Interior upholstry 2020

[Esteban G]

Hi All,

I have a 72 2002 and will just be using it for enjoyment driving.  I had great luck so far on the site finding transmission info and seat belts.  Now I want to address the seats.  I would like to just have them look stock.  They will need new filling and covers.  When searching the site I found a couple recommendations but when i looked at the dates they were all 5+ years old.  Anyone have any recommendations for more recent experiences?

 

My interior is just black.

[Conserv]

GAHH or World Upholstery.

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

[Mike Self]

Unfortunately no one makes the waffle-pattern upholstery material used in the center section of roundie seats--not even BMW Classic.  There's material that's close, but not an exact match for the original.  For years those of us craving originality have been gathering up rear seats--especially backs with sun-rotted tops--to donate their material to repair worn or split front seats.  Unfortunately even those are becoming rare, so you may have to use the "close but not an exact match" material to do your seats.  

 

mike

[tomphot]

I originally ordered my kit from World Upholstery but returned it, they heat sealed the pleats but the seal was very inconsistent, some of it was done well, some was over heated and some was barely noticeable.  Bought the set I installed from GAHH, correct number of pleats. If you want the rear pockets, you need to ask or  have extra material sent that can be used to have them made as I did.  I did this 2 years ago. 

 

Edited May 29, 2020 by tomphot

[Esteban G]

tomphot,  You installed them yourself?  How familiar were you with installing this type of thing before you did these?  They look great!

[tomphot]

20 minutes ago, Esteban G said:

tomphot,  You installed them yourself?  How familiar were you with installing this type of thing before you did these?  They look great!

 

I had my local upholstery guy do it, I didn't have the patience to do it as I have done this before.  Also closed my eyes and bought new horse hair pads to get them looking right.  Only draw back to that was that I lost almost 2" of headroom as my old seats were totally worn out.

[Conserv]

11 minutes ago, tomphot said:

 

... Only draw back to that was that I lost almost 2" of headroom as my old seats were totally worn out.
 

I hadn’t really thought about this, Tom! An important warning for tall owners, and especially those with sunroof cars, which give up an extra inch of headroom.

 

Your interior looks well-nigh perfect!

 

Best regards,

 

Steve

 

Edited May 29, 2020 by Conserv

[Esteban G]

I will have same issue.  My seats are so broken down I have a painter drop cloth and towel to make them feel right.  After I put those down I was amazed at how correct driving the car was.  Silly

 

Thanks,

[Mike Self]

Tomphot:  the seats in your car do look like an exact match for the OEM material used in roundies...is it--to the point where you could re-do the fronts and leave the back original?  And does it come in colors other than black?

 

mike

[tomphot]

17 minutes ago, mike said:

Tomphot:  the seats in your car do look like an exact match for the OEM material used in roundies...is it--to the point where you could re-do the fronts and leave the back original?  And does it come in colors other than black?

 

mike

 

Mike, it's not exact, here is a piece of the original seat that had never seen the light of day as it was tucked under the seat.  The GAHH does not have quite as much definition and the pleats are stitched.  They have all of the colors.  You can go to their site to see what they have, our 2002's are listed as E114 btw.  Before I ordered, I sent them an email and they sent out samples of the vinyl and the embossed parts.  My rears had split on the top by the sun, I would have left the rears original as I don't think there is that much of a difference, especially when their 50 years old and the embossed part has flattened out somewhat.    

[jgerock]

4 hours ago, tomphot said:

 

I had my local upholstery guy do it, I didn't have the patience to do it as I have done this before.  Also closed my eyes and bought new horse hair pads to get them looking right.  Only draw back to that was that I lost almost 2" of headroom as my old seats were totally worn out.

I’d hate to see the bill for those replacement horse hair (gummihaar) pads!  I priced those out for my 69, then decided to buy new custom seats.  

[tomphot]

4 minutes ago, jgerock said:

I’d hate to see the bill for those replacement horse hair (gummihaar) pads!  I priced those out for my 69, then decided to buy new custom seats.  

 

HA!  As I said, my eyes were closed!!

[SuperTan]

@tomphot 

Hi Tom,

for your rear seats, was that the 35 pleat that Gahh sells? I saw another member post a rear seat and it had the large center section. 

 

thanks

james

[tomphot]

2 hours ago, SuperTan said:

@tomphot 

Hi Tom,

for your rear seats, was that the 35 pleat that Gahh sells? I saw another member post a rear seat and it had the large center section. 

 

thanks

james

My rear seats have 35 pleats, GAHH does a very nice job. 
 

[JWT]

I just finished going through this exact same search for my 1970 2002 - GAHH is the winner - they have the correct amount of pleats - front and back and are very helpful.  World just tried but really...they have their patterns and they do not deviate from them.  They had the incorrect number of pleats.  Now, those replacement seat horsehair pads at 440.00 ea (so, yes, 880.00 per seat)......I had to pass on those........yessshhhhhhh.....its not a air cooled porsche....(yet)...