[xlr88r]

Step 3
----------
This was the most aggressive step. The kit instructs you to remove the protective top coats from the leather, to expose the unfinished leather itself. Due to slightly conflicting written instructions and online videos from the supplier, I'd used up a little more than half the bottle on one seat alone. Some anti-bacterial handwash (of which I had a lot, "thanks" to Covid) did let me finish off the prep on the second seat quite comfortably...

...vapours/fumes/temperature/humidity aside!

[xlr88r]

Step 4
----------
After the prep and masking up, the first colour coat is ready to go. This was applied thinly, by hand, with a sponge, paying special attention to stitching, creases, and crevices. Thankfully the kit and videos do take you through things stage-by-stage, and this kind of appearance after the first coat is normal. Phew!

[xlr88r]

Step 5
----------
The second colour coat, again applied by hand with a sponge, and again with the corners and creases and stitching being the main focus. This introduced much more colour to the seat but is still notably patchy.

[xlr88r]

Step 6
----------
The first spray coat. Wow! This really moved things on, giving a nice, rich, even colour across the seat. More colouring was still needed (can you guess what step 7 is?) but this is definitely heading in the right direction.

[xlr88r]

Step 7
----------
The second spray coat. This happily darkened the colour a touch, as they were notably lighter in colour until then. Next up, the finishing...

[xlr88r]

Step 8
----------
The first protective spray coat. This is a hard wearing gloss coat designed to seal in and protect the colour. It's certainly very glossy but don't worry, the next steps soften this to a more factory looking matte finish.

[Tambohamilton]

One crucial question; do you have a moustache tattooed on the side of your finger?? Because that is hilarious!

[xlr88r]

Step 9 and 10
------------------
The final matte finishing coats. These were spray applied and went on easily, with the coverage barely denting the bottle of liquid at all. I gave both seats 2 coats throughout, with the bolsters getting a 3rd. As the bolsters are the most common places to wear and 'shine' after use, I thought it a good idea to offer them some more protection.

Here's a finished seat with an original rear-seat headrest for comparison.

The second photo has an original seat in the distance, and a recoloured one closest.

For a first attempt I'm pleased with the colour match. It's by no means perfect, but with the rear seats sitting aside factory tinted windows, they appear slightly darker than the front seats do.

[xlr88r]

Originally Posted by Tambohamilton

One crucial question; do you have a moustache tattooed on the side of your finger?? Because that is hilarious!

I sure do!

This is entirely the fault of a) me, b) my friends, and c) drunken opportunity.

In 2010 a load of us went to Glastonbury. One of our really good friends was moving to Brazil to teach English for a year shortly after, so we made this her leaving do.

While we were there she pulled out a poll/quiz she'd written up. One of the questions was "Vote for the one of us with the best facial hair". Some of the girls complained that they couldn't win this question and were at a loss. "Not to worry!" she said as she produced a pack of makers. Moustaches and eyebrows made their way onto fingers.

A few of us made an extremely drunken pact to get finger 'taches for real, as they were ace. None of us really thought much more of it after that.

Fast forward a few weeks. I was on my now brother-in-laws stag do in... yikes... Magaluf. The flight there was early; 8am ish I seem to remember. The only 'beach bag' I had was the tote bag from Glasto, which you get free with a copy of one of the newspapers sold there. Inside the bag were a couple of the pens from Glasto, so I set about adding 'taches and eyebrows to the guys on the stag.

Sometime at around 1am, following a medically questionable amount of beers, I spotted a 24-hour tattoo parlour. Beer in hand I had it done!

It's terrible.
It's uneven in thickness.
It's debatably upside down.
It's thankfully on my left hand and I'm right-handed, so it's not normally especially visible... thankfully!

Good grief.

[Tambohamilton]

brilliant! It's definitely upside down, if you ask me, but who cares!? Just adds to the effect

[xlr88r]

Originally Posted by Tambohamilton

brilliant! It's definitely upside down, if you ask me, but who cares!? Just adds to the effect

Hehe! Aye, if I'm honest, it is upside down really. Ah well! Like you say it adds to the overall effect... if effect is the right word. Defect might be more appropriate!

[xlr88r]

Well. Here's the recolouring aftermath. The 4x cloths and scouring pad with the kit were done for. Joining the fallen were, I think, 6 or 7 microfibers, 3x 3M fine sanding pads, a dish cloth, and a cutting compound applicator pad too.

May they be forever remembered for their dedication to seat recolouring. R.I.P.

[xlr88r]

Phew! After spending 2 full days on the front seats alone, I was in real need of some fresh air following that sustained and arduous chemical attack.

First up was a quick bit of veg picking from the greenhouse. That late burst of summer kept the cucumbers going, and helped ripen up some more tomatoes and sweet peppers too. You just can't beat home-grown.

After that it was time for some window frame TLC. The Shadow Line trims were speckled and almost oily looking, but a quick seeing to with some Meguiars Ultimate Compound really brought them back to life.

[xlr88r]

Time to get back inside and crack on with this interior.

Before I restart though, look at what I picked up from another breakers... yep! Have decided to go all in and change the dashboard as well.

Referring back a few posts, that guide is so detailed and so photo heavy, that this does look to be something I'll be able to tackle. Still though - yikes!

[xlr88r]

With that sat there cluttering the hallway... and the living room still resembling a mini breakers yard... it was clearly time to add to the pile of parts by starting the dash teardown.

Some of these bits I've had out in the past. The CCC in my old E90 failed (had that "boot loop/rarely works" issue) and I retrofitted CIC myself. As such, some parts of the dash strip were fairly straightforward, although the steering cowl, center speaker, cup holders, and glovebox weren't things I'd removed previously.

Anyway, time to crack on...













Getting there!

Removing the glovebox and driver's side storage wasn't really necessary, but I figured that the lighter the dash was, the easier it would be to manoeuvre around.

More soon!

[xlr88r]

That was a busy day spent dashing around (sorry!) but a really productive one. Original dash out, new one in.

Genuinely, this wasn't too tricky. Believe it or not, when these bits have been removed...

- Everything in the front footwells
- The centre console.
- The A-pillar trims.
- The dash components; nav, trims, steering wheel, glovebox etc.

...the dash itself is only held in with 5x Torx bits and a single 10mm bolt. It was a little bit tricky to slot the new dash into place initially (I'd accidentally caught the steering wheel adjustment lever inside the cut out for the steering wheel) but once I'd spotted that it came back together pretty quickly. Honestly, the old one was out and the new one was in place in about an hour-ish.

Some pics:









Aaah, the memories. That was a good day!

Bonus pic of the old E90 in the background.

[xlr88r]

Some pics of the new dash in place, and the rebuild starting.

Something I only just remembered was the window switches. The donor car switches were, not a surprise, absolutely filthy. I took it apart and gave it a good clean. Happily, there wasn't much in the way of scratches or worn paint on the trim - it's that soft-touch rubberised paint which can end up really scratched and tatty looking.

Some pics:





Yuck!



Better!

[Tambohamilton]

Great work!

[Runnin'Rich]

Wow this is heroic stuff!
Good call on dying the seats
You'd be looking for saddle sport seats forever

[xlr88r]

Originally Posted by Tambohamilton

Great work!

Cheers mate! At this point I'd broken just a single clip (behind the panel to the front of the passenger footwell) and rounded a T10 bit. Very few casualties so far then, which was a miracle!

[xlr88r]

Originally Posted by Runnin'Rich

Wow this is heroic stuff!
Good call on dying the seats
You'd be looking for saddle sport seats forever

Thanks very much! When I look back at the pics and remember the 2 days spent gassing myself on the leather prep fumes, I'm still a bit surprised I took this on. The rest of the refit was fairly hassle free, which was a nice relief for a first timer.

Mentioning which...

[xlr88r]

Let's get this refit underway...

...well, after finding there's a bit more beige knocking around which needs taking care of. First up was the climate control trim. I had a small amount of matte black vinyl left over from a previous attempt at wrapping trims, so that and the heat gun came out to play. This will do for now, until I find a really good used climate trim... new ones are about £45!

After that, I rebuilt the rest of the dash and fitted the front door cards as well. Some pics:











Woop!

Looking a lot more modern in there now.