The official "DIY replace your whole interior INCLUDING carpet" thread

[Nürburgring]

Stay tuned for updates. Will be making videos, taking photos, and answering any burning questions along the way.

Model 1991 318is

I began this journey 2 weeks ago because when the car showed up, the AC didn't work, and to my dismay it was due to broken parts all over the place, not to mention the blower motor had been ripped out (literally ripped out) and didn't work. In order to replace the heat/ac unit, I had to take the ENTIRE interior out of the car. Once I did, I figured, well this is a good time to replace the original carpet. The OE carpet was blue but since the car lived in Florida for it's entire life, it had faded to a green/gray color, except where covered by trim. Disgusting. I'm converting the whole interior to BLACK on BLACK will original sport seats in insane condition. Stay tuned suckas!

Here's how she looked the day it rolled in...shitty broken ebay racing seats with homemade mounting brackets bolted to the floor with 2 of 4 bolts (yikes), a back seat that looks like two werewolves had been mating on it, loose steering wheel as the rubber had become unglued from the metal wheel itself, and just loose and rattling pieces of plastic trim all over the place. No stereo, and it was just tattered and tired. the door panels were poorly mounted with half-ass intentions, and any number of other hackery. I'll be ridding the car of any ebay crap, and making it as pristine as possible with a reasonable budget (not cheap but not show quality).

[Nürburgring]

The official "DIY replace your whole interior INCLUDING carpet" thread

A couple extra photos from my iPhone. Showing tattered back seat, black interior that'll be going in, and present condition with dash and interior

[87bmw325is]

subscribed!

[Mushi]

Subscribed

[TimeMachinE30]

ACC does not offer for convertible... look forward to the progress.

[Nürburgring]

How different is a oe coupe vs vert carpet?


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[TimeMachinE30]

How different is a oe coupe vs vert carpet?


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Not much I bet.. sides of a 'vert come up higher I'd think.

Those originally installed seats look cool.

[Nürburgring]

Not much I bet.. sides of a 'vert come up higher I'd think.

Those originally installed seats look cool.

I agree...the seats don't LOOK bad...so I figured I'd end up keeping them in the car. Problem is the guy didn't spring the extra $ for proper seat brackets and welded up his own (he was NOT an experienced welder). The passenger seat slider is broken also and would not slide forward or backward. The seats are very uncomfortable as well and since this car will be my daily there's no way I could look forward to my drive home after a long stressful day at work while bouncing around in these rock-hard "racing seats." The OEM sport seats are a welcome addition.

[Nürburgring]

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[etaclay]

Sub'd

[AndrewBird]

You might have better luck just "dying" the stock carpet black. Lots of people have done this using Duplicolor brand stuff. Usually turns out pretty awesome.

[Nürburgring]

Andrew....wait til you see the carpet. You don't wanna dye this mess.
















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[Curt Hayes]

You want to check those two drains in the rear foot wells. The seals on mine failed and leaked water under the carpet. I got a tube of seam sealer from the local professional paint place. Took out the plugs, cleaned it all up, and gooped a ton of sealer around before installing the plugs.
The plugs are about 5" in diameter. They used those holes to drain the body out after being dipped during manufacturing.

[Nürburgring]

Thanks for the tip Curt. I'll check em out.


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[Nürburgring]

Quick update - got the old carpet out of the car. left the new carpet on top of the old carpet overnight as instructions suggest. Ran new speaker wire for upgraded sound system. Debating laying down some Dynamat on the floors to help insulate it from road noise and make long drives a bit more tolerable with an exhaust. Any suggestions on that front?

I can now definitively speak to the aftermarket vs oem carpet...it's NOT the same. I didn't necessarily expect it to be the same, just reporting the difference. On the OEM carpet there is a LOT of molded foam that really helps the carpet hold its shape and offers noise and heat/cold insulation. The aftermarket carpet has two measly strips of foam padding running parallel to each other on both passenger and driver side. Further strengthens my case for wanting to put down Dynamat on the floor-pans and trans tunnel.

As far as how it fits? I won't know until I get in there...however, to keep the carpet from fitting loosely or wrinkling and sagging, I'm going to spray some spray adhesive in any areas where I feel like it will help it to adhere to the floor-pans. I wonder if the $1,000 OEM replacement you get has all the original foam. I've thought about trying to cut the foam off the old carpet but that looks and sounds like a nightmare. Remember, my car is NOT a showcar and will not be winning any beauty pageants but it's definitely an improvement over the disgusting original carpet.

I should be laying the new carpet down either tonight or tomorrow morning. Will keep y'all updated.