Carpet removal and cleaning

[Merod]

I'm concidering removing my carpet and running a Vax or more industrial carpet cleaner over it. A couple of questions on this - 1. Is it relativley easy to get the carpet out AND back in, 2. Is this worth doing (thoughts from someone who has already done this)? Cheers, Merod.

[Kos]

keep the carpet in the car, its easier as it maintains it shape

dont get it too wet either

[Brianmoooore]

keep the carpet in the car, its easier as it maintains it shape

dont get it too wet either

That's only half a job! Take it out, hang it up, and jet wash it!! E30 carpets are indestructible.
When you take it out, cut around the section immediately under the heater box with a craft knife, as you won't get it back in again!
Beware of the wiring loom under the carpet when you cut it.

[DanThe]

I always remove the carpet, soak it in TFR and then pressure wash it clean. Use a wet-vac to pull as much water out as possible then leave it out in the "hot summer sun" (yeah right ) to dry completely.

Brings them up like new

[Kos]

keep the carpet in the car, its easier as it maintains it shape

dont get it too wet either

That's only half a job! Take it out, hang it up, and jet wash it!! E30 carpets are indestructible.
When you take it out, cut around the section immediately under the heater box with a craft knife, as you won't get it back in again!
Beware of the wiring loom under the carpet when you cut it.

that is an issue of taking it out

with the right detergents and cleaning agents you can keep it in the car, where is stays in you can easily work out stuborn stains, only light misting/steaming is required unless the carpet is really dirty with grease marks etc

a friend of mine does this for a livinng and when he does it for me come up perfect with minimal inconviniance

[evilbemer]

Had mine steam cleaned today and he used a deoderizer and industrial cleaning agents on it,i was going to take the carpet out but decided not to.
He only charged me £20 and it took him 1.5 hours.
In the garage now drying out so cant really tell if its come out ok but it looks fine so far.
Hope this helps mate

[whipsey]

i keep jet washing mine lol

[OBs]

I took mine out a while back (Still not refited it)

I put a entire tin of 'Vanish carpet mouse' over it, worked it in and jet washed it all off... I then took it to work and baked it for almost 2 hours at 60 degrees in a spray booth

Still never dried fully

So I rang it out some more and 'cooked' it again!!

OBs

[carlos_320i]

The other half has just done mine with a bissell carpet cleaner and it looks the bollox

[Merod]

Thanks guys. What exactly is the issue with the heater?

[Brianmoooore]

Thanks guys. What exactly is the issue with the heater?

Sits down tight on the carpet. You can pull it out, but it won't go back in.

[poolnoodle]

What's involved in removing the heater box (link to a tech artticle anyone?). Does cutting around the heater box affect the sit of the carpet at all......or just not plain worth worrying about

[zimmer-320i]

need to do mine for wealding, so might get mine out use me dads vax at the same time

so what of the centre console needs removing?

[Alex]

take it out and use a vax

thats what i did, although even that wouldnt remove oil stains so i dyed the carpet dark grey

[zimmer-320i]

i do want to dye mine black.... fook knows were im going to do it unless i wet the carpet spinkle on the dye, rub it in loads let it soak in and wash it off. thats when its out the car btw

might just do that!!

[daimlerman]

What's involved in removing the heater box (link to a tech artticle anyone?). Does cutting around the heater box affect the sit of the carpet at all......or just not plain worth worrying about

Heater box,after removing the dash to expose it,remove the access panel fromthe engine side of the bulkhead,remove the 4 10mm nuts that hold the heater,disconnect the two hoses on the outlet stubs and lift out frominside the car.Be aware that it will still be full of water...cutting the carpet,behind the centre console, is the easy way to remove the main part of the carpet.The difficult bit,with out cutting the carpet,is getting the thing back under the heater. If the carpet is cut carefully,the fit is not affected.

[E30BeemerLad]

yeah, just dye the mo-fo

[zimmer-320i]

what u use there?

[E30BeemerLad]

www.valeterspride.co.uk

[zimmer-320i]

cool,thanks for that mate,

[citizensnips]

most interesting, ordered some dye now,

[poolnoodle]

Think I'll just cut around heater box - doesn't sound like removing it is worth the swearing

[tomtomiS]

i did mine properly the first time it was out but the most recent removal being a few weeks ago and it being really cold and grim out, i cut the flap that goes under the heater box to save taking the dash out. still fits fine

[fingerman]

Very good read - I need to get mine out as it's soaking under both rear passenger footwells - and probably front! - The thick foam seems to do a good job of soaking up the water before it surfaces

Quite looking forward to driving round with just the drivers seat in looking for water leaks - while the carpet dries in the shed, ready for a good jet wash

[e30topless]

I Like the idea of a black carpet

[poolnoodle]

I Like the idea of a black carpet

The final colour after dying will depend on the original colour. My beige carpet, coloured with black dye, has ended up a charcoal colour (which I am happy with) but not a solid dark black that you might get dying an anthracite or blue carpet

[zimmer-320i]

would clothes dye like this stuff work

http://www.dyeshop.co.uk/catalog/dylon- ... p-187.html

tho im unsure what car carpet are made from are they nylon or polyester

as it says polyester stiching wont dye!

its worth a go as mine are dirty as fuk any way !!