A bit of history for those who are just tuning into ‘As the Wallet Turns’:
The previous owner swapped in M3 seats, front and back. He also had the entire interior dyed a lighter shade of tan, this I found out when I had the front seats re-covered. CactusJacks referred me to a dude in Fullerton that is the ‘go to’ guy for older BMW (especially E30) interior restoration work. He handled my front seats, and as fate would have it, he is the one who dyed the interior of car years ago. He remembered that he had dyed the interior, and told me up front that the new Natural leatherette would be slightly different in color from the rest of the interior. I didn’t mind.
The original door panels had plugs for window-winders on non-PW equipped cars, and the tabs on driver-side the map pocket were broken. This, along with the fact that several of the plastic mounting clips were missing/broken; the door pull was not solid and caused all kinds of rattles. Bimmerfest member 525iT_Feen (Olek) referred me to the Euro Depot – I ordered a set of Natural door panels, and to my surprise, they sent me the rear lateral trim panels, too. These don't have the plugs, which gives the interior a cleaner look. Since I have the E36 M3 style mirrors, the power adjustment on the armrest was useless - I replaced it with a blank cover. About a month prior to Olek’s referral, I bought a set of door panels and lateral panels from a guy in Riverside ($40), but after carefully inspecting them once I got them home, I found they weren’t good enough for the time/energy expended on pulling the seats, etc.
Pulling the rear seat allowed me to vacuum up a bunch of dust and debris that had collected back there and reach parts of the parcel shelf that can’t be cleaned when the seats are in place. I used my original panels and my extra set of panels for spare clips and brackets. My interior is now fully buttoned down – no broken or missing clips and all brackets and tabs are intact. Rattles have been significantly reduced. Yay.
While the seats were out, I shampooed the carpet and floor mats. The improvement is not close to what I was expecting… it was a waste of time and effort. Either the carpet is past the stage where it can be cleaned or my shampoo sucked. Later on, I may spend the $90 and buy new floor mats.
Now the important part:
Take a look at the pictures… do you people like the two-tone interior? I can re-dye the rear seat, headrests, map pockets and front seat-backs with a custom mixed dye so they will match the Natural color.. Do you guys think it will be worth it? Please vote!
The previous owner swapped in M3 seats, front and back. He also had the entire interior dyed a lighter shade of tan, this I found out when I had the front seats re-covered. CactusJacks referred me to a dude in Fullerton that is the ‘go to’ guy for older BMW (especially E30) interior restoration work. He handled my front seats, and as fate would have it, he is the one who dyed the interior of car years ago. He remembered that he had dyed the interior, and told me up front that the new Natural leatherette would be slightly different in color from the rest of the interior. I didn’t mind.
The original door panels had plugs for window-winders on non-PW equipped cars, and the tabs on driver-side the map pocket were broken. This, along with the fact that several of the plastic mounting clips were missing/broken; the door pull was not solid and caused all kinds of rattles. Bimmerfest member 525iT_Feen (Olek) referred me to the Euro Depot – I ordered a set of Natural door panels, and to my surprise, they sent me the rear lateral trim panels, too. These don't have the plugs, which gives the interior a cleaner look. Since I have the E36 M3 style mirrors, the power adjustment on the armrest was useless - I replaced it with a blank cover. About a month prior to Olek’s referral, I bought a set of door panels and lateral panels from a guy in Riverside ($40), but after carefully inspecting them once I got them home, I found they weren’t good enough for the time/energy expended on pulling the seats, etc.
Pulling the rear seat allowed me to vacuum up a bunch of dust and debris that had collected back there and reach parts of the parcel shelf that can’t be cleaned when the seats are in place. I used my original panels and my extra set of panels for spare clips and brackets. My interior is now fully buttoned down – no broken or missing clips and all brackets and tabs are intact. Rattles have been significantly reduced. Yay.
While the seats were out, I shampooed the carpet and floor mats. The improvement is not close to what I was expecting… it was a waste of time and effort. Either the carpet is past the stage where it can be cleaned or my shampoo sucked. Later on, I may spend the $90 and buy new floor mats.
Now the important part:
Take a look at the pictures… do you people like the two-tone interior? I can re-dye the rear seat, headrests, map pockets and front seat-backs with a custom mixed dye so they will match the Natural color.. Do you guys think it will be worth it? Please vote!
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