Interior questions - seeking advice

Rudy3.0CS said:
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.
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I agree. As you can see in my photos above, they also use a thin layer of foam right under the leather, which further fills out the space between the leather and the harder seat foam.

I re-did my 635 seats using a kit about 20 years ago. Those seats are quite similar to the back seats in a coupe. They fit better than those seats above posted by DWMBMW, but still suffered some of the same issues (wrinkles and puckers around the edges). There are also internal casings and wires that must be attached to pull in the indents and creases. If those are not tight, then the creases will not be tight, and the covering will be baggy.
 
LTIII said:
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).

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Other inspiration comes from this forum, including @paul

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Oldenzaal:

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And others:

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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
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If you are in Chicago, then you might want to look around the Detroit area. Some of the best auto paint and interiors I have ever seen are done by the custom guys in northern Detroit...

From personal experience Coupe King is fabulous, but they are an awfully long way from you. I am pretty sure there are folks in the midwest that can do as good or better a job.

Having done three car interiors from kits, I can say it is not easy to get the fit perfect. With practice, you can get it "OK", but a pro will always do a better job of it. In addition, with a custom interior you can do things like fully cover the vinyl door pulls, and select not only the exact color and finish for the leather, but a good shop will also do perforations and embossing, which may or may not be done well in a kit.

I was able to source beautiful leather from The LeatherHideStore, and drop shipped it to CK. They seem to have found it to be of good quality, and it was reasonably inexpensive ($300 per hide, used 6 hides for the entire interior, including those tall Scheel seats).

My $10K ;)
 
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LTIII said:
Thanks for the welcome and your replies.




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?
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LTIII--Welcome to the forum as the new owner of Steve's amazing Coupe. Since your car is in Naples, you might want to drive across the Alley (I-75) And see the work that Shamrock Auto Trim did to my car here in Davie and go to their shop in N. Miami Beach. They are a family owned shop that I have used for several cars in the past 35 years. They have worked on quite a few vehicles that have won at Pebble Beach. They buy leather and other materials from all of the known sources.
This pic shows the addition of the map pockets that were white and now covered in matching leather and the leather covered arm rests on the door card. That is just a small example of their E9 work.
 

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Hi Larry - Congratulations on acquiring a very nice car.

My interior is done in Congac. Specifically, a Mercedes Benz pre-WWII Congac leather from car I saw at the Carmel by the Sea Concourse in 2016. I acquired a set of Koenig seats (along with the rears done in a similar leather pattern), sourced a swatch of the leather, had the dye made up and dyed the interior myself.

Finished product:

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In process:

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I still have the original seats from my car, and could probably source a center rear armrest as well. If you are seeking seats to recover, send me a pm.
 
Hey everyone,

I appreciate all the input and the warm welcome - this forum has already been a huge help.

Quick update on the interior direction - I’ve decided to go fully custom.

After looking at a few options, I ended up connecting with Concours Interiors, a small one-man shop down in Naples. He’s been working on vintage cars for years and recently had a Ferrari Daytona in the shop, which gave me some confidence in both his experience and level of detail. More importantly, after spending some time with him, it was clear he really understands these older cars and isn’t just treating it like a modern re-trim.

The timing actually worked out perfectly. I pulled the entire interior out before heading back to Chicago and was able to drop everything off with him in person. We went through leather options together, finalized the direction, and got materials ordered.

He’s already started sewing seat panels, so things are officially in motion.

I’ll share photos as progress picks up - really excited to see this come together.

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I ended up going with a leather called Ferrari Tan/Cuoio (A-2873).

I’m really glad I took the time to look at a wide range of tan/cognac options in person, because they all read very differently once they’re actually in the car under natural light - especially against the exterior color. What looks great in a small swatch or online can feel completely different at full scale.

For me, this one struck the right balance - not too orange, not too brown, and it complements the exterior without overpowering it.

For reference, here’s the color I selected compared to a few standard BMW tan/cognac samples. The photos don’t fully capture it (as expected), but it at least gives a sense of relative tone and depth.

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Now the next challenge is carpet.

I’m leaning toward German square weave rather than the standard BMW loop, but I’m still keeping an open mind as I look through everything.

I have larger samples of all the options on the way, which should help a lot, because this feels like another area where small swatches don’t tell the full story.

Right now I’m torn between going with a tan or one of the grey tones.

The tan feels like the “safe” choice - it would keep everything cohesive with the leather - but I’m slightly concerned it could end up being a near miss if the tone isn’t exactly right.

The greys, on the other hand, feel more intentional from a design standpoint. It creates more contrast, and it reminds me of a lot of period-correct Mercedes combinations that pair warm tan leather with grey carpeting. That look seems to age really well and adds a bit more visual interest - it also pairs well with the Polaris exterior.

We’ll see how the larger samples read in the car, but that’s where my head is at right now.

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Ohmess said:
Hi Larry - Congratulations on acquiring a very nice car.

My interior is done in Congac. Specifically, a Mercedes Benz pre-WWII Congac leather from car I saw at the Carmel by the Sea Concourse in 2016. I acquired a set of Koenig seats (along with the rears done in a similar leather pattern), sourced a swatch of the leather, had the dye made up and dyed the interior myself.

Finished product:

View attachment 219349

In process:

View attachment 219350

I still have the original seats from my car, and could probably source a center rear armrest as well. If you are seeking seats to recover, send me a pm.
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Hey Chris,

Your interior looks great! That's exactly the vibe I'm going for. Is your carpet grey? Do you have any more pics showing more of the carpet?

Thanks,

Larry
 
Just to illustrate how much these colors shift depending on lighting - another reason why evaluating them in person is so important. This is in bright FL sunlight.

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Larry--I have the brown GAHH German square weave in my coupe. It has fibers that give it a grey accent. I can send pics or you can see it in person if you decide to go brown.- This pic has the floor sisal mats--Drew
 

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i would go with the dk gray or the charcoal. you want some contrast ... and they will look good with polaris.
 
Thanks everyone for the input - really helpful.

Interestingly, 316 Dark Grey is where my wife and I initially landed. That said, the shop owner has expressed some concern and is strongly steering me toward 400 Tan.

While waiting on the larger samples, I’ve gone down the rabbit hole - forum threads, BaT listings (which tend to have great photos), anything I could find for real-world examples. There aren’t a ton of square weave installs out there, but I did come across a few.

One that stood out was a thread from @OCCoupe - it looks like he may have used 316 Dark Grey (I’m going to send him a PM to confirm).

His car has a red interior, but I used AI to swap it to A-2873 Ferrari Tan just to get a better sense of the combination.

Here’s how that looks:

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Looks like you are making great progress! Congrats! One more thing to think about: you will likely want a set of Coco mats to protect your new carpets, and to provide a nice off set with carpets/mats. If you choose this option, I suggest you think about what color/pattern mats you would like. This may help you solidify your choices! https://www.cocomats.com/

These are very high quality mats that look great. They can send you swatches of your choices so you can compare and contrast. Here are some pics. Hope this helps!

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Yes, great idea about the coco mats. I was actually surfing on their site already, but I didn't see the option to request samples. I will add that to the list!
 
LTIII said:
Yes, great idea about the coco mats. I was actually surfing on their site already, but I didn't see the option to request samples. I will add that to the list!
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Cool. I didn't see that option either. I called them to discuss and they offered to send swatches, and a fitment template. I am very pleased with their customer service and their product!
 
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