bimmer boy

Yeah I have always liked suede insted of the yuk fabric. Nah my headliner is grey like the other parts were beofre I trimmed them, proberbly going to do the headliner next week.

Um yeah I guess I can do one, I dont have any pictures of the process though.. Step one: Go out, stop being poor and buy some suede (preferebly something thats made to be used in a car or a high wear situations. Go for something with a UV protectant so it doesnt fade too quick) You only need about half a metre to do the parcel shelf but I bought two metres as I was doing the pillars aswell. There are quite a few different kinds of suede you can use I think the best is genuine suede/ alcantara but macro suede is also good too. Get Macrosuede if you dont want to spend much money, Its about $30 a metre when I looked at it from Spotlight or what ever shop it was. Real suede is about triple that price. Step two - Buy some glue, not just any glue though. You need to use 3M Hi-Strength 90 spray adheisive. Its best to use this as it stay stuck through heat which is commonly encounterd in cars as you know. Just use it, dont question it. You can pick it up for $40 a can from Gordon Harris in Newmarket. I bought two cans but I only used just over one can. Step three - Remove the parcel shelf, its not held in there by much, you will figure it out, if not have a laptop in the car so you can google how to remove things when you get stuck like I did. Step four - Put down some old sheets so you dont get the glue everywhere, lay the fabric over the top of the parcel shelf and if you got more than half a metre then cut out the piece you need and keep in mind for bends in the parcel shelf so keep plenty of suede on each side. Step five - I started with the front of the parcel shelf ( The car closest to the front of the car) and sprayed and stuck down the suede in 3 - 4 stages. This makes it easier to control creases and wrinkles in the fabric. Get in there with your hands and smooth out the wrinkles pushing them out to the sides and make sure there is enough glue covering each part of the area you are working on otherwise the suede will kind of blister. Step six - If your parcel shelf is the same as mine take extra care around the high stop light as it is had to get it to stick down properly where there are folds in the parcel shelf. Step seven - Once you have stuck it all down and there are no wrinkles etc go have a break and let the glue dry, only takes 15 mins but leave it for 20 - 30 just to be sure. Step Eight - Once dry, flip the parcel shelf over and trim all the edges of the parcel shelf keeping about 3 inches of sued over hang on each side. What you need to do it fold these bits over and glue them to the underside of the parcel shelf. When it came to this bit I used the spray glue aswell as a hot glue gun on the tricky bits, you can be as messy as you like under here since no one will see it. (Please use common sense when trimming and know where u will have to cut so the suede will be all fully stuck down) Step Nine - Once you have it all stuck down and trimmed and looking good get out some scissors and cut two slices in where any holes are and do the same as you did in Step eight and stick the overhanging bits to the underside of the parcel shelf. Step Ten - Put back all the plastic trim, speaker grills etc onto the parcel shelf. Step eleven - Install in reverse order as you took it out. Step twelve - Do all 11 steps again with what ever other piece/s you want to do. It sounds hard but it isnt, I removed, retrimmed, reinstalled 5 items on two hours, so can you

GOLD

Alcantara, Cowhide Suede if you want specifics. Its not automotive stuff thought its just the stuff you retrim couches with so its not UV resistent so will fade a bit quicker than usual. Might be able to get a spray for it who knows. If anyone else is going to do this I'd suggest Macro suede, looks exactly the same I was just fussy.

I got sick of my parcel shelf's ugliness so I thought I'd give her a quick spruce up since I had a few hours to kill. Im my old E30 I just reprayed the parcel shelf and it looked okay but thought it was a tad too rangi for the E36 so I decided to buy some suede ($$ ouch) and do it, thought while I was at it Id do the pillar covers also and (Will be doing the Headliner next) but yeah, never done anything like this before was I found it easy I had it all out retrimed and installed again in 2 hours. Any way here are the before and after pictures...

Looks good Jordan, Always good to get your car back ae?! But if I was getting something fixed and my panel beater decided to just paint my kidneys because they couldnt source any I'd be dishing out a backhand..

I like how getting leather is on the top of the list, no one like carpet seats, damn sh*t is like velcro.

Its serious stuff, I have Swine flu. I caught it on a one off visit to West Auckland though, not Mexico.

Happy Bday young lass

Bahaha thats so cool

Yep no worries mate, if you havent already check which ones you have as there are several different kinds

Nah none, I only had them in for a day. I didnt have any problems with it besides the look.

Yea 318's are far too guttless and always poorly spec'd They are great for just driving around town. But in saying that I wouldnt say they are a total loss. They arnt THAT slow they just arnt as quick as the obviously bigger engined E36's. Manual would deffinatly help. But if your just using it as a run around a 318i or a 320i isnt a problem.

Didnt you know Simon? having only one button work is all the rage.. I'd get a 8 button or a 11 too I guess just 18 looks better.

Welcome abord mate, nice car you got there

All this stuff is lying around and I want it out of my life. So you should proberbly buy it all Trade Me Linky

My electrical skills stop at plugging something into the wall and I managed to do it myself! Go one man, you cant mess it up easily..

Wow there is some pretty crazy amounts being spent on cars. I myself dont care to much for speed just as long as it looks good and works haha. I think since I have had my E36 I have spent about 2 - 3k in the last 8 months doing cosmetic things, leather treatments every month and servicing and buying only OEM parts. Petrol is another story and not to mention the cost on the half body respray which I didnt pay for. I'd proberbly spend another 1k on it before I look at selling her on.

Eww is he f**king kidding? haha thats nuts I wouldnt pay more than $100 at the most

Yea you are proberbly right but its more for aesthetics than anything, it will make the interior look less dated.

Yeah thats what Im thinking but you dont know till you try!

As title states, I want to buy a OBC unit for my E36. The 18 button version. For the moment I just need the unit itself, not any wiring or the BC stalk. Give me one cheap! Just gotta see if something works. Cheers guys.

Yeah that what im assuming but its for a 18 button OBC. I guess I can try it. Would be cool if it worked, even just the clock anything is better than the analogue!

Nah, its poverty spec. Just a analogue clock. Pretty common on a 318is. I did find this picture how ever..

It has analogue dual climate control