The E30 Cabrio "Winter Project"

[WERDNA75]

The seat covers have finally arrived !!!

So I got a big box from FedEx at work today.





Simple Black Leather goodness
They came from a place on Ebay called Autocustomleather , and seem to be very high quality,but I will only really know once I have installed them. Oh my, what have I gotten myself into. Guess there is no turning back now.

[WERDNA75]

Seat covers look decent so far.

I have been really sick lately, and good work cant be rushed. Ok,ok , yes I have been a little lazy lately. Anyway, the back seat is nearly finished. On to the pictures:

This was one of the back seat covers, see those wires ? They are important, something told me not to throw away the old covers until I got the new ones, and Im glad I didnt. Ended up having to fish a few of those wires out of my trash bin in the garage.

These are called listing wires, and you want to remove them from the old covers to reuse them. Some of mine were bent up and rusty so I straightened them and sanded the rusty ones. I even ended up making one too out of a wire coat hanger.



Start with the cover inside out and put all the listing wires in place. There were little bendy dowel thingys that were installed in my cover that you have to remove first to put the listing wires in place.

Now start with the hogrings to put that thing in place. I just went kindof where the old ones were ,and where I thought they should go on the new covers. Yes, the back of the seat covers are pink,but hey there are some pretty good things that are pink on the inside. AmIritethough :)

You start in the center of the seat and work outward. Make sure you have the cover centered when you start.

Ive heard you should let the covers heat up in the sun so you can stretch them tight,but I tried it and it really didnt make much difference.

It is not done,but I only have a few hogrings to finish it around the outside and will do it on the next sunny day I have at home. Not perfect ,but certainly quite better than it was. On to the upper cushion next

Cover inside out, install listing wires, start with the hog rings







Im going to let both covers sit in the sun for a while so I can get the creases out as much as I can ,get them centered,and then on the front seats.

Redoing upholstery is satisfying work. I like it so far.

[WERDNA75]

Headrests are done

They weren't too bad after I figured out how they came apart.








Turn the cover inside out and line it up then fold it right side out while stuffing the foam inside.





Then the other one.


And now I have Black leather headrests.
Ive been working on the bolsters on the front seats ,and man are they hard to get right. They are coming along though so I think I have them figured out. Will be posting more pics soon.

[CorvallisBMW]

Wow, major props for doing your own interior install. I was too chicken and farmed mine out to a shop!

[TimeMachinE30]

Looks good.

Are the seat skins really leather? Smell? Touch?

I am seeing all of these kits seem to install loose, leaving the interior sagging and simply not tight. I wonder if the foam needs work?

Perhaps the foam is decayed and compressed.. they all need built up.

[tschultz]

Looks good.

Are the seat skins really leather? Smell? Touch?

I am seeing all of these kits seem to install loose, leaving the interior sagging and simply not tight. I wonder if the foam needs work?

Perhaps the foam is decayed and compressed.. they all need built up.

Over time leather shrinks to get that tight fit.

[rcsoundn1]

How did the rear seat belt retainer come out? the black plastic retainer.

[littlehandegan]

Looks great!


My kit from them should be arriving soon. I went with all vinyl to save some $$$. $550 shipped is a good deal IMO.


On a scale of 1-10, how hard has the install been?


I am tempted to drop it off with someone after reading this.

[TimeMachinE30]

Over time leather shrinks to get that tight fit.

I would like to see what the kit looks like then after a week? Month? Year? At what rate will this happen?

[WERDNA75]

One seat Lower bolsters are done !!!

Now I need to get some replacement foam for the backrest because the foam that I had a local upholstery shop rebuild for me came out way too big. I could maybe shave it down ,but found someone selling decent used lower bolsters so I bought them and used those, and they worked out pretty good.

I tried tracing the holes that you have to cut to install the bolsters ,but since the new leather is slightly different pattern it would not be in the right place. What I ended up doing was just slice into the new leather once I started pulling it on ,and hoping I got close to where the hole needed to be. I was nervous I would get the holes in the wrong places ,but I did ok I think.

The new leather just would not go around the built up foam properly.

Once I got the leather to go around the bolster like it was supposed to then I could punch holes for the tabs on the back of the frame, and secure on the inside with three hogrings. I had to look at the base of the other seat to see where they were secured from the factory so I just redid them just like they were originally.


These tabs are folded back to the inside of the seat to secure the leather. Using a leather punch is good to make nice neat holes in the leather.


It was starting to come together at this point,and I think I can get them done now.


I will massage the leather a little to get it better,but it is ok I think.
Just remember what I started with,and this is no showcar.

I dont need these, but I do need decent upper bolster (seatback) foam so if anyone has any please let me know.

Seatbelt retainer on back seat just popped back in. The reason the leather looks so loose on the two back seat sections is because I have not secured it all the way around the edges yet. The reason is because to make it fit better when I reinstall it in the car so I can adjust the covers a little. They will be fine though, Im sure.


I was going to remove the rear backrest cover on the passenger seat so i could get a better look how the leather was secured on it ,but this bastard of a screw stripped out. I guess I will be drilling the whore out.

It has been so warm lately that I was going to try out the interior trim paint that I bought to change them to black when I get them off.
Oh, and yes I bought a real leather kit , it wasnt too much more than that vinyl kit that was mentioned a few posts up. It was a little over ($600) ,but I think that isnt bad. My kit came from autocustomleather on Ebay. The car should have real leather, I think. Thanks for all the comments , and enjoy the pics. There will be much more to come. I just work kindof slow and take my time.
On a scale of 1 to 10 on the install , I would say 5 or 6 maybe. It is just mostly time consuming and a learning process.

[TimeMachinE30]

Looks great. The leather appears quality. Feel and smell as good as it looks?

I have been reading the other forums about interior work and repair. Some good pointers you may benefit from.

[phenryiv1]

I love seeing so many convertible restorations lately.

[WERDNA75]

The leather

Looks great. The leather appears quality. Feel and smell as good as it looks?

Yes, if anything it feels a bit thicker than the OEM stuff, and smells like fine leather to me. It kindof smells like a new pair of leather shoes.:p

I have been reading the other forums about interior work and repair. Some good pointers you may benefit from.

[TimeMachinE30]

Thanks. At 650 shipped, this seems like a deal.


Happen to have a good lower left bolster in that tan???? It is the only torn piece om my seats. I am hoping to just seap one out than redo the whole interior at the moment.

[WERDNA75]

Got something cool in the mail today from Poland



Instead of losing the airbag on the driver side to upgrade the steering wheel from the boat wheel, I got something much cooler and smaller (320mm)
I bought it for my E34 ,but I think Im gonna use it on the E30 project now. This is the second one of these that I have ,and they are awesome wheels.