danmiddle2
Active member
Dangerous-Dave said:
That's some good news at least - good luck sorting out the dash trim, hope it dries out well!
Baggy leather dash - so what's gone on here then?
- Thread starter Dangerous-Dave
- Start date
That's some good news at least - good luck sorting out the dash trim, hope it dries out well!
Hope you get it sorted, I'd be gutted 
I've never once seen this before in all my years of being here and other z4 forums ... So I'm guessing this was just not glued correctly at manufacture , definitely one of those things and could be a good time to change to something new IMO...
Off to garage to check mine !! Lmao!!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Off to garage to check mine !! Lmao!!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
TBH, I think it was loose beforehand. Although not 'baggy' as it looks now it definitely wasn't glued to the backing plastic as I would get movement as it was cleaned or tapped.
No point being gutted about it, just one of those things but at least it'll be an easy fix (he hopes) and, if not, c'est la vie
No point being gutted about it, just one of those things but at least it'll be an easy fix (he hopes) and, if not, c'est la vie
Dangerous-Dave said:TBH, I think it was loose beforehand. Although not 'baggy' as it looks now it definitely wasn't glued to the backing plastic as I would get movement as it was cleaned or tapped.
No point being gutted about it, just one of those things but at least it'll be an easy fix (he hopes) and, if not, c'est la vie
Worst case would be remove trim, and remove from two sides. Use some spray adhesive and fix back in place.
Getting the trim piece off is easy, but requires the centre air vent to be removed followed by head unit and passenger vent. Two screws then in centre and big clip from behind dash through hole left by passenger air vent.
Leather just folded over so un peel two sides and spray adhesive.
I got home relatively early this evening (6 ish) and as the wife was out I decided to see what I could do with the dash panel.
I first of all tried the hair dryer but that did didly squat, so the panel had to come off. The tools I used for the repair is as follows..
I took the panel off as described in earlier threads however (Dave's TOP TIP) I used the little plastic collar bones you get when you buy a new shirt to remove the air vent as a) they wouldn't damage the vent and b) they are a perfect size.
Once the panel was off, I used the blunt butter knife to peel the leather flaps of the back of the leather away from the frame which allowed me to roll the leather off the face; it was clear there was little to no glue across the entire width including the small piece under the light stalk. I cleaned/roughening the underlying frame with a bit of sandpaper to ensure a good key before coating both the frame and leather in spray contact adhesive.
After a few mins, I laid the leather back over the frame and used the seam roller to smooth the leather back into place. Once happy, I warmed the leather with the hair dryer and gave it a final stretch with the roller to ensure there were no more bumps or bagginess. Finally, the panel was wiped down with white spirit to remove any overspray glue before coating with a leather balm. I'll leave it over night in the warm to cure and make sure the repair holds before popping it back on in the morning.
That's better
I first of all tried the hair dryer but that did didly squat, so the panel had to come off. The tools I used for the repair is as follows..
I took the panel off as described in earlier threads however (Dave's TOP TIP) I used the little plastic collar bones you get when you buy a new shirt to remove the air vent as a) they wouldn't damage the vent and b) they are a perfect size.
Once the panel was off, I used the blunt butter knife to peel the leather flaps of the back of the leather away from the frame which allowed me to roll the leather off the face; it was clear there was little to no glue across the entire width including the small piece under the light stalk. I cleaned/roughening the underlying frame with a bit of sandpaper to ensure a good key before coating both the frame and leather in spray contact adhesive.
After a few mins, I laid the leather back over the frame and used the seam roller to smooth the leather back into place. Once happy, I warmed the leather with the hair dryer and gave it a final stretch with the roller to ensure there were no more bumps or bagginess. Finally, the panel was wiped down with white spirit to remove any overspray glue before coating with a leather balm. I'll leave it over night in the warm to cure and make sure the repair holds before popping it back on in the morning.
That's better
Nice work Dave that's a good result and saved a few quid
neilthomas
Member
Top job mate!
Nice work
Glad you did the right thing and stripped it back to rectify. Hopefully it will remain in place now.
I'd open the car to allow it to air whenever you can given this long spell of very wet weather. Mine lives is a garage with the windows open and I'm still amazed how if it sits in sun then allowed to cool the windows mist up.
Glad you did the right thing and stripped it back to rectify. Hopefully it will remain in place now.
I'd open the car to allow it to air whenever you can given this long spell of very wet weather. Mine lives is a garage with the windows open and I'm still amazed how if it sits in sun then allowed to cool the windows mist up.
Good work.