Went nuts in the interior today:

[E34 530]

I wanted to fix the 'rocking chairs" in my front seats and since I decided to take the seats out, I decided to get all the stains out of the carpet and the headliner. Also was able to fix both headrests. Shampooed the rugs, headliner, rear deck. Cleaned and conditioned seats. I was able to completely fix the passenger side, solid as a rock now. The driver side I wasn't so lucky. I had the problem fixed and while I was tightening the last 10mm bolt the thread decided to snap off, so now 1 bolt is missing from the motor, causing the rock to come back in a little bit. Oh well, it's better than before anyway.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a314/ripcurl530/2006_0627Image0005.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a314/ripcurl530/2006_0627Image0008.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a314/ripcurl530/2006_0627Image0009.jpg

[E34 530]

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a314/ripcurl530/2006_0627Image0013.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a314/ripcurl530/2006_0627Image0018.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a314/ripcurl530/2006_0627Image0019.jpg

[TheEndIsNear]

Looks freakin good. I'll be doing that soon...

[Yiorgos]

Wow, looks fantastic.

What's that thing in the place of the ash tray?

[E34 530]

Wow, looks fantastic.

What's that thing in the place of the ash tray?

Thanks. Satellite radio

[ska-texas]

Nice work. How did the leather take the conditioning?

[Dave M]

Mmmmm, clean rug.

Very nice job, sure to inspire someone to do the same. I cleaned without removing the seats and now I'll have to do iot again. Wait a minute, who am I kidding? How many fries did you find?

Thanks,

Dave M

[E34 530]

Nice work. How did the leather take the conditioning?

pretty good, I just wish the seats would stay a shade darker . I went ove r them 3 times, but they still don't retain that deep luster after a few minutes.

[E34 530]

Mmmmm, clean rug.

Very nice job, sure to inspire someone to do the same. I cleaned without removing the seats and now I'll have to do iot again. Wait a minute, who am I kidding? How many fries did you find?

Thanks,

Dave M
lol, I'm quite the fast food conniseur, so I had enough fries/lettuce/ to feed the state of florida for a few weeks.

[ska-texas]

I'm about to do my seats with the "Leatherique system" Leatherique.com. This stuff has been around for a long time used for restoration on very high end cars.

[Airborne001]

I have a sugestion and a question.

Sugestion : I would never recomend this with anything but black seats because it can darken the leather, but that sounds like what you are trying to do anyways.

Neatsfoot oil will absorb into leather better than anything you will find at Wallmart. I have MacPherson custom Western saddle that I have been riding for about 15 years now. Until recently this saddle was ridding 2-3 times a week in the Sierra mountains of California, and I also worked 2 years as a guide/packer in Yosemite Nat'l park riding this saddle 12-14hrs a day in all conditions. The neatsfoot oil has kept this saddle as soft and also water-repelant as the day I got it and takes very little work. Just wipe it on, let it sit over night, and buff to a shine.

Now my question, you said you fixed the headrest, what is the correct way to get the back of the seat off without damage? My drivers side headrest will only go down to the second notch from the top.

[Mr Project]

What do you guys use for cleaning carpets? My Touring project is FILTHY inside, it looks like somebody was killed and transported in the back. I normally just do the spot cleaner and rag method, but I could get my hands on a Bissel 'little green machine' if y'all think that would work ok.

[Ross]

Perhaps you would like to borrow my car?

[Russell]

How did you fix the rocking seats? Mine has the problem. Passenger seat rattles some. Hate rattles.
BTW, fixed the headrest motors some time ago with advice from my indy and Bruno's site.

[DaCan23]

Best stuff to clear carpets is the Woolite Oxy Power cleaner. All the carpets in my E24 which are Tan look like new. This stuff also made a 12 hour baked full cup of coffee stain in my friends car look brand new.

Heres my process.

Saturate the carpets with the Cleaner, let sit for 10 min, take a brush and wet it and scrub the carpets, for really tough stains, let sit and repeat. Then take a damp cloth and wipe them, then shop vac the carpets, and bang they are brand new.


http://www.woolitecarpet.com/Products/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=Bissell&category%5Fname=Oxygen+Activation&product%5Fid=WooliteOxyDeep


What do you guys use for cleaning carpets? My Touring project is FILTHY inside, it looks like somebody was killed and transported in the back. I normally just do the spot cleaner and rag method, but I could get my hands on a Bissel 'little green machine' if y'all think that would work ok.

[kick7ca]

I am inspired! Nice work. That is one classy automobile.

[E34 530]

I have a sugestion and a question.

Sugestion : I would never recomend this with anything but black seats because it can darken the leather, but that sounds like what you are trying to do anyways.

Neatsfoot oil will absorb into leather better than anything you will find at Wallmart. I have MacPherson custom Western saddle that I have been riding for about 15 years now. Until recently this saddle was ridding 2-3 times a week in the Sierra mountains of California, and I also worked 2 years as a guide/packer in Yosemite Nat'l park riding this saddle 12-14hrs a day in all conditions. The neatsfoot oil has kept this saddle as soft and also water-repelant as the day I got it and takes very little work. Just wipe it on, let it sit over night, and buff to a shine.

Now my question, you said you fixed the headrest, what is the correct way to get the back of the seat off without damage? My drivers side headrest will only go down to the second notch from the top.

My seats just had 4 "spring clamps" I just pulled from the bottom and once the 2 bottom clips come loose, the tops will just slide out. Be careful though, I broke one of the bottom clips off because it's just attached by the "seat cardboard." A little gorilla glue fixed the problem though.

[E34 530]

What do you guys use for cleaning carpets? My Touring project is FILTHY inside, it looks like somebody was killed and transported in the back. I normally just do the spot cleaner and rag method, but I could get my hands on a Bissel 'little green machine' if y'all think that would work ok.

My car wasn't terribly dirty, just a lot of coffee stains. Best thing for really dirty carpets would be a steam cleaning machine. i just used Resolve carpet cleaner. That stuff works great, just let is sit in for 5 minutes and then scrub the hell out of the interior with a stiff-bristled brush.

[E34 530]

How did you fix the rocking seats? Mine has the problem. Passenger seat rattles some. Hate rattles.
BTW, fixed the headrest motors some time ago with advice from my indy and Bruno's site.

http://bellsouthpwp.net/m/i/miales/rockingseatfix.htm

[Russell]

Thanks, It verified what I already had/thought I knew. Hope to remove the passenger seat this weekend. I will fight the urge to clean everything is sight.

Finished a month ago a leatherique treatment. Really works well to soften and clen.

[E34 530]

btw, can any of you guys identify what this blue plug is for?? It was just hanging there on both seats, pre-installed memory function??
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a314/ripcurl530/2006_0627Image0010.jpg

[Gabe]

lol, I'm quite the fast food conniseur, so I had enough fries/lettuce/ to feed the state of florida for a few weeks.

or one person in Houston?

[Airborne001]

What is the best recomended cleaner/finisher for the vinyl components?

[Russell]

Aerospace 303 is a great finisher as it has UV protection with very low gloss. May be hard to find locally. I can find it locally at auto uphostery shops, boat and/or outdoor sporting goood stores. It will also remove light dirt.

[ILoveMPower]

Man, beautiful job. I guess this just reitterates that fact I NEED to do this asap.

[NY535iManual]

Years ago, while I was still in school, I rented an industrial steam cleaner in the hopes of getting some of the stains out of the carpets on Dieter, my old e28 535is. While going at the carpet hammer and tongs, a LOT of even worse smells started cropping up, which took months to wear off. The cause? Remember (as I forgot at the time) that there is a lot of sound deadening AND WIRING underneath the carpet, many of which don't react well to very hot moisture (e.g., steam). I managed to fry some already stressed (old) speaker wire, thereby knocking out the rear speakers, and "reactivate" some of the seemingly god-awful dried liquids that had seeped through the carpet and into the sound deadening. Not smart, so be careful if you're using steam.

[Macv]

My parents own a carpet cleaning company, so I just took out the seats and let them do all the work :)

[uflnuceng]

Man, beautiful job. I guess this just reitterates that fact I NEED to do this asap.

+1

I gotta swap my interior to black... actually contemplating ordering everything new from BMAParts... already got some numbers from Patrick... my car is going to be new when I'm done.

[632 Regal]

I remember years ago about fries you couldnt dislocate LOL...memories, sometimes stupid but this is what the dead brain cells tell me to say...

[632 Regal]

thats the blue plug for the blue switch. Must be plugged in to see any blue in the rearview mirrors.