Apologies for the crap pics, only had my phone to hand. I must say I was nervous about doing this but the results speak for themselves. I used Restoration Kit #2 over the course of two weekends (pristine clean/rejuvenator oil in weekend 1, then sanding/prepping the following Friday evening and dye on Saturday morning).

As there were quite severe brush marks visible so after 48 hours I lightly dry sanded the areas with 400 grit, then pristine cleaned it and left it for 30 mins in the sun. I mixed a small amount of dye with a little water and applied several thin coats with a very firm kitchen sponge. It looks much shinier in the 'after' picture than it actually is, but overall it looks great.

Hey looks good from what I can see. I'll be doing mine this coming weekend weather permitting so any tips you have would help. :D

How many hours did it take and did you do both fronts and back seat?

I don't really know in total. I followed the initial instructions pretty carefully, it roughly breaks down like this:

This is just for the drivers seat, all I've done thus far as the rest are like new (though I will probably lightly re-dye them a some point soon). The seat stayed in the car.

Friday evening
Masking of cloth areas - 10 mins
Rejuvenator Oil (3 applications) - 40 mins
Left over the weekend, driven as normal during the week

Following Friday evening (bear in mind the damage was more like crazing and cracks with colour breaks)
Masking - 10 mins
Sanding & Prepping - 1 hour to get a consistent matt finish, didn't remove all dye as I was advised not to by George
Left overnight

Saturday morning
Dye - 40 mins
left over the weekend, driven Monday

Monday evening(following realisation of bad brush marks)
Masking - 10 mins
Sanding (dry) - 20 mins
Re-Dye - 15 minutes

I taped small hand towels (tea towels in Ireland) over the bolsters so I could drive it without damaging the dye and took them off whenever it wasn't being driven over the course of the next two days.

Wednesday evening
Cleaned with pristiine clean and buffed - 10 mins

So I'd say 4-41/2 odd hours in total, including pottering around and a couple of tea breaks. If I'd have done both seats it probably would be another 2-3 hours, it's amazing how you grow in confidence (and speed) as you understand how the products work together.

Nice write up, going to be doing this soon and I added your info to all the other info I have in order to tackle this job. Everyone has a different way of doing it, like some people use acetone to remove the dye and the sand it a bit etc..

These Leratherique products worked so well on one distressed side bolster of my black drivers seat that I'm proposing to use the same product on an entire interior of an e36 m3. I would be changing the 2 front seats, the side door panels and the rear seat from an orangey leathery color to black...anyone tried a full color change ??? Some of the parts are plastic /vinyl and not leather...can they be dyed ???

Hey did you know the same pics above are on the Leatherique (http://www.leatherique.com/) website? Did you submit your photos to them or are yours copied from the website?

Has anyone tried the leatherique without the dye? The color in my seats is good, but the leather has gotten really firm over the years. I just want to soften them up and give them a shine. Can I achieve this without dye?

Yeah, just get the Rejuvenator Oil and the prestine clean. Kits can be found at AutoGeek.net

Well done! I highly recommend the Rejuvinator Oil and Pristine Clean.

Sunny

Yeah, just get the Rejuvenator Oil and the prestine clean. Kits can be found at AutoGeek.net

Danke.

cool..did you ever change colors?

Hey did you know the same pics above are on the Leatherique (http://www.leatherique.com/) website? Did you submit your photos to them or are yours copied from the website?

Seriously, I think this guy could be full of crap. Did you really just post these pics from the leatherique site or what man?

Looks full of crap to me :)

Anyone have some ACTUAL pics of this process? My drivers side has some pretty good damage and discoloration to parts of the bolster as well.

Looks full of crap to me :)

Anyone have some ACTUAL pics of this process? My drivers side has some pretty good damage and discoloration to parts of the bolster as well.
I've seen it done it can turn out perfectly if you get the entire restoration kit.

Seriously, I think this guy could be full of crap. Did you really just post these pics from the leatherique site or what man?

Hmmm. I actually sent the pics to George. I didn't know he'd used them, but fair play, it's a testament to their product and the correct application of them.

Why on earth would I bother take the time to post a fictional account of my leather restoration, I have a much fuller life than that, thankfully...I'm proud he's posted them on the website, Jesus, I'll post the original email/more 'after' pics if you want!!!

Hmmm. I actually sent the pics to George, before you jump to conclusions. I didn't know he'd used them, but fair play, it's a testament to their product and the correct application of them.

Why on earth would I bother take the time to post a fictional account of my leather restoration, I have a much fuller life than that, thankfully...I'm proud he's posted them on the website, Jesus, I'll post the original email/more 'after' pics if you want!!!


I don't think I jumped to conclusions anywhere in my post. Notice the "Could be" and the "did you". Those phrases usually imply a question.

Fair enough then, original post edited. When it comes down to it the important think for me is that I actually did this process, and sent the pics.

:eek: So does anyone have any acutal pics of the leather resto? I heard on another board, that after you wipe the seats when cleaning the leather, it will come right off! Now I am hesitant

Has anyone tried the leatherique without the dye? The color in my seats is good, but the leather has gotten really firm over the years. I just want to soften them up and give them a shine. Can I achieve this without dye?


The Leatherique kits are great to soften the leather, but it doesn't add much in the way of shine. It's supposed to condition and preserve the leather. I can't testify to the long term effects, but they are, by far, the best product I've used.

I have a good link to the process step-by-step: http://home.insightbb.com/~todd.kenyon/leather.htm

IM doing a side by side comparo in the next few weeks.

i HAVE A QUESTION. IM GONNA TACKLE THIS NEXT WEEKEND. mY QUESTION IS THAT SINCE YOU USED RESTORATION KIT #1, DID YOU USE THE "LIGHT GREY" COLOR OR DID YOU HAVE THEM CUSTOM MATCH THE VADER?

Apologies for the crap pics, only had my phone to hand. I must say I was nervous about doing this but the results speak for themselves. I used Restoration Kit #2 over the course of two weekends (pristine clean/rejuvenator oil in weekend 1, then sanding/prepping the following Friday evening and dye on Saturday morning).

As there were quite severe brush marks visible so after 48 hours I lightly dry sanded the areas with 400 grit, then pristine cleaned it and left it for 30 mins in the sun. I mixed a small amount of dye with a little water and applied several thin coats with a very firm kitchen sponge. It looks much shinier in the 'after' picture than it actually is, but overall it looks great.

Unfortunately, your 'After' shot is of a different bolster than your 'Before' shot.. The purpose of a before and after, to me, is to see how effective the repair product and technique was on the damage.. By showing a different bolster on each shot, its impossible to make any determination about the efficacy of the treatment..

Because Im familiar with Leatherique, though, I can imagine that the 'After' of the bolster youre showing in your 'before' pic probably looks not to different from what you are showing as your 'after'. What I cant see in the pic of your before is, are those actually 'cracks', or more like crazing, or the type of pronounced 'wrinkles' that our seats typically acquire.. And if it is that normal type of wrinkling, my question to you is, will sanding and dye applied to the wrinkels be sufficient, or is crack filler necessary? Ill try and take a few pics of mine, so youll have a better idea.

In my case, I have a few pronounced wrinkels on my driver seat left thigh bolster, but the rest of my seats are in great shape.. So, could I just sand and apply the die just to the few wrinkles themselves? Or do I need to do a larger area, even though it doesnt need it? Lastly, can I just order 'black' from Leatherique, and will that match our bmw black leather, like on my '99 M3?

Thanks.

These Leratherique products worked so well on one distressed side bolster of my black drivers seat that I'm proposing to use the same product on an entire interior of an e36 m3. I would be changing the 2 front seats, the side door panels and the rear seat from an orangey leathery color to black...anyone tried a full color change ??? Some of the parts are plastic /vinyl and not leather...can they be dyed ???


I redyed my back and front seats. You might need two 32oz bottles for the whole interior, but I sprayed the dye on in multiple thin coats so I had to used more than usual. Redying is ALOT of work; took me about 50 hours to do my seats. I took the front seats apart. Vinyl is a bit trickier to redye. You need to make sure all the dirt is off the surface. The dye is a really watery so the it runs easily on the vinyl. If redyeing, I HIGHLY recommend finding a way to spray the dye on. Leatherique recommended an artist brush, foam brush, and dipping cloth into the dye and applying by hand. ALL of these methods were unacceptable b/c they left some form of stroke marks on the surface.

Waiting to get my car back so I can give this a try

is the # 2 kit on here http://www.leatherique.com/products.htm big enough to do the whole interior? wihtout worrieing about running out?

Also is it safe to use the dye on the dash? My dash is a bit faded.

before
http://we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/i=wNDM5NTUzNnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE%3D

after
http://we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/i=wMTA2MzUxMTZzNDEzZGZkMzF5NTQx

Basically all the cracks and spider webbing were sanded off. I had a considerable amount of cracks on my side bolsters which I sanded smooth. Unfortunately, I don't have a exact after shot yet.

Those that were wondering if they could do spot treatments; I would recommend doing a whole side bolster or more if you have time so the color will match.

I think its funny that the before and after shots on the leatherique website are always at different angles and even different portions of the leather. :rolleyes How are you supposed to see what it actually looks like??

>>I think its funny that the before and after shots on the leatherique website are always at different angles and even different portions of the leather. How are you supposed to see what it actually looks like<<

I know. I was thinking the same thing myself. For all we know, the 'after' panel had no cracking or degradation to begin with! Ive seen alot of M3 seats that have dismal side bolsters, or thigh suports, but near perfect bottoms and backs... whats the use of showing the thigh supports as the Before, and the seat back as the after?!