Repaired my seats today

[Silverti]

Only had my car a couple of months but one thing that had been bugging me was the condition of the seats, drivers side in particular. :frown:

Not having the money to get them re-upholstered or find a replacement, i brought a repair kit from Buffalo Leather (in the UK) and gave it a shot. Although the finish isn't perfect, hopefully it will stop the damage getting any worse and looks a bit more pleasing to the eye.

This is the kit: Ordered on sunday and delivered tuesday morning.
http://i849.photobucket.com/albums/ab53/99silverti/SDC13046.jpg

All in all took around 5 hours but at least 2.5 of those were waiting for everything to dry inbetween steps.

The bottom bolster had a small hole and some scuffs / discolouring. The process was relatively simple:
1. Clean area thouroughly (kit contained a cleaning pad and leather cleaner)
2. Cut out a sub patch and glue on top of the foam under the leather hole
3. Fill the hole with leather filler and leave to dry
4. Sand down the filler until flush
5. Using a sponge / spatula, apply the pigment and dry with a hair dryer
6. Apply protective coating

Anyway here are the results:
http://i849.photobucket.com/albums/ab53/99silverti/bottom.jpg

You can still see where the hole was, looks like the leather stretched but looks a lot nicer

Side bolster was knackered and i wasn't really expecting too much from the kit. It had a hole and loads of deep scratches and scuffs and hardly any colour at all.
http://i849.photobucket.com/albums/ab53/99silverti/side.jpg

Looks a lot better but the damage was too great to smooth it out completely, hardly noticable from a distance though.

http://i849.photobucket.com/albums/ab53/99silverti/SDC13060.jpg

At least i'm not ashamed to open the door anymore :wink:

[roadrash]

Wow, that looks a LOT better! Good work!

[reason]

That looks very good ...

[Silverti]

Thanks guys,

Just need to hope its lasts ok, will find out over the next few weeks if it starts to fade...

[tiFreak]

looks much better now, I need to do that on my seats

[b.u.ti-ful]

Huge improvement.

[Silverti]

Quick update for anyone following the thread.

Been over a month since i repaired the drivers seat, must have used the car at least 50 times i guess. So far theres no sign of any deterioration on either of the bolsters. Filler seems to be holding fast and the colouring hasn't worn away or lost its colour so looks like jobs a goodun.

Also done the passenger seat the other week, although that only needed recolouring of a few scuffs, but the result was near perfect, you sould see a few stroke marks from the sponge applicator but looks 100% better than before.

[marrow]

It looks much better. Glad to hear it has proved durable.

[BlackBMWs]

SilverTi,

How's the repair held up thus far? :cool:

[Silverti]

Hi mate,

Its holding up well. Could probably do with a little touchup on the bottom bolster where the hole was, but i put that down to getting in and out of the car twice a day. Theres no colour fade.

Not bad seens as it was 18 months ago i repaired it.

Definately worth a go.

[BlackBMWs]

Nice to hear! Thanks for the swift feedback! Cheers... :cool:

[jca]

I've never seen that dimpled leather on any BMW other than a Z3...you guys across the pond get all the good stuff!