Valuation on this leather interior please

Post Thu Oct 09, 2014 4:54 pm

Can you please let me know what this leather interior is worth? Thanks

Post Thu Oct 09, 2014 5:59 pm

Don't bother. By the time you have bought this trim, sourced a pair of door cards, repaired the rear seat (assuming it can be, often they just rip again as the leather has shrunk) stripped the drivers seat, had a bolster made , recoloured both front seats and rear seat , you will be well on your way to a proper retrim by the likes of B trim.

Post Thu Oct 09, 2014 7:20 pm

I thought small cuts can be repaired and the leather come up like new if renovated properly?

Post Thu Oct 09, 2014 7:28 pm

elan wrote:I thought small cuts can be repaired and the leather come up like new if renovated properly?

I don't see many small 'cuts' there.......

Post Thu Oct 09, 2014 7:53 pm

elan wrote:I thought small cuts can be repaired and the leather come up like new if renovated properly?

Leather never comes up "like new" when recoloured and renovated.

It looks just that, renovated not new.

Post Thu Oct 09, 2014 11:01 pm

elan, have you tried LG Trimming yet?

I'll be getting my seats done by him!

Post Thu Oct 09, 2014 11:06 pm

pacerpete wrote:
elan wrote:I thought small cuts can be repaired and the leather come up like new if renovated properly?
I don't see many small 'cuts' there.......

Fair comment

Post Thu Oct 09, 2014 11:10 pm

Rickz wrote:elan, have you tried LG Trimming yet?

I'll be getting my seats done by him!

I looked at their website and the work does look good. I am just exploring all options. Have they given you a ball part figure for the retrim?

Post Fri Oct 10, 2014 9:06 am

its always nice to keep a slightly patinated OE leather interior. retrims never seem to be quite the same, sometimes better and sometimes worse but never quite the production line finish. leathers in the 70's and 80's mass produced in factories had a satin hard wearing look that newer better modern leathers cant replicate. cardinal red is deffo the colour to compliment your car which is a fantastic restoration. i dont think this interior will go with no paint no matter how much TLC you administer, its ok for a slightly tatty daily but will never cut the mustard in a fresh paint convertible. id bite the bullet and go for a retrim in the thickest grade leather you can get in this colour. refreshing all the foam is a good idea as well and a repaint of all the seat frames. the door trims should be restorable with patience. better to use factory if possible rather than revinyled with stitching instead of heat melted box lines.

Post Fri Oct 10, 2014 10:05 am

povertyspec wrote:its always nice to keep a slightly patinated OE leather interior. retrims never seem to be quite the same, sometimes better and sometimes worse but never quite the production line finish. leathers in the 70's and 80's mass produced in factories had a satin hard wearing look that newer better modern leathers cant replicate. cardinal red is deffo the colour to compliment your car which is a fantastic restoration. i dont think this interior will go with no paint no matter how much TLC you administer, its ok for a slightly tatty daily but will never cut the mustard in a fresh paint convertible. id bite the bullet and go for a retrim in the thickest grade leather you can get in this colour. refreshing all the foam is a good idea as well and a repaint of all the seat frames. the door trims should be restorable with patience. better to use factory if possible rather than revinyled with stitching instead of heat melted box lines.

Thanks, this is great advice. I do like the slightly aged original lether seats but you are right to say that it needs to be in decent condition.

Is there anything else to look at during retrim? I am considering cardinal red leather with black stitching to match the black bodywork.

Is it also best to go for nappa leather?

Post Fri Oct 10, 2014 4:41 pm

About £2000 or so including door cards and horse shoe..

I've heard nappa is the best

but there are alternatives

Post Fri Oct 10, 2014 6:28 pm

biggest issue is the rips at the seams, if you didn't have these the cracks etc are easily repairable, its the leather finish/colour that crazes and cracks not the leather itself,

there are restoration kits you can buy, ive used one myself and the results were pretty incredible,

Post Fri Oct 10, 2014 8:30 pm

Had my LS's re-trimmed in Nappa

Post Fri Oct 10, 2014 9:30 pm

^^^ WOW ^^^

Post Sat Oct 11, 2014 12:01 am

Kieran you attention whore

Post Sat Oct 11, 2014 7:50 am

Looks lovely Kieran, who carried out retrim?

Post Sat Oct 11, 2014 8:43 am

I think £1600 rings a bell. It took 3 hides of nappa leather at £300 a piece.

Suchy - I'm not one for pictures as you all know

Post Sat Oct 11, 2014 8:46 am

elan wrote:Looks lovely Kieran, who carried out retrim?

A place in Manchester called Autotrim, I know the guys well and they do some quality work. If you need any more info let me know and I'll pass on your interest to Jim and get a price etc.

Post Sat Oct 11, 2014 8:47 am

kieran325 wrote:Suchy - I'm not one for pictures as you all know

Yes we all know that Kieran

Post Sat Oct 11, 2014 8:53 am

The 'red' leather seats at the top of the page are blatantly painted by an amateur, paint on the handles and drips on the sill? This just devalues seats, so id value the whole interior at about £100

Nice levahhzz Kieran

Post Sat Oct 11, 2014 9:02 am

Nice cheeky one with the heated seat switches moved to where the rear window switches should be

Post Sat Oct 11, 2014 9:06 am

Kieran, can we see pics of the leather after you've sat in them over time..

Post Sat Oct 11, 2014 9:13 am

I'll take some soon as I'll be dragging the sport out to swap around with the M3.

My slender figure hasn't marked them one bit you cheeky git.

Post Sat Oct 11, 2014 10:08 am

Rav335uk wrote:Kieran, can we see pics of the leather after you've sat in them over time..

Here you go

They look shiny but that's due to the spotlights in my garage.

Post Mon Oct 13, 2014 1:53 pm

those black seats look the dogs. ive had a few interiors trimmed and i can say just from the photos that top quality work. i dont think nappa is as hard wearing as buffalo in leather grades??. another bit of advice is just because youre paying 1500 quid for a retrim dont get caught in the "well, i may as well get piping and erm contrasting stitching and erm alacantara inserts and...". cardinal red looks cooler with cardinal red stitching. the contrasting stitching novelty will wearing off and you'll wish you'd gone more subtle. i made that mistake and ruined a grey on black 964 with black with grey piping ,yuck . i hated the piping so much it made me sell the car, black on black but i wanted to get value from the trimmer,piping is for MGB's and men in kilts!.
the original interior was a hard wearing factory leather, the nappa seemed much softer and didnt look like it would last another 20 years of getting in and out of the drivers seat.
before i runined it.

Post Mon Oct 13, 2014 6:09 pm

povertyspec wrote:those black seats look the dogs. ive had a few interiors trimmed and i can say just from the photos that top quality work. i dont think nappa is as hard wearing as buffalo in leather grades??. another bit of advice is just because youre paying 1500 quid for a retrim dont get caught in the "well, i may as well get piping and erm contrasting stitching and erm alacantara inserts and...". cardinal red looks cooler with cardinal red stitching. the contrasting stitching novelty will wearing off and you'll wish you'd gone more subtle. i made that mistake and ruined a grey on black 964 with black with grey piping ,yuck . i hated the piping so much it made me sell the car, black on black but i wanted to get value from the trimmer,piping is for MGB's and men in kilts!.
the original interior was a hard wearing factory leather, the nappa seemed much softer and didnt look like it would last another 20 years of getting in and out of the drivers seat.
before i runined it.

It was grey, it was ruined already !

Post Tue Oct 14, 2014 10:51 am

it had a bullet proof teutonic clinical and hard wearing feel. after my ill advised retrim it became the classic you always promised yourself on retirement. it didnt even feel right exceeding the speed limit anymore on the way to buy a golf jumper and slacks.

Post Tue Oct 14, 2014 1:10 pm

The retrim looks like a difficult thing to get right so it feels as though its from that era. Some like the Keran's looks great. I will take a bit of time to decide rather than rush in to anything.

What do you guys think of the this:

http://www.bespokeleathering.com/galler ... our-change

http://www.bespokeleathering.com/galler ... onvertible

Post Tue Oct 14, 2014 7:21 pm

Theres just something about a nice red / wine coloured interior that's so nice looking

Post Tue Oct 14, 2014 10:12 pm

povertyspec wrote:those black seats look the dogs. ive had a few interiors trimmed and i can say just from the photos that top quality work. i dont think nappa is as hard wearing as buffalo in leather grades??. another bit of advice is just because youre paying 1500 quid for a retrim dont get caught in the "well, i may as well get piping and erm contrasting stitching and erm alacantara inserts and...". cardinal red looks cooler with cardinal red stitching. the contrasting stitching novelty will wearing off and you'll wish you'd gone more subtle. i made that mistake and ruined a grey on black 964 with black with grey piping ,yuck . i hated the piping so much it made me sell the car, black on black but i wanted to get value from the trimmer,piping is for MGB's and men in kilts!.
the original interior was a hard wearing factory leather, the nappa seemed much softer and didnt look like it would last another 20 years of getting in and out of the drivers seat.
before i runined it.

I sold a retrimmed Recaro LS interior done in nappa by B-trim to replace it with an original BMW leather trim from a 27000 mile car.

Original over retrim all the time. Trouble is finding original trim in nice condition, next to impossible. I had to travel to Germany to get one!

Post Tue Oct 14, 2014 11:01 pm

elan wrote:The retrim looks like a difficult thing to get right so it feels as though its from that era. Some like the Keran's looks great. I will take a bit of time to decide rather than rush in to anything.

What do you guys think of the this:

http://www.bespokeleathering.com/galler ... our-change

http://www.bespokeleathering.com/galler ... onvertible

1st link for the colour change was a zoners "Matt", that I arranged with John to get done for him.

Post Tue Oct 14, 2014 11:47 pm

So is there an alternative to nappa?

Was under the assumption its the best leather to go for...

Post Wed Oct 15, 2014 8:51 am

elan wrote:The retrim looks like a difficult thing to get right so it feels as though its from that era. Some like the Keran's looks great. I will take a bit of time to decide rather than rush in to anything.

What do you guys think of the this:

http://www.bespokeleathering.com/galler ... our-change

http://www.bespokeleathering.com/galler ... onvertible

ER WOW!. thats literally an amazing transformation. almost like new. i suppose if leathers coloured in the first place theres no reason why it cant be repeated. you might consider putting new leather in the bolsters, swapping the passenger seat to the drivers, new foam and restoring the original leather facias like this. havent seen it up close but im totally amazed by this.