Scheel 501 renewal

[mike472]

I finally got tired of looking at the worn through fabric on my old Scheel seats and decided to have my local upholstery shop Brimar redo these seats in the stock Marine Blue vinyl material that matches the door panels.  He took the seats down to the bare bones and modified the foam a little for a slightly wider seat and back with a little less behind the shoulders.  I was going to put the Scheel emblems back on but they looked like s**t so I didn't  We used both perforated and plain material.  The old rotted webbing underneath was replaced with a piece of thick masonite looking board.  All metal was refinished in black.  This was the finishing touch but as you all know there is never a "finishing touch". Everything is a work in progress even if you think it's finished!

[Dave919]

They look great!

[Aaron R]

If you don't mind sharing, what did that cost? I have a similar set of Scheels and I'm thinking about doing a similar thing.

 

Thanks!

[mike472]

$2400.  It was a lot of work.  He did my GTS touring seats over I had in the Inca car.  I bought them with a corduroy center section. Kind of a mistake. They got dirty looking really fast. It cost me 500 to replace center with the right black vinyl and reshape the foam so it was a little wider, a little bump up in the thigh support and same behind the shoulders. Also deleted the headrests. Much more comfortable and better looking 

he also did rear seats for 1800. Matched the perforated center sections in the front with the same thing done in each seating position in the rear. 

[kaptanoglu]

Those look spectacular!  My father-in-law, original owner of Sputter, had put Scheel seats in their van, and they sure were comfy.

 

You have me shopping now.

[AceAndrew]

Those look fantastic Mike.  Looks like what the car wished it would have had to begin with.

[jgerock]

I know the Scheel seats are “da bomb”, but I believe they are super heavy.  Congrats on finding a local upholstery shop to get the work done.   One place I took my old e21 Recaros to (now sold) asked my why I would get rid of the factory 2002 seats 🙀🤣.

[mike472]

On 12/10/2023 at 5:14 PM, AceAndrew said:

Those look fantastic Mike.  Looks like what the car wished it would have had to begin with.

Andrew the car got it's wish!  I should have done this a long time ago. I would have but didn't know who to go to. I just met the guy that owns this shop and he does some high end work at reasonable prices.  Saw several  P cars he had apart.  He is really talented and I'm lucky to have found him.  Brimar is the name of the shop for you guys here in the NYC area.

On 12/10/2023 at 6:38 PM, jgerock said:

I know the Scheel seats are “da bomb”, but I believe they are super heavy.  Congrats on finding a local upholstery shop to get the work done.   One place I took my old e21 Recaros to (now sold) asked my why I would get rid of the factory 2002 seats 🙀🤣.

 

 

Jim  you are correct.  They're heavy as hell.  The frame has some heavy steel and the mount doesn't help either.  Comfortable and probably protect you a little bit in a crash.  Glad I ditched the 5 mph bumpers!

[NickVyse]

About to do the same on my scheels - FYI for anyone in the same boat, Jaymic have repro original material:

 

(E9 2.5CS-3.0CSL) Seat Centre Material Ribbed Scheel CSL Black (per metre) – Jaymic BMW Parts

WWW.JAYMIC.COM

 

[JohnP_02]

On 12/10/2023 at 6:38 PM, jgerock said:

but I believe they are super heavy

The 501’s yes are huge, but not all Scheels were created equal. I would guess most were the same weight or less even than the period Recaro. Some early Scheels even started out as GRP/fiberglass weighing in only around 5kg each (left and center)

 

 

 

Edited December 12, 2023 by JohnP_02

[bob02]

For anybody interested, I just weighed a Scheel 501(38 pounds) and Recaro LSB (30 pounds).

 

Bob

[ray_]

36 minutes ago, bob02 said:

For anybody interested, I just weighed a Scheel 501(38 pounds) and Recaro LSB (30 pounds).

 

Bob

Busy day there?

 

[bob02]

I see you've got the nose to the grindstone too! Hi Ray!!

 

 

 Bob

[Son of Marty]

My understanding is both Recaro and Sheel seats have a NTSB safety rating, light weight seats are meant for light weight crashes.

[mike472]

These are the vinyls he had for early BMW’s.  We chose Marine blue which is what the interior panels are. They came out of a Fiordblau car. He is re-doing my trunkboards too.  You can see the gray elephant skin material for that at the bottom of the page. I thought briefly about leather but this was cheaper and more authentic in my own humble opinion.