Hello. My name is Dan, and today I doomsday prepped

[wasnt m3]

Pro tip: install on a very warm sunny day.

[KaiserRolls]

wasnt m3 said:

Pro tip: install on a very warm sunny day.

I did. Also let it sit out for a week.

[straight6pwr]

i dont know, never done this before. I have it out and am walking on the floor pan bit to hopefully get that part nice and flat.  maybe heat gun to get out the wrinkles?

[Boris3]

Does the replacement carpet have the same foam backing like the original?

[KaiserRolls]

Boris3 said:

Does the replacement carpet have the same foam backing like the original?

Mine did not

[straight6pwr]

there is foam on the back of this brand.

i have also trained the cats to sleep and play on the carpet to help with the flatness.

[KaiserRolls]

Also did not have holes for the seat bolts/belts. That was annoying.

[B C]

How about ironing it?

Likely on the "Nylon" or low heat setting due to the plastic content of the fibers.

[KaiserRolls]

straight6pwr said:

there is foam on the back of this brand.

i have also trained the cats to sleep and play on the carpet to help with the flatness.

Post pic I am curious

[straight6pwr]

KaiserRolls said:

Post pic I am curious

ok, whiskers.

[KaiserRolls]

Hahahahah

[GunMetalGrey]

Those eyes are awesome!
Carpet looks good!

[straight6pwr]

GunMetalGrey said:

Those eyes are awesome!
Carpet looks good!

Norman says thank you.

now i just have to wait for a slightly warmer weekend to do the carpet swap. come on Wisconsin!

[Jdesign]

straight6pwr said:

we are rolling now.  the SEM stuffs have arrived.

door panels done.  here's a comparison photo for reference. its hard to find direct comparisons online so hopefully this helps someone else down the line.

i couldn't be happier with the color and coverage. covers the old color, but all the vinyl texture is all still there. the final test will be how it holds up in the long run.

 

I have been looking into this stuff since I got my car and just had a hard time biting the bullet to do it. is the SEM Palomino the closest color you could find I assume?

[straight6pwr]

well, I wanted something in the natural leather spectrum of colors - light tan to brown. (bmw modena is my favorite) i read good reviews about the SEM for vinyl materials, so I ordered up their color sample chart and picked the best option.  my second choice was Saddle Tan, which is a brown.  you can certainly borrow the color sample chart if you want!

[straight6pwr]

update #1. almost done with the interior re-dye. all that's left is the drivers seat, which was still doing duty as a drivers seat but can get pulled now.

to get every nook and cranny, i completely disassembled the front seat. its an easy job, there are some guides online that detail everything. only special tools needed are a snap ring pliers and hog ring pliers to put it back together. don't forget to check for breakages, and regrease all the pivots, gears, etc while you are in there.  luckily this seat had not broken anywhere, yet. i did use a different set of sliders as the ones on the seat were very rusty.

this was my first experience with hog rings for upholstery work. i found a pliers/rings set on amazon for cheap. they worked well.

just located the replacement rings near the originals.

looks comfy!

i also reglued the edge of the door panels that were separating. a couple of methods were used. clamp/glue to glue it back.

some locking pliers to 'stretch' the material back in place while gluing.

all the various plastic pieces done!

getting close!

[straight6pwr]

update #2

so when i bought my racing helmet for the ice rallies, well, i obviously saw an empty canvas. i couldn't not modify it.

so i had three goals: 1)try and get a little 80s styling   2)scream BMW   3)design had to work with vinyl graphics for ease of install/removal.

a big shout out to Dave (bassboy) who does great work creating vinyl graphics. they turned out great! we have other projects in the pipeline which are equally as fun.

here was the final prototype after a couple of different versions.

converting the handmade pieces to vector graphics

prototype and test print

final product

[YoungCR]

Great updates!

[m42b32]

That seat looks incredible, I can't wait to see it all put together in the car!

[Jdesign]

I would love to borrow that chart. From what I have seen online, I always thought buckskin was the closest to what my interior was.

That seat looks amazing BTW. How long do you have to let it set before you can uh.....sit?