Upon seeing these pictures of this interior a couple or so years ago, I knew I would someday have to replicate it for mine:
And, because I could not shell out many thousands of dollars to have everything professionally reupholstered, I knew I would have to obtain the parts (all OE) piecemeal. That was almost fully realized when, sometime last year, I was able to source many extended leather pieces and along with a friend, had them installed:
A few weeks ago I found the remaining two door cards in extended leather and commenced with the dye, or paint, project. The color I opted for was OE coral red.
I had read of Leatherique and had seen many a successful project entailing their products so I decided to purchase from them. To keep things terse, this ended up being a huge letdown for three reasons: 1) Their dye peeled faster than your run-of-the-mill Plastidip--and researching various boards showed that I wasn't the only person who had experienced this exact outcome; 2) even if the colorant had not peeled, I would still have remained disappointed with the result it produced because it resembled shiny plastic in its final, dried form; and 3) their coral red did not even so much as come close to resembling the coral red of BMW's.
So I ditched Leatherique's products entirely and turned to another type of colorant I had used in the past to touch-up the center console's leather side inserts and steering wheel trim: Colorbond. They produce numerous OE-specific leather paints for various manufacturers including BMW. They also stock BMW's OE coral red. Colorbond claims that their paint "bonds at the molecular level" and guarantees against chips, scratches, and peeling. There are a handful of threads from various other BMW-specific forums that corroborate this claim. Those users were pleased with the results this product produced for their interiors. So I purchased a single can to gauge its efficacy on the rear head restraints. This was of course preliminary since replacement head restraints can be bought readily and for cheap in case I really botched things up.
The process Colorbond advises you to follow is quite simple: simply wash the leather items with their prep cleaner and proceed to lay on thin layers of the paint once dry, leaving sufficient time (About 10 minutes) in between coats. They, to my knowledge, do not produce a sealant topping to go on the painted leather as a finishing step. This made me a bit uneasy as to the long-term durability of the finished product, especially with respect to things that will be sat on and frequently grabbed/touched. In any case, I was able to completely transform three of the rear head restraints (I purchased more cans of their coral red after successfully finishing one of them) and proceeded to work on the rear seatback. This is how the former looked finished:
And this was the latter midway:
A beautiful shade of red, if you ask me.
But, shortly thereafter, the entire seatback was ruined when a penny-sized hole was torn open in a most conspicuous of places on that seatback because the can spit paint while I was applying another coat. I also noticed that over spray was a huge problem with this system, giving result to rough patches all over the seat in areas not directly being sprayed. This was far more manageable on the smaller head restraints.
So, I ditched Colorbond's paint, too.
Enter a company called Furniture Clinic.
I came upon them during my researches while still undecided over Colorbond. They seemed to have received rave reviews everywhere I looked, and many people had concluded that this was the way to go in achieving a proper color change simply for the fact that they offer a finishing stage consisting of a sealant, just as OE seats are when they leave the factory. Their process is pretty straightforward, so I won't delve into it here. Here's the first part of a short video clip showing exactly how it's done:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9rhDRpe76A
As of today, I am waiting for another shipment of the sealant from them to complete all of the remaining rear pieces (one door card, and the seatbottom) and the two front door cards.
The seatback and head restraints have been completed, and I cannot be more pleased with the end result--the look and feel of the pieces is truly OE-esque.
During the colorant stage:
And with the last of the satin sealant coat applied:
(The defect in the top black portion was there when I purchased these door cards. I don't know how to remedy that, so I'll leave it be. Besides, it's only really conspicuous under direct sunlight.)
Once I finish sealing all of the door cards and rear seatbottom, I will move onto the center console and armrest. From there I will tend to the front seats and lower dash trim pieces.
I should note for inquiring minds: do not opt for anything matte as far as the sealant is concerned if you wish to retain the true color of the dye and to achieve an end result that resembles the finish on OE seats. Satin is the correct sealant/top coat to this end. I found this out the hard way.
I Will update this thread as things come along.
And, because I could not shell out many thousands of dollars to have everything professionally reupholstered, I knew I would have to obtain the parts (all OE) piecemeal. That was almost fully realized when, sometime last year, I was able to source many extended leather pieces and along with a friend, had them installed:
A few weeks ago I found the remaining two door cards in extended leather and commenced with the dye, or paint, project. The color I opted for was OE coral red.
I had read of Leatherique and had seen many a successful project entailing their products so I decided to purchase from them. To keep things terse, this ended up being a huge letdown for three reasons: 1) Their dye peeled faster than your run-of-the-mill Plastidip--and researching various boards showed that I wasn't the only person who had experienced this exact outcome; 2) even if the colorant had not peeled, I would still have remained disappointed with the result it produced because it resembled shiny plastic in its final, dried form; and 3) their coral red did not even so much as come close to resembling the coral red of BMW's.
So I ditched Leatherique's products entirely and turned to another type of colorant I had used in the past to touch-up the center console's leather side inserts and steering wheel trim: Colorbond. They produce numerous OE-specific leather paints for various manufacturers including BMW. They also stock BMW's OE coral red. Colorbond claims that their paint "bonds at the molecular level" and guarantees against chips, scratches, and peeling. There are a handful of threads from various other BMW-specific forums that corroborate this claim. Those users were pleased with the results this product produced for their interiors. So I purchased a single can to gauge its efficacy on the rear head restraints. This was of course preliminary since replacement head restraints can be bought readily and for cheap in case I really botched things up.
The process Colorbond advises you to follow is quite simple: simply wash the leather items with their prep cleaner and proceed to lay on thin layers of the paint once dry, leaving sufficient time (About 10 minutes) in between coats. They, to my knowledge, do not produce a sealant topping to go on the painted leather as a finishing step. This made me a bit uneasy as to the long-term durability of the finished product, especially with respect to things that will be sat on and frequently grabbed/touched. In any case, I was able to completely transform three of the rear head restraints (I purchased more cans of their coral red after successfully finishing one of them) and proceeded to work on the rear seatback. This is how the former looked finished:
And this was the latter midway:
A beautiful shade of red, if you ask me.
But, shortly thereafter, the entire seatback was ruined when a penny-sized hole was torn open in a most conspicuous of places on that seatback because the can spit paint while I was applying another coat. I also noticed that over spray was a huge problem with this system, giving result to rough patches all over the seat in areas not directly being sprayed. This was far more manageable on the smaller head restraints.
So, I ditched Colorbond's paint, too.
Enter a company called Furniture Clinic.
I came upon them during my researches while still undecided over Colorbond. They seemed to have received rave reviews everywhere I looked, and many people had concluded that this was the way to go in achieving a proper color change simply for the fact that they offer a finishing stage consisting of a sealant, just as OE seats are when they leave the factory. Their process is pretty straightforward, so I won't delve into it here. Here's the first part of a short video clip showing exactly how it's done:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9rhDRpe76A
As of today, I am waiting for another shipment of the sealant from them to complete all of the remaining rear pieces (one door card, and the seatbottom) and the two front door cards.
The seatback and head restraints have been completed, and I cannot be more pleased with the end result--the look and feel of the pieces is truly OE-esque.
During the colorant stage:
And with the last of the satin sealant coat applied:
(The defect in the top black portion was there when I purchased these door cards. I don't know how to remedy that, so I'll leave it be. Besides, it's only really conspicuous under direct sunlight.)
Once I finish sealing all of the door cards and rear seatbottom, I will move onto the center console and armrest. From there I will tend to the front seats and lower dash trim pieces.
I should note for inquiring minds: do not opt for anything matte as far as the sealant is concerned if you wish to retain the true color of the dye and to achieve an end result that resembles the finish on OE seats. Satin is the correct sealant/top coat to this end. I found this out the hard way.
I Will update this thread as things come along.