Leather seat bolsters faded and cracked- what to do?

C

Chaseme

New member
My mom's seat bolsters on her 2001 BMW 3 series are completely faded, cracked and have lost color.



So I decided to ask you gurrus what would be best to do to get the color back and recondition the leather.



So what do you guys suggest, or who can you guys suggest? We are located in St. Paul, MN, if you know someone that could fix this problem my parents and myself would deeply appreciate it.



Pic of seat bolster:

CIMG2563.jpg


Up close:

CIMG2561.jpg




Thanks in advance,



Chase
 
Once it gets that bad the only "recondition" option is to have it reupholstered.

Off the top of my head I don't know of anywhere in the area but I could do some looking around for you and ask some friends.
 
To get the color back you might try a leather cleaner. I have had good results with Z9 (Zaino's leather cleaner) It might just be that dirty. As far as the bolster, I think you might need it re done, in that case dont worry about cleaning the leather :)
 
Yeah more than likely. My girlfriends car has leather seats and everytime I wash it I use zainos leather conditioner, and their cleaner and conditioner every other wash or every 3 washes
 
No, not at all and it smells delicious. There are a few other products that people like as well. Do a search for leather conditioners and see what people say and chose a product you think would work great for you.
 
you either have the choice to pay to have new leather sewn in or re dye it...no leather conditioner will restore those cracks and damage (although id suggest you use on the good stuff )



heres my results that i had with a leathermagic kit...as you can see nearly all the bad stuff sanded out, no filler was used





before



leatherdye003.jpg




leatherdye001.jpg




after sanding



leatherdye004.jpg




done



leatherdyyedone006.jpg




comparison shot next to my untouched passenger seat the pic shows some speckles , thats just my poor photo skills , the repair is almost undectable to the eye :bigups



leatherdyyedone003.jpg




i am very pleased with the results , its just what i wanted ! time to repair that bolster was around 2hrs (i already had the seat out):xyxthumbs
 
no you can be quiet rough with it....i sanded the worst with 180 and then stepped down to 240 and 320 , all done dry



you have to sand well to get all the cracked stuff off
 
once you decide how to fix your problem, you might want to, please don't take this wrong, learn how to get in the seat without constantly rubbing the bolster with your body. try sitting in the seat then putting your legs last. i have a vet, one of five i've owned and that's how i've always gotten in them and i've never ever had a worn bolster. it's the constant rubbing of your clothes against it that wears it out, of course it doesn't hurt to clean and condition on a regular basis, hope this helps.
 
blucpe said:
once you decide how to fix your problem, you might want to, please don't take this wrong, learn how to get in the seat without constantly rubbing the bolster with your body. try sitting in the seat then putting your legs last. i have a vet, one of five i've owned and that's how i've always gotten in them and i've never ever had a worn bolster. it's the constant rubbing of your clothes against it that wears it out, of course it doesn't hurt to clean and condition on a regular basis, hope this helps.
Click to expand...



That's good advice. And yeah you should be able to repair and redye the bolster(yeah there's a weird word). I've seen some pretty amazing turnarounds with leather seats.
 
I have the same exact seats and year in black. Mine are a little faded, but I have been using zaino leather in a bottle for 3 years now and it has not gotten much worse over time. I think yours are pretty much toast, not much you can do. I would actually see if I could find a seat from a junk yard or from someone who has replaced theirs with something else on a BMW forum.



Steve



18990325interior.jpg
 
blucpe said:
once you decide how to fix your problem, you might want to, please don't take this wrong, learn how to get in the seat without constantly rubbing the bolster with your body. try sitting in the seat then putting your legs last. i have a vet, one of five i've owned and that's how i've always gotten in them and i've never ever had a worn bolster. it's the constant rubbing of your clothes against it that wears it out, of course it doesn't hurt to clean and condition on a regular basis, hope this helps.
Click to expand...



best advice ever, I know some people will give me weird looks when I get in my bimmer, but who cares, at least the day when I sell my car, the seats will still look brand new, which doesn't hurt the resale value.
 
blucpe said:
once you decide how to fix your problem, you might want to, please don't take this wrong, learn how to get in the seat without constantly rubbing the bolster with your body. try sitting in the seat then putting your legs last. i have a vet, one of five i've owned and that's how i've always gotten in them and i've never ever had a worn bolster. it's the constant rubbing of your clothes against it that wears it out, of course it doesn't hurt to clean and condition on a regular basis, hope this helps.
Click to expand...

that only works if you can park in places that allow you to fully open your door. here in los angeles, all the parking spaces are way too narrow, so you be hard-pressed to be able to do that regularly (at least with my bad knees).
 
Leatherique would be a good choice to inquire as well, they have a similar kit close to LeatherMagic. Their customer service would be willing to do a walkthrough for you.
 
admac said:
that only works if you can park in places that allow you to fully open your door. here in los angeles, all the parking spaces are way too narrow, so you be hard-pressed to be able to do that regularly (at least with my bad knees).
Click to expand...



Door dings waiting to happen. I'll walk a mile or two if it means not having to park my car next to someone else's. Bad knees are a bummer though.
 
There are people out their that will redye and repair your bolsters . They do this every day for dealers, and I sure if you talk to a used car manager he will give you the phone number of the person that does it for him.
 
You can also just have that one piece replaced with new leather. Had it done on one of my seats and it came out just fine.
 
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