I am putting in an Esty carpet kit, so i figured i would take some pics along the way. any suggestions to make this process better are appreciated!
When you get the box with the kit in the mail, open it up and check out all the cool pieces.
Do not lose or misplace one and think Esty forgot to put it in the box. She didn't, you lost it.
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I used Esty's posted instructions as a guide.
Things you need:
-the carpet
-3m super 90 spray adhesive
-set of misc clamps from Lowes
-razor knife
-good pair of scissors
-marker
assuming you already removed entire interior, put down Rammat and put down a layer of Ensolite..
Start with the back piece that goes under the rear seat. you will have to trim the center tunnel
opening to make it 1/4 in larger. once you get that to fit, trim the outside edges as they will
need to conform to rocker shape. the top of the piece will be too tall. fold it over the top of the metal wall,
mark where the back part of the wall is, and trim off the extra. will be around an inch.
now get out the super 90. spray back of carpet and reat seat support (including the top). wait two minutes.
CAREFULLY place the carpet in place, starting with the center. work out to the sides. this adhesive is
unforgiving. once you touch it together, it is stuck. once the front is stuck, clamp the top vertical part, then
fold over the top and clamp it down. in about 10min you can pull the clamps off.
next comes the rear side rocker pieces. this did not need much trimming. i just aligned the top unfinished edge
with the door edge. needed to cut about one inch slit at front and rear of the seat support to allow carpet to
fold down. kit i have put carpet all the way accross the seat mount with the vinyl hanging on the inside. now is a
good time to cut the hole for the seat slider lever....and poke holes for the seatbelt bolts!
the gluing part of this...i only put glue on the top and first inch or two down the sides. this makes the side
panel sort of a flap that allows access to wiring and gas line without ripping up the carpet.
next is the front rocker pieces. on these the only trim i did was cut a "V" for stress relief in the top front
part about 6in back. if you test fit you will see why. the back of this piece should overlap the rear piece by
about 1/2in. i glued this the same way as the rear rocker piece, just the top and about an inch or so down the
sides.
next comes the kick panels. these in clipped the top back 1/4in of the nice edging off to make it fit easier under
the pinch welt. install is pretty easy. jam it as far up as it will go and align the back edge with the door
opening edge. on the drivers side don't forget to mark and poke holes for the hood release lever. the upper bolt
for this actually needed a little "V" cut in the edging. it helped to clamp the back edge until the glue set.
that is as far as i have got so far. more tomorrow when i put the center tunnel piece down....
carpet install....part 2
ok, so the side pieces are in, time to do the mother of all carpet pieces the center tunnel section.
first, go buy a second can of super 90 adhesive. the first one is about to run out.
next, look at the area around the gas pedal on the floor and the center tunnel. do not layer on the padding or
sound deadener in either place, especially if you have or ever want to put a 5 spd in. the extra thickness will
interfere with the gas pedal and the room for your shoe between the brake and the tunnel.
esty's center piece is pretty close, but you will need to make a bunch of adjustment all around. start at the back.
the back of the piece against the rear seat support is the reference. i had to elongate the brake lever opening at
the back of the opening. be careful if you widen the opening, it is deceiving, you really don't need much.
i also had to make some cuts around the seat support to get it to rap nicely.
the gear shift hole was right on.
the front and around the edges is where you need to get creative. a number of stress relief slices and "v"'s need
to be cut to allow the carpet to lie semi flat.
also need to make cut to fit around the gas pedal mounting points.
now that you have all the trim and shaping done...here comes the fun part. how to you get this ungainly big piece of carpet covered in glue and place accurately? the trick is not all at once, and don't cover everthing with glue! you really only need glue on the top of the tunnel and slightly down the sides. i laid out the piece upside down and marked in cross-hatch where the glue will be eventually be needed.
when putting the piece in, start from the back and apply the glue in sections. don't cover the entire thing with glue! i first did the section from the e-brake back. sorry, no pic's of this part. my patient wife was getting the camera when i stuck it down.
next did the rest of the piece. put the tranny in 4th gear to give the hole in the carpet a clear shot on down.
adding glue
and sticking it down
it really helps to have a second set of hands at this point to carefully place the carpet and hold it down until the glue sets.
end part two.
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carpet install - part 3
at this point you have two options. you can flip up the sides and spray glue under there to stick them down, or you can leave it as is. i think i will leave the center section as is. i made enough stress relief cuts that it actually hangs nicely. once the center console is in, it will be fine. leaving the flaps unglued also makes it easier to run wires underneath.
the floor mats really don't need to be glued at all, the set nicely in place and don't move around.
here are some pics with the floor mats in place.
note, getting the drivers side around the pedals is not that bad. clutch on first, then brake, then push it way down and twist it 45deg to the left. gas pedal stub should slide on at this point. once the mat is down, use a razor knife to make two front to back slices over the gas pedal studs to let them poke through the carpet.
there is one place where i will ask Esty for her opinion on fit. maybe it is my car. the pass side front floor mat looks like it could be an inch thinner on the tunnel side with maybe a little more curve. as you can see from the pics, it bunches up just a little. since is is nicely trimmed in black,i did not want to make a stress relief cut in it.
there are still some details i need to finish, like poking holes for the seat belt bolts and the seat mount bolts, but the install is 95% done. i will refinish the seat mounts before getting to the little details.
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with the exception of the pinch welt, I finished the carpet install. wow, what a difference!! Esty's carpet kit came out great.
overall, very happy with the Esty Carpet Kit! It was not that difficult to install, and her sense of humor in her blog instructions was great! highly recommended if your 02 needs new rugs...
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Quoteturning old thread into an article so it will be easier to find.....
original thread with dialogue here
http://www.bmw2002faq.com/topic/94983-esty-carpet-kit-install/?hl=esty%20carpet%20install
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