Leather

[bimmer boy 21]

As I seem to do with every car, the leather is usually f**ked so I make it all better. Only this time I tackled Dove Grey.

The car is a 328i Cabrio, which I am driving temporarily. Was a 90's victim of the BMW Individual Program. So I can only assume it was all some Chardonay induced decision from some house wife. It is Cordobarot Metallic and it is the dumb colour but at least I managed to get the leather looking good. Here are the before and afters...

Before:

Edited March 20, 2012 by RJS

[bimmer boy 21]

After:

[Guest Simon*]

Good job Ryan

Is that an empty goon bag in the footwell?

[bimmer boy 21]

Cheers.

Haha sadly no... It is just a plastic bag with some things in it. I should go see what it is. Could be one of those black out purchases..

[DrphTa 5]

Have a close up of the drivers seat?

[byza213 1]

nice one man looking good

any more pics?

[Michael. 2313]

I quite like that colour.

Would go with my shirts.

[BM WORLD 1283]

have some sport seats version of those if you want some new covers/foam etc .

same colour from a 96 nz new 328i convertible , have wear but could be repaired, redyed etc ,

its easy to fit the covers and foam etc to std seats to make them the sport seats.

good work on the seat you have though:)

[Palazzo 477]

Great work. What did you use, or would you just like to do mine?

[kiwi535 538]

best thing to do with leahter is make sure its kept clean...its so easy just give the seats a quick wipe over with clean water when cleaning the car,then quickly dry it off.My 535 was pretty good and tahts all i did with a recondition a couple of times when i had it

[NZ BMW 368]

Is it possible to share with us what exactly what you did to get these great results?

[Sargasm 2]

Slightly off topic but... what style wheels are those? Unless it's just the lighting on the pic, I don't think I've seen them before. Especially not on an e36 anyway, they look awesome!

[Guest Ari Gold]

Pretty sure I saw you and Gilda rocking down Ponsonby Road passing a bottle of Moet back and forth in this.

[5amchris 45]

http://www.318ti.org/forum/showthread.php?t=25597

[nath 134]

Pretty sure I saw you and Gilda rocking down Ponsonby Road passing a bottle of Moet back and forth in this.

Like

[bimmer boy 21]

Basically just scrub the leather with a citrus cleaner, wipe of excess and let dry then do it again.

Then I used a damp cloth and a small amount of paint you use to recolour leather, obviously in the correct colour then apply that.

What I did to make it easier is if you water down the paint a lot with water in a spray bottle but be careful because it makes a huge mess then apply that then while its still dampish I applied a conditioner and let it sit in the sun or close up the car and let it absorb over night and then in the morning maybe apply the conditioner again and yeah thats it really.

There is no magic method or anything you just have to just try and see what works

As for the wheels, no idea what kind they are sorry but yeah I have never seen them on a E36 before although I think they could be a Z3 or Z4 style wheel I'm not sure!

[Guest Ari Gold]

Wheels are style 78.

[NZ BMW 368]

Basically just scrub the leather with a citrus cleaner, wipe of excess and let dry then do it again.

Then I used a damp cloth and a small amount of paint you use to recolour leather, obviously in the correct colour then apply that.

What I did to make it easier is if you water down the paint a lot with water in a spray bottle but be careful because it makes a huge mess then apply that then while its still dampish I applied a conditioner and let it sit in the sun or close up the car and let it absorb over night and then in the morning maybe apply the conditioner again and yeah thats it really.

There is no magic method or anything you just have to just try and see what works

As for the wheels, no idea what kind they are sorry but yeah I have never seen them on a E36 before although I think they could be a Z3 or Z4 style wheel I'm not sure!

Thanks, are you talking about just using something like spray and wipe when you refer to citrus cleaner? I've been using Meguiars "one-step" cleaner and conditioner and am not convinced is it really that great for the actual cleaning.

[bimmer boy 21]

I like meguiars and mothers etc but there leather cleaner is rubbish. I generally use citrus cleaner that is made by Pacer, you can buy it online, just make sure your water it down, I used it 50:50 water and then the cleaner itself.. Otherwise if you get a spray and wipe type cleaner try get one without ammonia and all that jazz .Probably water that down a little too and make sure you moisturise the leather after as it will strip out a lot of the oils from cleaning it and use a nail brush is it is real dirty.

[Neal 545]

Another way to clean is to use shaving foam. I did this with my motorcycle leathers after 15,000 km of South American dirt roads on a motorcyle on the advice of a lady that makes motorcycle leathers. Leathers came up looking near new (black / yellow / white) . Shaving foam with lanolin is also great for older leather as it cleans and moisturizes the leather.

For exterme dirt / last resort try oven cleaner. Just don't leave it to act for too long. I have seen this do wonders on 50 year old plus leather and vynil car seats removing the most stuborne stains and dirt.

Same with hydrogen proxoide used on old white plastics .... They go from yellow to white again. A few things I've learnt while restoring 1960's minis.

Edited March 26, 2012 by Neal