E9 Seat Covers (World Upholstery)

having seen leather from world upholstery and from GAHH, i will tell you that the leather from GAHH is a much nicer quality ... okay quite a bit more expensive. i have looked at black leathers and tan leathers from both. GAHH's tan is lighter than BMW, the black is pretty similar (haven't looked at the blue). the world uph leather is harder / stiffer.

my guess is that it takes 2.5 hides +/- 1/2 hide to recover a pair of seats. for discussion purposes, lets use 2 hides (nominally 100 sf - albeit it funny shaped). the leather can cost between 400 and 1200 USD (retail) just for material. so if the labor is the bigger part, and the total cost is 1150, then you can imagine that the cost of the material is closer to 400. GAHH is 1785 with the headrest ... so they have a budget to hopefully provide better leather. my point is, look at the quality of leather before you buy ... also the color match (especially if you aren't replacing the back seat) ... i would also ask how the company's leather is finished - topical dye or aniline dye (aniline soaks into the leather and scratches are less apparent.
 
My world upholstery kit was a perfect match to the tan leather, took a couple of weekends to re upholster the seats.

I'm not sure if the leather quality is different from the original, but the original was pretty low quality to begin with.

My $.02 worth.
 
I'll confirm Scott's comments about leather quality. I received samples of each when I was looking to do some re-upholstery a while back. There was NO comparison in the quality of World Leather vs GAHH. I would not buy leather from World if I were going to use the car much or have it for an extended period of time.

Just my opinion - 'your mileage may vary'
 
Revisiting an old thread on World Upholstery.

First we have bought from them before and have experienced good quality and good service in the past.

BUT just recently we requested a sample of leather and it was perfect. We spoke with the salesperson and was assured that the supplied hides are exactly the same as the sample. Same vat dye run etc. etc.

So we ordered 2 hides for $1300+shipping. What we got was no where near matching the sample. The sample was thicker, very soft, had a nice texture and color matched the vinyl we had previously purchased. The hides received are not very soft, have essentially zero texture, are much thinner than the sample and original leather, and does not match the vinyl as well.

Ok so we called World expecting to get support to find out what happened. First they said they would not take back the two hides as is their policy with consumables. Explanation was that samples do vary from the actual product, which is understandable, but when we were told they would and the salesperson absolutely echoed that, well.

They did send us another sample, and it looks like it is a snippet of from the hides we received.

The received hides are of a decent quality, not being a leather expert, but seem awful stiff to work with.

This is not in any way saying World is not a good company, but in this case is seems their customer support is lacking.

Anyone else have similar experiences with World and with samples not matching the end product in general?

jjs2800cs
 
I ordered GAHH after inspecting black samples from both. Got a good 'sale' price too. Excellent service as I sent back the upper front covers and requested the horizontal tuck be moved up and they agreed (2800 seats).
I'll comment that this DIY job is much mote challenging than I expected. Trimming foam here, tucking in foam there, refitting covers many times until full and smooth - a real test of patience.
 
I bought a driver seat bottom from World as their sample 0207 Gobi was a closer match than GAHH to the original seats. The sample I recieved was probably from the same material lot as the seat cover.
 
flobloc said:
Has anyone bought seat covers from World Upholstery (www.worlduph.com)? If so, I'd be interested to hear your opinion. I've been quoted $1150 for the front seats and $1150 for the rear. Let me know, thanks.
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Thanks for asking this question! I am in process of upholstering my entire interior and curious about World as well.

Reviews seem mixed.

I have purchased elephant skin vinyl from World, which was expensive (especially the shipping) but product was fine. Leather seat kits is a whole other level!!

Anyone have an upholster they would recommend to work with - of course, this would entail shipping everything …
 
Hides average 50-60 sq feet and a good quality hide can be found for $7sq/ft. A coupe would need 3 hides to make sure you have enough so that would be around $1300. I used Global Upholstery Supply in Anaheim for my e12 which also needed three hides as the rear is a bench seat obviously. Hides can have flaws and holes so there is never a guarantee that the entire piece is usable either. The cushions will need rebuilding with foam and other things but a good upholstery shop can sew up covers that should give a perfect fit.
 
World Upholstery follow up

See my post #11

We sent the original beautiful soft leather sample they sent us back to them with a sample of the hides they had sent telling us they were a close enough match and would not accept a return. So we are out $1300 bucks, for in our and others opinions who have seen the hides, the poorest quality leather we all have ever seen.

We sent the sample and a letter of explanation to the company president asking for resolution. This was at least 3 weeks ago. We have heard nothing.

So a bit of warning to dealing with World, they have zero customer support and would recommend thinking twice before using them, at least that is my recent experience.

Sour grapes on our part, yes I suppose, but one would at least expect a reply from the company owner backing up his employees and their policy.

jjs2800cs
 
We have used Steve Sperling from zoomzoomzooming on eBay for vinyl seats on the '02s and E9s. Very good quality, excellent communication and followup. I believe @BarneyT used him also for his fantabulous RED seats.
Steve Sperling Zoomzoomzooming.jpg
 
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