Recently I picked up a '86 325es with original paint and a near flawless body/engine. There was one problem though, the car's tan Houndstooth seats were shot.
Initially I just wanted to buy some cheap sport seats to get me by until I could afford perfect condition ones for $$$ then decided to try and recondition/re-dye them since I planned on replacing them anyway.
I picked ended up getting sport seats AND a rear ski seat from username "BAVARIAN IRON", he gave me a fair price and was a pleasure to work with. He's the one who actually recommended I re-finish the seats so thanks go to him!
I was very surprised to find out how much a re-dye actually makes a difference. I've never worked with leather or car interiors at all and feel other people can have the same success with just being patient and having some time...
I would not call myself a professional at all but for DYI seats I think they came out alright. I'm not sure if I should have sanded more, but again, the end product definitely works for me and for the money I paid I'm satisfied!
For right now I only have the back seat done, I figured I'd do that 1st to get some experience then do the front seats once I was comfortable working with the Leatherique. Also, the front seats have a lot of cracking... I'll post pictures (good or bad outcome) once they're done... in case you were all wondering also I plan on re-dying or just buying new/used carpet.
How I bought the rear seat:
After letting them soak in Rejuvinator overnight then hitting them with Pristine Clean:
A crack right before sanding...:
After sanding with 400 grit and their prepping agent, crack improves a lot already:
I did fill the crack but do not have pictures of that.
After dying (nice view of my 4x12 guitar cab work bench!):
Crack gone (denting in the seat seemed to relax a lot at this point, hopefully more with time):
Also wanted to show the contrast on an "un-dyed" spot that wouldn't be seen when installed:
Back seat how I bought the car:
Back seat with re-done seats installed, and black Houndstooth panels installed as well:
Initially I just wanted to buy some cheap sport seats to get me by until I could afford perfect condition ones for $$$ then decided to try and recondition/re-dye them since I planned on replacing them anyway.
I picked ended up getting sport seats AND a rear ski seat from username "BAVARIAN IRON", he gave me a fair price and was a pleasure to work with. He's the one who actually recommended I re-finish the seats so thanks go to him!
I was very surprised to find out how much a re-dye actually makes a difference. I've never worked with leather or car interiors at all and feel other people can have the same success with just being patient and having some time...
I would not call myself a professional at all but for DYI seats I think they came out alright. I'm not sure if I should have sanded more, but again, the end product definitely works for me and for the money I paid I'm satisfied!
For right now I only have the back seat done, I figured I'd do that 1st to get some experience then do the front seats once I was comfortable working with the Leatherique. Also, the front seats have a lot of cracking... I'll post pictures (good or bad outcome) once they're done... in case you were all wondering also I plan on re-dying or just buying new/used carpet.
How I bought the rear seat:
After letting them soak in Rejuvinator overnight then hitting them with Pristine Clean:
A crack right before sanding...:
After sanding with 400 grit and their prepping agent, crack improves a lot already:
I did fill the crack but do not have pictures of that.
After dying (nice view of my 4x12 guitar cab work bench!):
Crack gone (denting in the seat seemed to relax a lot at this point, hopefully more with time):
Also wanted to show the contrast on an "un-dyed" spot that wouldn't be seen when installed:
Back seat how I bought the car:
Back seat with re-done seats installed, and black Houndstooth panels installed as well:
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