Seats--Leather Kits

[willybali]

Anyone have any input on leather seat kits, My shop used to use GABH, or something along those letters, been away from the automotive world awhile:roll:

They are quoting prices for one that used to be for two!!! Any input would be appreciated. Another note, I too am pleased of the amount of replacement items being reproduced by BMW. Just put a substantial order in and 90% have come back as available, including the upper firewall sound insulation. Front of wiper box!!

I am in a dream state here but anyone seen 16" Alpina Wheels available?

 

[Ed G]

Good things have been said about GAHH here. The inference has been that quality is slightly better than World Upholstery. With that said, I am very satisfied with my World Upholstery seats.

See the suppliers links at this forum home page.

 

[rsporsche]

having received some samples from GAHH, the leather was better, but the color was not correct - i got all of the beige samples ... and none were correct. the color of the world upholstery seemed to be correct. i have seen the GAHH seats and they do look good, probably better than WU from a manufacturing perspective. but they are also more expensive.

i have been thinking about asking for their price if i supplied the leather. anybody know if either of the companies will do that?

 

[Stan]

another idea

Select the leather and ship everything out to Coupe King!
Or, maybe you can swap your set plus cash for a new completely reupholstered set.
Might be worth a call

 

[rsporsche]

Select the leather and ship everything out to Coupe King!
Or, maybe you can swap your set plus cash for a new completely reupholstered set.
Might be worth a call

that sounds like it might be worth the discussion. Stan have you seen any work that the guy who does Mario's work?

 

[Bert Poliakoff]

Just for kicks.. When I had the Recaros in my e24 reupholstered, I found a one man band shop. Seats done in beautiful leather matching original stitching etc. $650 the pair

 

[TodB]

have you seen any work that the guy who does Mario's work?

I had the side bolster of my driver's side seat replaced by the fellow that Mario uses. My seats are not OEM so he had to match the leather and I thought it came out great.

 

[JFENG]

How many years ago ?

Just for kicks.. When I had the Recaros in my e24 reupholstered, I found a one man band shop. Seats done in beautiful leather matching original stitching etc. $650 the pair

I've heard leather has gone way up in the last decade, despite the move of toxic tanning to china and the onward to SE Asia

 

[rsporsche]

my guess is that it would take 2 hides to upholster all of the seats in a coupe - approx 80 to 100 sf. so that is a minimum of 400 to 500 bucks for leather alone ... more like 560 to 700 bucks (and this is the wholesale price of italian leather ... chinese is a bit less). and then you have to upholster it ... and the markup on the leather. to put into perspective, i can buy leather for between $5 and $8 / sf in small quantities directly from the manufacturer, they don't sell retail ... but if you buy it from an upholsterer ... you will probably pay 50% to 100% more ... and don't forget the waste. the edges of the hides are very irregularly shaped and aren't always the best quality.

 

[JFENG]

Who at $650 a pair!

Just for kicks.. When I had the Recaros in my e24 reupholstered, I found a one man band shop. Seats done in beautiful leather matching original stitching etc. $650 the pair

Bert ... Who can do a pair at that price!!! I could afford to ship cross country at that price level.

John

 

[Bert Poliakoff]

A guy that worked in an upholstery shop scabbed them. That is what I meant when I said one man band. I am happy with them but wouldn't want to get in the middle of that. My honest guess is if you put shipping on top of what I paid there isn't a large advantage. However, google "creative options". Kevin Chin, has a real good rep with the E24 guys and is VA or NC located. he is certainly worth a call. I was seriously thinking of him before I found the fellow who did mine.

 

[JFENG]

Upholstery costs in New England

The local fellow that I would trust any of my cars with guesstimated $400-$600 of labor per seat (going by pictures I sent). Depending on the cost of leather, that would put a renewed front pair around $2k to $2500. Whew. Stan suggested calling Coupe King (he did Stan's seats, which turned out very well).

John