Leather Interior Dye/Tinting? DIY???

[Guelphguy]

When I got this BMW, the leather is in good shape (no rips/tears) but it appears that the previous owner treated the leather with something that seriously discoloured the leather, I would like to get it looking back like new.

been looking online at leather tint kits deciding whether to tint myself or not sure if anyone else has any other suggestions? Had a quote from a Shop in Scarborough that does it for $250 which is good but so hard to get it there and a few guys I called out of the yellow pages around here want like $600+ to do it where the DIY kit is like $40...lol...

http://www.leathermagic.com/Secure/eCommerce/Catalog.asp?prdc=4

Suggestions? Is it hard to do??

http://img83.exs.cx/img83/4783/100_1764.jpg
http://img83.exs.cx/img83/1282/100_1761.jpg

[Interceptor]

When I got this BMW, the leather is in good shape (no rips/tears) but it appears that the previous owner treated the leather with something that seriously discoloured the leather, I would like to get it looking back like new.

been looking online at leather tint kits deciding whether to tint myself or not sure if anyone else has any other suggestions? Had a quote from a Shop in Scarborough that does it for $250 which is good but so hard to get it there and a few guys I called out of the yellow pages around here want like $600+ to do it where the DIY kit is like $40...lol...

http://www.leathermagic.com/Secure/eCommerce/Catalog.asp?prdc=4

Suggestions? Is it hard to do??
To me, it looks like the previous owner swapped the seats. The question is - did you car have leather when it came from the factory? Many people swap seats when their tapestry gets ruined - it's cheaper :)

[shogun]

Look at these links
http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/1708
http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/1173

[liquidtiger720]

also take a look at www.leatherique.com
They have had great reviews. I plan on going with them when the time is right.

[632 Regal]

looks like those seats were redyed with the wrong color. I redid my drivers seat and had to wash the old dye off with laquor thinner, took days and then a week to let the conditioner soften the original leather so that I could redye the seat. Leatherique needed a sample of my leather and did a perfect match! None of their standard BMW colors apply to any BMWs so plan on the custom match plan. Once you get the seats ready its a no brainer to dye them, I would suggest pulling them out instead of dripping dye all over the place.

[lino]

I did mine and destroyed my interior. I bought the most expensive everything and took my time and it ended up in total diaster. My car has a black leather interior and it's an e28 M5. I don't know if you understand what that means, but let me tell you that that is a huge problem. Anyway, I solved my problem by buying another interior. It took me 3 years of searching 365 days a year (not kidding) until I got another one. The best way is to get brand new seat covers but that is very costly, whether you choose BMW oem or aftermarket.

My advice to you, is buy another interior if you're going to spend $500. You can easily pick up a used one for that kind of money. Tinting is never ever ever ever going to be the same as oem.

I ended up going crazy after realizing how stupid I was to let pictures online make up mind to try it. I spent a month doing mine and ended up crying when I saw the results. Here is a site that inspired me. I am not recommending you do this. I am merely showing you:

http://home.insightbb.com/~todd.kenyon/leather.htm


Main Site: http://home.insightbb.com/~todd.kenyon/bmw.htm

I can send you before and after pics and share with you 3 years worth of research and knowledge if you want on this subject. I'm just not going to post it all here right now ;) .

[Kalevera]

I'm leatherique'ing my interior sometime in the next few weeks. Found out that they were having a SALE - free OEM matched dyes on German cars for the month of Feb - so I picked up the kit. Will let the board know how it goes down, but I'm sure it can't do any harm to my over-cracked front driver's seat. best, whit

[632 Regal]

I figured my seat was good except for the old dye wearing off, when I washed them down with the laquor thinner it took off some previous crackhead filler...I didnt really care and figured it would turn out like $hit anyways so I didnt fill them back in. The dye worked very well and sometimes when I inspect the seat I wish I did but I dont stare at the bottom of it and no one else has yet noticed them. I think of it as character lines.

[Guelphguy]

So a few horror stories with DIY kits and a few success stories. With the people that have done it, did you just order online using the color code that your car is supposed to be?

[Bill R.]

colorplus in the past and both products are about the same but the color match was much better from color plus and i thought the customer service was much better. To get an accurate match from either you need to clip a sample of the leather from under the seat to send to them to match. Here's the finished seat out of my 635 when my nephew did the color plus on it.
Its just like anything else the final result is dependent on your preparation of the surface, This was lots of stripping sanding and filling on these seats and they were finished using and old craftsmen spray gun that was too worn out to shoot auto paint and was only used for primer. Worked fine for this leather dye. Leatherique and color plus always have these sales and Bruno has a discount link to them on his site also. Or he did in the past anyway, i haven't checked lately.http://www.bimmernut.com/%7Ebillr/images/635seatdone.jpg













So a few horror stories with DIY kits and a few success stories. With the people that have done it, did you just order online using the color code that your car is supposed to be?

[JonE]

I Leatheriqued my 325iC and it improved things tremendously. It was alot of work, though, all that stripping and sanding and getting the hang of how much to take off and how the dye goes on smoothly. The top of the back seat was very hard, cracked and brittle and that rejuvinating oil worked very well to get it supple again. My worst part was a patch that I did by the driver's seat bolster, the repair is good but not as smooth as I'd like. Then again I'm not very good at body work either!
I used the VIN number to find out from the local BMW dealer what the color was and Leatherique had it in stock. The match was perfect.

[black_bird_blue]

I'm definitely in the "success" camp. I got some stuff (colorplus?) from somewhere in California and just daubed it on in a horribly maverick way. 3 coats and the front seats are just fabulous. I just need to get round to doing the rest of the leather now. My only comment is that it doesn't seem that durable, but it was so easy (and I've still got enough left) that I'll just go over it again. Great colour match, easy apply.


Damian

[Guelphguy]

OK another question....I have gone to TWO dealers here and looked all over the car and I cannot find the leather color code? Tried matching it up to sites but that looks hard...so I started to think...what about a color change all together??
What would you think if I left the "platic" seat backs the right color and dyed all the leather BLACK??? How do you think that would look...half my interior is black?

http://img83.exs.cx/img83/4783/100_1764.jpg
http://img83.exs.cx/img83/1282/100_1761.jpg

[Guelphguy]

black or no?

[pmlmotorsports]

I have just refinished my 92 535i seating using Leather Refinishing Technologies products. All I can say is WOW. These guys are awesome. The product is great and their support is equally 1st rate. My seats and armrests were as bad as they get, and considering my color was Lt Silver Grey there was a lot of cracks and imperfections. I sanded them down using 220 grit paper, then wiped them clean with this powerful stripping agent. Next I rubbed some dye into the cracked areas, then I used a product called Flexfill to "build-up" the cracked areas. Next a 2nd coat of dye, a light 600 grit sanding to remove any "high spots" (trapped dust). Then a light mist of a 3rd coat, and finally a topcoat of clear for protection. THEY ARE AS GOOD AS BRAND NEW AND I WILL POST SOME PHOTOS for all to see. The color matched pefectly and I am thrilled with the results.

[Reuben Lim]

How much did the kit cost? Am just wondering, how does the filler stay onto the areas with cracks when the seats flex everytime you sit on them? A little worried that a year down the road, the filler may work loose and the cracks would come back. Will be refinishing my seats (some slight cracks, tan interior) but the guy I'm hiring says it would be better to replace the cracked sections with new leather, which he would dye first to match the old leather. He said doing this would be more durable, but thinking I may end up with a crazy quilt look.