Seats--Leather Kits

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willybali

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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?
 
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.
 
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?
 
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
 
Stan said:
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
Click to expand...

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

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.
 
How many years ago ?

Bert Poliakoff said:
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
Click to expand...

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
 
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.
 
Who at $650 a pair!

Bert Poliakoff said:
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
Click to expand...

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

John
 
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.
 
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
 
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