that batting fabric underneath the leather. Just be smart after you done it. Don't cut in the center of a piece and where you will have a curvature, somewhere next to seams will bee good. When you have a good access to the back side of the leather you get one of those baby oils (I use Walmart brand. like this but no scent:https://www.walmart.com/ip/Equate-Ba...20oz/819704537 , coz cheap ). And just generously pour it on the back of the leather and massage it in. You will se that that it will soak in and you will need to repeat the next day. Repeat it until the leather is smooth and very pliable.
5. After that you let it dry for a couple of weeks and then wash the front of the leather with dish soap and leather cleaners so it is nice and not oily as you will most likely make a mess :-)

Thats about it.

[S3diment]

Ok so, first of all I thunk that regular e46 foam upholstery is different.
Next, leather rejuvenation:
1. Clean it nicely with dish soap and some water. Don't go crazy, but do not stress out about getting it wet. You can get it pretty wet and if you wipe it with a towel right away after you done cleaning you will be good.
2. I like leatherique cleaner, but chemical guys cleaner works just as good and easily accessible.
3. Leather rejuvenation I tried all available products and found that one works the best: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Better than people beloved leatherique. Similar application where you let it to penetrate and repeat couple of times works the best.
4. If your leather is pretty dry, the fact that it is dyed and topcoat from the factory (yes-yes did not want to argue in the thread about products) make the penetration rate pretty slow. Top it with leather pores shrinkage due to drying and you will see that all those lotions do not do much when applied on a top of already damaged leather. I guess thats whey it works for people who's interior is like new to begin with. So in case of dry leather you need to take it of the seat and separate it from the foam. Next you take a blade/scissors and very carefully make a cut on the that batting fabric underneath the leather. Just be smart after you done it. Don't cut in the center of a piece and where you will have a curvature, somewhere next to seams will bee good. When you have a good access to the back side of the leather you get one of those baby oils (I use Walmart brand. like this but no scent:https://www.walmart.com/ip/Equate-Ba...20oz/819704537 , coz cheap ). And just generously pour it on the back of the leather and massage it in. You will se that that it will soak in and you will need to repeat the next day. Repeat it until the leather is smooth and very pliable.
5. After that you let it dry for a couple of weeks and then wash the front of the leather with dish soap and leather cleaners so it is nice and not oily as you will most likely make a mess :-)

Thats about it.

Thank you. Just ordered the foam from the BMW dealership for a just a little more, but free shipping and eta tomorrow. ECS was selling for $200, but the ETA was early November. I reached out to a upholstery shop and they wanted $10-15 to attach it to the leather.

The person that I talked with, like you, also recommended that I rejuvenate the leather. Starting that process now. Will let you know about the results!

Next step afterwards will be the dye!

[heinzboehmer]

Thank you. Just ordered the foam from the BMW dealership for a just a little more, but free shipping and eta tomorrow. ECS was selling for $200, but the ETA was early November. I reached out to a upholstery shop and they wanted $10-15 to attach it to the leather.

The person that I talked with, like you, also recommended that I rejuvenate the leather. Starting that process now. Will let you know about the results!

Next step afterwards will be the dye!

Take some pics of the process (and results) and post them up!

[Toby22]

The more I see these diy results the more confident I’ll end up doing this in the future.

buy new recaro PP....re-dye brand new seats in cinnamon

[pawelgawel]

I need to re-apply a coat on my cinnamon as well. Its in good condition overall but after purchasing the car, I noticed driver side was very shiny, thought it might be just dirt/oil so I took some soapy water and magic eraser on it, it began to take some die off it. I believe someone sprayed a layer already before and didn't do a good job on it.

[S3diment]

Okay so part 1 of this journey completed. Below is a picture of what I started with, as you can see the stitching came apart on the right side where the bottom meets the bolster.



Here is a blurry picture of the stitching undone.



My main concerns were two fold, my butt was sore after long drives leading me to believe that the foam was shot, and that the leather condition was poor - both dye and feel.

Opened up the seat to find the state of the foam like this:



I ordered new foam from BMW. TMS and ECS were showing Nov 4 as the shipping dates and a price of about $200. I looked up and my local BMW dealer was showing a price of $210, but there wasn't a shipping date. Called another BMW dealership and they quoted me $300, but would be here the next day. I told them that another BMW dealership was showing as $210 and he immediately matched it with free next day delivery.



I was thinking about changing the foam myself, but I had made some calls in the area to see how much they would charge to put it back on the cover. First place I called quoted me $180, the second place said that they would have to see it, the third place I called said that it would be $10 and I could come in the next day and he'd do it on the spot. He did recommend that I condition the leather if it was dry. I spent the next 36 hours with a hair dryer, and Leatherique conditioning and moisturizing the leather. It may not look like it, but it's definitely much softer.

When I made it to the upholstery place, I told him about the loose stitching, and he was able to throw it on the machine to take care of that - all in for $20!! Left him a really nice review on Google, will definitely be going back there again in the future.

Here's the final result. Obviously the seat isn't perfect, the leather on the back is basically fubar because that's a tear in the leather, the stitching is cosmetic. Might consider having the upholstery place making a panel out of m-rain fabric for that section and the section below in the future. Next steps involve getting the dye and the filler. I'd say for right now, I'm really happy because the new foam provides a tremendous amount of support. I drove it last night for about 40 minutes, and I definitely felt a difference.