Leatherique Seat Restore Project. Before and After pics!

I used the Leatherique Kit #2 (16oz of each liquid) and the whole thing took my girlfriend and I about 6 hours over 3 evenings to complete. I'm very pleased with the results. Let me know what you think?

Passenger outside upper bolster, BEFORE:


Passenger outside upper bolster, AFTER:


Passenger outside lower bolster, BEFORE:


Passenger outside lower bolster, AFTER:


Passenger inside lower bolster, BEFORE:


Passenger inside lower bolster, AFTER:


Passenger inside upper bolster, BEFORE:


Passenger inside upper bolster, AFTER:


Driver inside upper bolster, BEFORE:


Driver inside upper bolster, AFTER:


Driver inside lower bolster, BEFORE:


Driver inside lower bolster, AFTER:


Driver outside lower bolster, BEFORE:


Driver outside lower bolster, AFTER:


And as everyone knows, the worst of the worst... Driver outside upper bolster, BEFORE:


Driver outside upper bolster, AFTER:




Overall before:


Overall after:

Amazing! Can you post the exact product you used? Does it have a dye? I'm absolutely doing this!

Originally Posted by X3-terrestrial

Amazing! Can you post the exact product you used? Does it have a dye? I'm absolutely doing this!

I used leatherique re-dye kit #2 http://leatherique.org/detail.aspx?ID=31

It has a rejuvinator oil, cleaning agent, prep solution (you sand with this, I think it's just a de greaser), and final step is dye.

Cool! Thanks!, absolutely worth the price, your seats look like new!

Really great work. Thanks for the post. I'm going to give it a shot on my seats as well.

That's incredible.

Do you have to remove the seats to do this?

Originally Posted by petriej

Do you have to remove the seats to do this?

You maybe don't HAVE to, but probably it's easier, and you don't risk staining something else inside the car.
It just takes 5 minutes per seat to remove them.

Read a post from a guy that did the first seat while it was in the car. Said he had poor results with the top and bottom of the seat sticking together and other problems. Ended up having to take the seat out and do it again. If you're doing the entire seat, top and bottom instead of just a smaller area I believe it's best to remove the seats from what I've read. Also as has been mentioned it's four bolts and a un clipping a wire harness or two and they are out. I'm going to install a new reclining gear in my passenger seat while they are out and fix two problems at the same time.

Update to the project:

I ordered a 2oz bottle of BL02 (baby blue), BL06 (blue), and R04 (bright red) from Furniture Clinic. The center stripe ended up being a mixture of about 75% BL06 and 25% R04.

I also repaired the cracks in my stripes with the heavy filler cream from FC, then I used their Matte finish sealant/top coat applied with an airbrush in 3 coats.

Here are some additional pics. The matte finishing coat is currently drying. Final pictures to follow after assembly.

Great job!!

I'm working on my seats right now thanks to your post and a bunch of others on this site. Removed both front seats from the car (easy). Going to fix the broken reclining gear ($39 on Ebay) on the passenger seat as long as I have them out of the car. Found the broken gear inside the seat transmission box and ordered a new one. Spent several hours wet sanding and removing failed dye on the driver seat which is always the worst seat. Used a little crack filler to test results in a couple of the worst spots. So far so good. I bought Kit#2 from Leatherique with 2 oz. of crack filler. Wet sanding and removing the cracked dye is taking quite a while but the leather does get really supple as you remove the old dye. Wet sanding leather is a little scary at first but once you realize there's no turning back you just keep moving forward. I'm taking pictures at various points along the way and will probably post my own thread if the project goes well. The car I'm working on is a 98 M3 in Helrot Red with Magma and black interior. Leatherique has the Magma dye color (custom color) I need. I haven't applied any yet but it looks like a perfect match.

Originally Posted by CTBimmerGuy

I'm working on my seats right now thanks to your post and a bunch of others on this site. Removed both front seats from the car (easy). Going to fix the broken reclining gear ($39 on Ebay) on the passenger seat as long as I have them out of the car. Found the broken gear inside the seat transmission box and ordered a new one. Spent several hours wet sanding and removing failed dye on the driver seat which is always the worst seat. Used a little crack filler to test results in a couple of the worst spots. So far so good. I bought Kit#2 from Leatherique with 2 oz. of crack filler. Wet sanding and removing the cracked dye is taking quite a while but the leather does get really supple as you remove the old dye. Wet sanding leather is a little scary at first but once you realize there's no turning back you just keep moving forward. I'm taking pictures at various points along the way and will probably post my own thread if the project goes well. The car I'm working on is a 98 M3 in Helrot Red with Magma and black interior. Leatherique has the Magma dye color (custom color) I need. I haven't applied any yet but it looks like a perfect match.

I also had to replace the reclining gear on both these seats. I did that a couple months back, wish I had done it all at the same time. Good luck, can't wait to see. I love magma interior!

Seats are re-assembled. Here's the finished product. I ended up swapping the back and bottom cushions between driver and passenger seats to move the more worn outside bolsters to the inside. I also get to have the slightly nicer passenger cushions as my drivers seat now.

New Passenger Seat:











New Drivers Seat













As you can see in the background my steering wheel is next.

Stunning results!!! Nice work, I was cleaning last year, and I took some color out of the passenger seat. This might be the way to go.

Great work Chuck. Thanks for taking the time to write up your DIY and post your pics. Your DIY and the results you achieved convinced me to do the same. My seats are out and I'm finished with the first coat of Magma dye and the results are stunning...same as yours. It's really hard to believe the seats come out looking like new but they do! I've got a DIY thread going as well for anybody that's interested. I wouldn't have attempted it Chuck if you hadn't posted your DIY.

Originally Posted by CTBimmerGuy

Great work Chuck. Thanks for taking the time to write up your DIY and post your pics. Your DIY and the results you achieved convinced me to do the same. My seats are out and I'm finished with the first coat of Magma dye and the results are stunning...same as yours. It's really hard to believe the seats come out looking like new but they do! I've got a DIY thread going as well for anybody that's interested. I wouldn't have attempted it Chuck if you hadn't posted your DIY.

Glad to hear it. I should write up a proper DIY with step by step but I always forget to take pictures in the middle of the process as I tend to get in the zone.

I look forward to seeing the pictures of your results.

Originally Posted by ChuckG

Glad to hear it. I should write up a proper DIY with step by step but I always forget to take pictures in the middle of the process as I tend to get in the zone.

I look forward to seeing the pictures of your results.

I'm thinking of doing this as well. Did you simply choose the generic black color when purchasing the kit#2? Or did you have to provide a custom color code?

How does the leather feel compare to original? And how is it holding up so far?

Amazing work! They seriously look like their in mint condition!

Wow. This is truly jaw dropping. I'm wondering how long it will last though. Is this some kind of coating that goes on top and wears back to its original state? Or will it stay that way from now on if u condition it from time to time.

WOW!!!! That looks amazing!!!

I currently HATE my Leatherique and ordered Chemical Guys and Zymol - the seats feel so damn DRY!

Now the seats you have look impeccable. How soft is the leather now?