I was loosening my center console in preparation for hardtop mounting kit installation. My car has the extended leather package. While pulling up on the console, my hand slipped and my fingernails scraped the leather! Any advice on how to repair this?
Kelvin
You have to remove the center console to install the hardtop!?
3.73 | TCK S/A w/ H&R Sport | M50 manifold | IE Subframe Bushings, RSM, & SS brake lines | Shark Injector | UUC Evo3 SSK & DSSR | Cosmos Strut Brace | ASC, Resonator, CDV Delete
No, but you have to loosen it so you can remove the rear console, to remove the seat belt tower trim to remove the door trim, to remove the door sill ,yadda yadda yadda, to expose the wiring harness for the defroster which is below the seat belt retractor
Kelvin
How about a picture of the damage?
What? I want to see how bad it is before I make a recommendation.
I've used the Gliptone leather cleaner and conditioner with good results. Maybe their Scuff Master kit is as good. Send them the pic and get their opinion.
then go cut your nails.
That may be the case if your cars have the electrohydraulic power top. Cars with a manual top require installation of the power adapter cable which means you have to expose the wiring. In retrospect, now that I know what to look for, I suppose it would have been possible to just remove the pseudo-felt liner of the softtop well to expose the 3-wire power cable for the defroster, but it would have been very tight. I was just following the BMW installation directions in bulletin 01299790519. In older cars, the pin housings and the sockets don't match so you need to do some wire splicing to make the electrical hookup on the driver's side mounting bracket. I'll admit I thought I had to lift the center console much higher than really necessary because I didn't know where to look for the power harness there. It ended up being right in the hole for the three position rear switchplate trim opening wrapped in black foam.
Thanks for the tip Ryan, I'll take a look
Driver's side trim removed to expose wiring
Softtop well liner pulled back to expose power cable and plug housing
Power cable splicing and hookup to socket housing of the adapter cable
Power cable and hookup for defroster switch located in this opening. Also shows 3-wire power cable and pin housing unwound from softtop well
Last edited by KBH22102; 12-06-2008 at 05:53 PM.
Kelvin
wow, that is an ordeal! Glad I was already prewired.
Wait until you have to reattach that plastic piece that holds the 3 switches. I recently pulled my interior apart in my coupe to address a couple squeaks. That panel is the absolute biggest pain in the @ss.
Then to top it all off, once I got it all back together, I dropped the middle switch blank down the hole when popping it back in...
That's a lot of money / hassle for what would probably become a mismatched console. I'd try the recommended products / procedures to repair or minimize the appearance of the damage. And even if that doesn't work, I'd leave it as is until there is a reason to re-cover it. (i.e. full interior work, so that it all matches.) Good luck.
..
Good pics. Do any of them also show the holes the mounting bracket bolts screw into?
First pic is the driver's side taken from above. The hinge for the softtop is to the left. I have circled the two holes where you mount the bracket. There is a third hole in the hinge and on the bracket but only BMW knows why you don't put a bolt there also. The flanged nut holding the bracket for the adapter cable is also shown
Second pic is the passenger side bracket installed
Kelvin
Wow, that looks crazy. First by a nail clipper and clip your nails bfore you start to work around leather. The wiring for my car was all there when the top was installed. CNGIZBLEEVNG did it for me. It took about 40 minutes or so. The biggest PITA was fitting the rear defroster switch. The connector was right under the E-Brake boot. But puuting the little trim piece back on where the switches fall into was the worse.
I'm a doc so I generally keep my hands/nails well groomed. I usually wear vinyl gloves when working on my car mostly to protect my hands from injury, not the other way around LOL. I hadn't put them on yet since I was working on the interior. The wiring for my switch was right beneath the hole in the console for the trim plate. Reading previous posts like Matthew's made me think it was around the e-brake handle and that I had to lift the center console really high to get at the harness. If I had known it was so well placed, this whole issue would have been avoided. Interestingly I had no trouble whatsoever reinstalling the trim plate with the switch, it just popped in.
Kelvin
Try Leatherique products. (leatherique.com)
The Rejuvinator Oil will condition and swell the fibers of the leather. I bet it will lessen the effect and make the scratch far less noticeable. You could rub it in and gently message the area. Contact them and send them a picture to see what they recommend.
I have used the Rejuvinator Oil, then the Pristine Clean and it really conditions and cleans the leather so it feels like new. Great stuff.
Sorry to revive an old post, but I finally got this repaired and I'm pretty pleased
Before
After
Kelvin
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