Interior questions - seeking advice

[LTIII]

Hi everyone,

I’ve been lurking on this forum for a long time, dreaming of owning an E9. I’m happy to say I finally checked that box by purchasing Steve Armstrong’s car (Stevehose here on the forum).

As beautiful as the car is, I’m starting down the path of making it “mine,” and part of that will involve redoing the interior. At the risk of offending the purists, I’ve always envisioned a cognac interior - specifically Polaris over cognac - which has long been my dream combination (inspired in part by a 300SL Gullwing I once saw).

Other inspiration comes from this forum, including @paul

Oldenzaal:

And others:

I’ve read just about every thread here that touches on interiors - GAHH, World Upholstery, leather options, etc. - and I’m trying to pull all of that information together into a clear path forward.

I’ve been in contact with both GAHH and World Upholstery/Newark Auto and have samples on the way. So far, most of the standard “BMW” colors look lighter than what I’m after. They’re each sending some non-BMW options as well, but I’m still struggling to visualize how everything will come together across materials - vinyl door panels, leather seats, carpet, etc. As a result, I’m starting to think a fully custom interior may be the right path.

A few questions for those of you who have been down this road:

1. GAHH or World Upholstery/Newark seem like a solid solution for partial work (e.g., refreshing front seats), but do they make sense for a full interior color change?
2. The car is currently in Naples, so I’d ideally find a high-quality shop in Southwest Florida - any strong recommendations?
3. I’ll be heading back to Chicago soon, so I’m also open to having the work done there if there are better options.
4. I’ve seen several posts about shipping interiors to Coupe King - is that worth the added cost and complexity?

Any advice, lessons learned, or photos of similar builds would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Larry

 

[DWMBMW]

Congrats on your purchase of a beautiful example to join the ranks. Keep the center console black. I used WU for the leather seats because it was darker/ closer to the original saddle color even though most believe the GAHH leather itself is better. I did use GAHH for the carpets. Your door cards are navy which are probably too dark for just a stained color change and will need to be replaced or recovered.

 

[rsporsche]

first of all, WELCOME to e9coupe.com. we are very glad you have found us. Steve Armstrong is a good friend to many of us. so here's a few thoughts, since i have seen your car on multiple occasions and have known Steve for about 15 years.

1. you might want to check with the Werk Shop in Libertyville, Illinois. they are a very high quality BMW restoration shop and are in your general area (state). The Werk Shop is on the same quality level, maybe better / maybe close to Coupeking.

2. you are dealing with a very original car so my advice is to proceed cautiously and use known quantities. I would use original concepts / approaches - use the correct seaming / folds of the 1972 coupe.

3. i agree with you about the standard colors offered by GAHH and World ... i will also tell you that GAHH enjoys much higher recommendations than World / Newark, especially in leather quality and carpet fit. I would probably recommend a custom re-upholstery job than a kit if at all possible. door cards are an interesting discussion - i have seen very excellent changes from vinyl to leather, some people even cover the door pulls. if this was my dream that i was executing, i would find the exact leather i wanted color, texture, etc.

4. i'm going to throw-out an idea for consideration, since the last time i saw the interior, it was in extremely great shape. that could be worth selling as is after your interior is being done - an original marine blue interior is worthwhile to many. this would mean picking up a donor interior that needs to be recovered.

5. i have attached a custom 2-tone interior - brown / black ... that would look great as cognac / black. black seat back / sides + door cards ... as well as the dash + console.

 

[CSteve]

First, make it yours! I would go with a highly regarded, proven-track-record shop. About shops like The Werke Shop, confirm they do the work and not farm it out. The Werke Shop farms out its paint and body work. I would go with the lighter shade as in the Oldenzaal photo above. My vote, one among so many.

Welcome to asylum.

Steve

 

[e9Leveque]

I like @rsporsche thought of pulling that interior and replacing it with one the color you want. You may also be able to find one that is tan and then have it dyed to a cognac color.

 

[jmackro]

A few questions for those of you who have been down this road:

1. GAHH or World Upholstery/Newark seem like a solid solution for partial work (e.g., refreshing front seats), but do they make sense for a full interior color change?
2. The car is currently in Naples, so I’d ideally find a high-quality shop in Southwest Florida - any strong recommendations?

Two thoughts that are more about automotive upholstery in general and not specific to e9's:

- First chose the shop who will do the installation and fabricate any pieces not available in kits. Then, in consultation with the shop, chose whether to use a kit made by GAHH, World, etc. or having the shop make everything. Most likely, a high quality shop will want to stitch up their own seats, door panels, etc. which ensures that all parts are done using the same material and to the same quality standards.

- Chose an upholstery shop that has a great reputation, but that is also close to where you are. Living in Chicago and having the work done in Naples or Los Angeles will make things harder. You'll need to stop by the shop regularly to answer questions, make decisions and convince the craftsmen that you care about the process.

 

[LTIII]

Thanks for the welcome and your replies.

4. i'm going to throw-out an idea for consideration, since the last time i saw the interior, it was in extremely great shape. that could be worth selling as is after your interior is being done - an original marine blue interior is worthwhile to many. this would mean picking up a donor interior that needs to be recovered.

I like @rsporsche thought of pulling that interior and replacing it with one the color you want. You may also be able to find one that is tan and then have it dyed to a cognac color.

The current interior is in decent, original condition, with the main issue being the driver’s seat—there’s some cracking on the upper bolster. That’s obviously a straightforward repair and not, on its own, justification for a full interior redo - I’ve just always had my heart set on that tan/cognac look.

I’m very aware of the value placed on originality - especially with a car like this - and as @rsporsche pointed out, this is a pretty original example. Steve was clearly intentional about that as well, and anything he did (like the Webers) was done in a way that’s reversible, and I’d like to carry that philosophy forward. Because of that, I’ve considered removing the entire original interior and carefully storing it, so the car could be returned to stock down the road if desired.

Where I’m getting stuck is the practicality of sourcing a donor interior to recover. I don’t have a good sense yet of how difficult that is. I’ve been keeping an eye out (admittedly not for long), and the only one I’ve come across is the full interior that's currently on eBay. I ordered a sample from the seller, but it’s vinyl rather than leather, and the color is a much darker brown than what I’m after.

So a few questions:

• Do E9 seat sets/interiors come up for sale with any regularity?
• What are the best places to look (forum classifieds, specific vendors, etc.)?
• Is sourcing a donor interior a realistic path, or do most people end up reworking what they already have?

 

[LTIII]

@DWMBMW - do you have any pics of your interior? I'd love to see what the WU color looks like when installed.

 

[BimRLuvR]

Hi LTIII and mega congrats on buying Steve's car! And welcome! I am the new custodian of the @paul car, and love the interior he created. I would point out that the pics you see on the net here are open to color saturation and variability of the digital image. In other words, the colors in the real world can present differently then the ones you see in the pics from various cameras. My cars interior is more like peanut butter in color. Paul was kind enough to send me swatches of the "German Napa Leather" he used in case I need repairs or enhancements in the future. This leads me to suggest getting swatches of the options you are considering, and comparing them side by side so you can make the best choice for you. Just a thought!

Good luck with you new ride, and all the best! -Jim

 

[Markos]

Check with @GK-E30M3. He is in the area and likely has a spare CS interior.

 

[ScottAndrews]

While I am sure there are shops all over that are competent at interiors. I chose to have mine done by Coupe King. I am inthe SF area, and Coupe King is 400 miles south. I chose them of two reasons: 1) I bought some vintage Scheel seats from them, and they suggested that they could re-cover them for me, and 2) others I know have had great experience with them.

Being new deep into the project, I can say that working With Erik at CK has been easy and efficient. I f you know the interior parts, his questions make sense, and we have resolved many questions over a few texts.

I chose a leather that was not in their supply chain, and had it drop shipped to them. The results so far are wonderful.

I dropped off my entire interior at their shop (minus the front seats, since they already had those), and about 5 weeks later I am making plans to pick up the interior.

AS an aside, Steve was guiding me in my build, relative to triple Webers. I am going with a 3.5 liter M90 engine sourced from SFDon, but with triple Weber DCOEs from Italy. So, as a couple of the fe tripe weber cars out there, we will likely be trading stories and issues going forward. Welcome to the madness!

 

[LTIII]

Hi LTIII and mega congrats on buying Steve's car! And welcome! I am the new custodian of the @paul car, and love the interior he created. I would point out that the pics you see on the net here are open to color saturation and variability of the digital image. In other words, the colors in the real world can present differently then the ones you see in the pics from various cameras. My cars interior is more like peanut butter in color. Paul was kind enough to send me swatches of the "German Napa Leather" he used in case I need repairs or enhancements in the future. This leads me to suggest getting swatches of the options you are considering, and comparing them side by side so you can make the best choice for you. Just a thought!

Good luck with you new ride, and all the best! -Jim

Hey Jim,

Thanks, and congrats on your car. As you know, it is one of the interiors that I am using for inspiration! And, thanks for the reminder about color in images. I traded PM's with Paul, and he gave me the spec on his (now your) interior - German Napa Leather Hans Reinke "Gold" - I was surprised that the sample looked lighter than the pictures. As a result, I have a ton of samples coming my way for exactly that reason.

Thanks!

 

[bavbob]

Do not forget to look at Cabrio.de/KHM. Although based in Germany, their prices with shipping were still below that of GAHH and WU (pre-tariffs).

 

[jmackro]

While I am sure there are shops all over that are competent at interiors. I chose to have mine done by Coupe King....I dropped off my entire interior at their shop (minus the front seats, since they already had those), and about 5 weeks later I am making plans to pick up the interior.

Looking at Scott's photos, it appears that Coupe King is stitching up the seats in-house, rather than using a kit. That doesn't surprise me; when a high-quality upholsterer does an entire interior, they generally prefer to do everything, rather than trying to deal with someone else's work. Another benefit of that approach: if you use a kit, and the seats comes out ill-fitting, the upholsterer is always going to say "hey, don't blame me - it was that *&^%$# kit that you brought in". If they do the whole job, there is no question who is responsible when it is finished.

 

[ScottAndrews]

Looking at Scott's photos, it appears that Coupe King is stitching up the seats in-house, rather than using a kit. That doesn't surprise me; when a high-quality upholsterer does an entire interior, they generally prefer to do everything, rather than trying to deal with someone else's work. Another benefit of that approach: if you use a kit, and the seats comes out ill-fitting, the upholsterer is always going to say "hey, don't blame me - it was that *&^%$# kit that you brought in". If they do the whole job, there is no question who is responsible when it is finished.

Yes, this is exactly what they are doing. I selected hides and had them drop shipped. Part of the reason for this is that they had the Scheel seats (I bought them from them) and AFAIK, there are no kits for this. Their upholstery guy is top notch. He did @Ives Turkis car, and that interior is stunning.

 

[DWMBMW]

@DWMBMW - do you have any pics of your interior? I'd love to see what the WU color looks like when installed.

Mine wasn’t a color change ( the original pigskin was just cracked and worn out).

I installed a new leather kit from WU in 2015 and replaced the carpet with solid black from
GAHH because I never liked the original two tone brown carpet. It always just looked dirty to me and I like the simple dark contrasting black which just disappears into the background. I sent a small swatch of leather to Leatherique for a custom matching dye for the door cards.

My coupe is just a maintained daily driver so I just went with the less expensive kit option.

The front seat bottoms do not have the original horizontal tuck pleat and the back seats appear to have too much material and not as tight and snug as a custom would be.

WU is under new ownership/ management so I am not sure if the leather is a higher quality now but I have been happy with mine.

 

[ablank135]

@LTIII , since you're in Glenview, I'd also encourage you to join us Fuelfed members in Winnetka on the last Sundays of each month. (If you're not already a member.) Lots of current and former E9 owners (including me) attend, and you would get an eyeful of vintage leather interiors/colors, as well as advice (I'm a former Werkshop client) on local and national resources. Event schedule is at fuelfed.com. (Again, apologies if you're already aware...)

​

 

[Dan Wood]

The front seat covers are from GAHH. I replaced a seat bottom I bought earlier from the original WU. They are high quality and good color match. My 80 year old custom upholsterer friend said they didn't fit perfectly but I am very happy with how they came out.

 

[restart]

Congratulations!
Steve’s car! Fantastic!
A legend!
Enjoy!

 

[Rudy3.0CS]

I think that rear seat is more of an install problem than a bad kit. The problem is most people pull off there old leather and pull on the new kit. It's just not that easy. Foam that 50 years old has taken a different shape. Seats need to be fitted, steamed etc and foam needs to be reshaped often. Sometimes an overlay of new foam shaped to fit.