The seat debate

[Haseeb]

Hey everyone, hope all is well. I have come to stir the pot however, and that is to say, with certainty, that, leather/vinyl seats are truly god awful. Very sweaty in the summer, ice cold in the winter, and just overall a metaphorical and literal pain in the gluteus maximus in light of all this, I am seriously considering looking into cloth (or cozyyy velour) seats for my e3, has anyone done this type of swap before or know where I can get some? As an example, I noticed some of the e28 seats are velour https://goo.gl/images/y8eEDE and look mighty tempting, would they fit and where would be a good place to find some? Cloth bmw is seemingly uncommon here for whatever reason, so any tips/thoughts/knowledge are welcome here. And if any of you work at bmw...hear my pleas for cloth

A happy butt makes a happy drive lmao

 

[Arde]

German Vinyl in my E9 is great, it looks like new and cleans with water. Leather seast well done are the gold standard. Cloth was used in Italian dellivery E9s I believe, but poorly done looks el cheapo... The Alpina BMWs had a cloth that I like though. No idea where to get that.

 

[Bwana]

The comfy Velour that came with my Italian delivery e9 was nice but it also looked like I had to wear my platform shoes and leisure suit to drive it . Also, the fuzz wore off in the high traffic areas so it looked a bit patchy. Leather is timeless and can wear like iron. The original seats in my e39 with 219,000 are almost like new. YMMV, do what you like

 

[teahead]

You drive in the winter?

Guess one can always outfit the stock seats w/seat heaters.

As far as sweaty in the summer, true if you don't have AC or non-working AC.

Don't go w/cloth. Go w/the stock Velour if you must.

 

[JayWltrs]

My $.02. Upholstery is visually and tactilely (word?) something you've got to see in person. Unless budget is no object and you go with one of the shops the top restorers use, I'd drop in on a few auto upholstery shops. I would start with some older shops who have experience with BMW's to get their take, but I would also go to some new shops to see if there are more modern fabric options that hold up better in the velour/cloth ranges. I'm kind of doing this now, as my long-term list includes re-building the front seats and trying to save the leather. I caution that spousal annoyance can result from swerving off the road for unscheduled stops at sketchy-looking shops.

 

[scottd]

Since you've mentioned trying to save your original leather, I'm curious to m is what you plan to do? Are you having them dyed?

Scott

 

[dave v. in nc]

And then theres wool, nature's wonderful, versatile goodness. I had my first lamb shearling seat cover in the 70's in my 2002, and thought I was "all that", since very few folks had them...cool in summer because of the wicking effect, and warm in winter for obvious reasons, and just plain old soft, tactile comfort. And they hold your a** in place. Then they got to be cliché, and expensive (even covering the headrest for the 560sl crowd, et. al. I guess..), and then they got cheap, as in polyester faux wool crap that said "cracked, torn upholstery under here". But the real deal performs. They do protect your leather from UV, and if your car is show quality, take them off for the show. My wife says its the best thing about my car. You either love them or not. They smell like a wool sweater. Yes, they can be properly cleaned, but not in the Maytag.

 

[Haseeb]

You drive in the winter?

Guess one can always outfit the stock seats w/seat heaters.

As far as sweaty in the summer, true if you don't have AC or non-working AC.

Don't go w/cloth. Go w/the stock Velour if you must.

I bought the car in February so I drove around a few times in the cold (gets all the looks ) but never in snow! velour is probably what I want the most

 

[Haseeb]

And then theres wool, nature's wonderful, versatile goodness. I had my first lamb shearling seat cover in the 70's in my 2002, and thought I was "all that", since very few folks had them...cool in summer because of the wicking effect, and warm in winter for obvious reasons, and just plain old soft, tactile comfort. And they hold your a** in place. Then they got to be cliché, and expensive (even covering the headrest for the 560sl crowd, et. al. I guess..), and then they got cheap, as in polyester faux wool crap that said "cracked, torn upholstery under here". But the real deal performs. They do protect your leather from UV, and if your car is show quality, take them off for the show. My wife says its the best thing about my car. You either love them or not. They smell like a wool sweater. Yes, they can be properly cleaned, but not in the Maytag.

Hmmm that’s actually pretty interesting and might be cheaper than entirely changing the seats

 

[Markos]

Hmmm that’s actually pretty interesting and might be cheaper than entirely changing the seats

If you are fine with seat covers hiding damaged seats it’s a good option. It is generally pretty easy to find a rear seat in fantastic shape, particularly with coupes. Rear seats in e3’s were used quite a bit more, so one might need to hunt a bit more.