Upholstery

[RDSChicago]

Would love to change the color of my leather seats and interior from black to tan/saddle. Exterior color is nacht blau. What is the price range to do so? Any recommendations in the Denver area?

 

[boonies]

I paid $6k for the labor to install leather seats, carpet and headliner. The materials were about $3k as I recall. that was in 2021 or 2022.

 

[vince]

Last year, I checked into changing my interior over to burgundy leather - the quote was $12K. All the sudden, my dark blue leather looked better than ever.

 

[bmw2800cs]

Don't know anything about this guy but he was selling a complete interior for 9500 - 2500 if you give them you're old core. this includes door cards, rear seat cards, I think dash. This one is brown but since they take a core maybe they can do other colors too:

R

Thread 'Complete E9 interior on eBay'

Sep 20, 2025

Here's a complete E9 interior for sale on eBay:

Pardon Our Interruption...

• rblongboarder
• Replies: 2
• Forum: Parts For Sale and Wanted

• 

 

[starcruiser]

There is Steve Sperling, he offers a nice product.

Items for sale by zoomzoomzooming | eBay

Shop eBay for great deals from zoomzoomzooming!

www.ebay.com

 

[Ohmess]

You could re-dye them yourself. I changed my seats from dark gray to cognac.

In process:

Finished product:

 

[dave v. in nc]

Don't know anything about this guy but he was selling a complete interior for 9500 - 2500 if you give them you're old core. this includes door cards, rear seat cards, I think dash. This one is brown but since they take a core maybe they can do other colors too:

R

Thread 'Complete E9 interior on eBay'

Sep 20, 2025

Here's a complete E9 interior for sale on eBay:

Pardon Our Interruption...

• rblongboarder
• Replies: 2
• Forum: Parts For Sale and Wanted

• 

I thought that those seats really looked good, so I did an "ask seller a question" to see if they were in the business, and would re-upholster mine and so far crickets....the sounds of silence.

 

[vince]

You could re-dye them yourself. I changed my seats from dark gray to cognac.

In process:

View attachment 209200

Finished product:

View attachment 209201

Looks amazing! Very cool seats BTW. Did you do the work yourself?

 

[Wobdog]

In the SF Bay Area, which is very r
Expensive it $2k to have seats and door cards painted

 

[RDSChicago]

You could re-dye them yourself. I changed my seats from dark gray to cognac.

In process:

View attachment 209200

Finished product:

View attachment 209201

Looks great. Can you describe the process of dyeing your seats? Looks like a tough job.

 

[RDSChicago]

In the SF Bay Area, which is very r
Expensive it $2k to have seats and door cards painted

What do you mean painted? What does a painted car seat look like?

 

[tdgray]

There are two ways to do a color change.

Vinyl paints or Dyes.

Each has their own benefit and drawbacks.

I vinyl painted my door cards, armrests etc. a good application for that. Seats can be done as well but for seats dyes are bit better for wear purposes.

 

[RDSChicago]

Dyeing the seats seems to be the economical way to go. And Chris’s cognac seats look terrific. I have no aptitude to do the job myself. What type of vendor should I be looking for who would be willing to dye my seats, door panels, etc.? Again, I’m in the Denver area. Thanks.

 

[tdgray]

It’s really not that hard. Time consuming yes, but not horrific.

If you don’t wish to you are looking for an upholstery specialist who does car interiors…. And your wallet. It won’t be cheap.

 

[rsporsche]

the really important difference of leather finish is whether it breathes or not. if you paint leather, it does not breath ... it resembles vinyl ... the paint sits on top. if you dye leather, the dye absorbs into the hide - its thinner and it adheres to the texture allowing the pores of the hide to still function.

 

[dave v. in nc]

...and then there's the carpet...probably want to go with the brown/black, or a tan something....but what the heck, you'll already have the seats out...

 

[RDSChicago]

Well, based on all these comments, I guess there’s nothing wrong with blue exterior and blue/black upholstery!

 

[Ohmess]

Looks amazing! Very cool seats BTW. Did you do the work yourself?

Yes. Seats are Koenig seats. Bought them from Gary Knox when he went back to the original seats in his car, and luckily, he had had the leathers on the rear seats redone to match the pattern of the fronts.

It was a fair bit of work, but I'm pretty happy with the results. To change the color, you need to condition the leather, then remove as much of the original dye as possible, prep the surface and then put on multiple coats of new dye. Its held up well, but I do need to touch up the top of the seats where the harnesses ride anually.

Here is the article I followed to do the work (it no longer appears on Leatherique's web site and note too that Leatherique has been sold and the contact info in the article is no longer good):

 

[Wobdog]

What do you mean painted? What does a painted car seat look like?

I had a guy paint my seats with a water based paint for leather interiors. He also sprayed the door cards to match. Here are pictures. In retrospect I probably would have preferred staining them. But the advantage of paint is you can spray the door cards the same color. If you search internet you can see pros and cons of both

If you have any questions feel free to DM me or call me 650-740-6101

 

[Wobdog]

the really important difference of leather finish is whether it breathes or not. if you paint leather, it does not breath ... it resembles vinyl ... the paint sits on top. if you dye leather, the dye absorbs into the hide - its thinner and it adheres to the texture allowing the pores of the hide to still function.

See pictures, mine does not look like vinyl. specialized leather paint and dye are specifically formulated to remain porous and flexible