leather seats repair

[filip00]

hey everyone,

i've been looking old threads but i didn't find any solutions so let me describe the problem here.

i've found and bought some ridiculously cheap electric leather interior for my e34. it all came off a crashed car, so they needed some attention. after carefully vacuuming and cleaning, the read seat is almost as good as new. i used some nigrin and eagle1 today to nourish the leather and it's fab. the passenger seat is a bit worn but good to go. the driver's seat however suffered most damage. the leather isn't torn anywhere, but on one side and near the rear lumbal part the color (light grey) has faded over the years. it's fairly dark and i would like to recolor it. so my question of the day is - is there a way to color that leather back or close to its first condition? if i can color it, what color would i use and does anyone know the proper procedure of coloring?

if everything fails, i will install some extra leather i have on the seat, but i would like to save original leather on it if possible.


thanks for all advice

[shogun]

as you live in Europe, order the leather care set from Harry Wagner, well known among the E32 and E34 drivers.
Here a repair shown on a BMW meeting
http://www.leder-wagner.de/gallery_index.php?gPath=2_3
http://www.leder-wagner.de/articles_info.php?articles_id=10
http://www.leder-wagner.de/Reparatur/Lederreparator-schwarz-repariert-Oberflaechenschaeden-kleine-Risse-und-faerbt-nach-pid-47.html
http://www.leder-wagner.de/articles_info.php?articles_id=34

if the colour is black, buy this set
http://www.leder-wagner.de/product_info.php?cPath=5_25&products_id=86

in case the colour is another one, send him a small sample of the good leather from under the seat where it is still o.k., size like a coin, and he will mix it to match.
He speaks English, no problem.

I imported already a lot from him for my friends in Japan, and I know him personally from one of the German BMW meetings, he owns an E32 740

[Bo525i]

I wonder if it would work just as well as repaint on a steering wheel or if it wears off too quickly on that.. Anyways, I´m definitely gonna get some for my black sports seats!

[shogun]

works also on steering wheels, first you have to use the 'grinding sponge" which comes with the package/set, that enables to refresher paint to go deep into the leather.

I have even changed one center console from grey to black, for that he sent me a concentrate of the black paint, that refresher stuff is diluted.

He also has liquid leather to fill cracks, see here
http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/380653/

[Bo525i]

Awesome, thx Shogun!

[filip00]

well, i have no pictures as i forgot to take my camera...but what i've done so far...

i carefully cleaned the seats using Nigrin's leather care, and EagleOne and the result is super clean seats. rear bench is fantastic, superb condition. passenger side okay, but the driver's side is awful. the good news is the seat isn't torn anywhere.
after calling 15+ color shops, i finally find one that has leather paint. i bought white and black bottles, considering they only had brown with these two. i added some black to the white, and after few adjustments/adding additional black drops, i managed to hit the exact light grey shade the original seat color is. i painted the drivers side using a piece of cloth and smudging the color in the leather. i am very pleased with the result although it needs another light coat. i used all of the paint so next time i'm finishing the seat i will take photos of the progress so i can put all phases of the project.
initial dirty stage-cleaning-painting-polishing.

update coming in a day or two.

[shogun]

One hint if you are using "liquid leather". That stuff is for filling cracks in the leather, works fine. But you have to repat that several times, because when the liquid leather dries, it shrinks a bot, so when applied first time, you can still see the cracks, although less. So do it repatedly and wait in between till it dries, then when all cracks are filled, apply the leather paint. In winter time a hair dryer helps to dry it faster (bot not very hot, just warm).
Here some good info from David Cecil
http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/1173
http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/302202
http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/1708

When there is a real hole or long crack in the leather, pull the leather off from the seat, glue on a piece of leather from the rear side, let it dry, then put the leather on again. Now start with filling the gaps between the new leather patch and the original leather with liquid leather. For this I used a different kind of liquid leather, that is concentrated and like a paste.
Then apply paint, you will not see any cracks then.

I also got this liquid leather paste from Harry wagner in germany, but there are a lot on the internet, check them out.
He even mixed for me the matching paint into the liquid leather, so that it is easier to cover the area. Normally the liquid leather is whit-ish.
http://www.asseenontv.com/prod-pages/LiquidLeatherRepair.html
http://www.repair-it-all.com/

[Bo525i]

Gawd dang, that looks incredible.. What a difference!