For the past week I've been unable to get this fecking song out of my head...
[youtube]UePtoxDhJSw[/youtube]
But that's probably to do with my new interior
After missing out on a few sets on ebay and the forum, and having some private discussions with a couple of forum members, I finally got my hands on some M seats. PawnSacrifice was kind enough to bring them to my attention (also posted on the forum HERE) but by that time I'd already spotted them and discarded the idea due to the colour. Anyway, I sat and brooded all afternoon at work about them, but after a couple of beers at home I decided they'd work and promptly bought them!
They arrived Tuesday lunchtime so I wasted no time in unwrapping them before heading back to work for the afternoon:
2011-03-20 (1) pre-clean by Ally Mitchell, on Flickr
As you can see, they weren't perfect: leather a bit baggy in places, in dire need of a clean, and although not noticeable there's the usual wear on the driver's bolster.
Tuesday evening was started with a good clean with Chemical Guys leather cleaner and also their Extreme Leather Conditioner. As I was putting post-facelift seats into a pre-facelift car I needed to fit the pre-facelift occupancy mat and electronics into my new seat. I set about stripping the occupancy mat out of the spare set of Z4 seats I have in our campervan - I could've taken the mat from the seats that were in my Z4, but the occupancy mat was doing nothing in the van anyway. PawnSacrifice's guide to mat transfer was a lifesafer, I owe you a beer or two Matt. I decided to call it a night there as I was knackered and the swear jar was already full enough
Wednesday evening I got stuck in to stripping the M Sport passenger seat and swapping over the occupancy mat. I've previously stripped seats when I swapped bases on the two other sets of Z4 seats I have, so that's not a major issue for me. Actually peeling back the seat cover on a new seat is another matter! Eventually I got there though and the seat was back in one piece. Night over.
Thurs night was non-car stuff (keep Mrs a11y happy!).
Friday evening and time for some heat gun action: inspired by the results Matt achieved with tightening the leather on his red M seats, I gave this a try with great results on mine. Not much of a difference on the doorcards though.
And finally up to Saturday. The dash panels were straight-forward enough as long as you know about the spring clip holding the passenger end in (basically don't pull the panel as NOTHING will happen - I found that out eventually) and once the clip was removed it was an easy job. Next were the doorcards, again an easy job using tips previously posted on this forum. Finally the seats. Disconnected the battery, etc well before starting, unbolted the old seats, undid the wiring connectors, swapped the first aid box and bracket over, and fitted my new seats.
VERY VERY HAPPY
2011-03-20 (19) by Ally Mitchell, on Flickr
2011-03-20 (18) by Ally Mitchell, on Flickr
2011-03-20 (17) by Ally Mitchell, on Flickr
2011-03-20 (16) by Ally Mitchell, on Flickr
2011-03-20 (20) by Ally Mitchell, on Flickr
2011-03-20 (21) by Ally Mitchell, on Flickr
2011-03-20 (24) by Ally Mitchell, on Flickr
2011-03-20 (25) by Ally Mitchell, on Flickr
2011-03-20 (28) by Ally Mitchell, on Flickr
MORE PHOTOS HERE.
I wasn't sure the colour scheme was going to work on a silver Z4, but I'm now extremely glad I decided to go for these. They're still not perfect and I'll be contacting the Liquir Leather folk for some yellow leather dye to sort out the driver's bolster. There's also a sizeable rip in the leather on the driver's doorcard which has been repaired previously but not very well. I've got some contacts for leather repairs in my area and will sort it in due course. I'm confident that a good repair can be done, and given what I paid for this interior I'm more than happy to spend to get it sorted properly.
Also on the cards are the following:
- mostly-red rear lights (got the spare lights, tint spray and lacquer, but not got the time)
- clear side repeaters (still to buy)
- possibly tri-colour M wheel
- possibly some sort of darker/wrap centre console trim
- possibly black air vents/headunit but then I'd have to change the light switches and the instument binnacle hoods...
But first thing is clearing my airbag light that I managed to trigger. I'm not sure what the cause of it is and have posted in a seperate thread HERE - please post if you can help. I think it'll be either the seatbelt pretensioners (how can you tell if they're fired?) or the occupancy mat
So, there we are. I know they'll produce a bit of a love/hate response but I like being different
Cheers
a11y
[youtube]UePtoxDhJSw[/youtube]
But that's probably to do with my new interior
After missing out on a few sets on ebay and the forum, and having some private discussions with a couple of forum members, I finally got my hands on some M seats
. PawnSacrifice was kind enough to bring them to my attention (also posted on the forum HERE) but by that time I'd already spotted them and discarded the idea due to the colour. Anyway, I sat and brooded all afternoon at work about them, but after a couple of beers at home I decided they'd work and promptly bought them!They arrived Tuesday lunchtime so I wasted no time in unwrapping them before heading back to work for the afternoon:
2011-03-20 (1) pre-clean by Ally Mitchell, on Flickr
As you can see, they weren't perfect: leather a bit baggy in places, in dire need of a clean, and although not noticeable there's the usual wear on the driver's bolster.
Tuesday evening was started with a good clean with Chemical Guys leather cleaner and also their Extreme Leather Conditioner. As I was putting post-facelift seats into a pre-facelift car I needed to fit the pre-facelift occupancy mat and electronics into my new seat. I set about stripping the occupancy mat out of the spare set of Z4 seats I have in our campervan - I could've taken the mat from the seats that were in my Z4, but the occupancy mat was doing nothing in the van anyway. PawnSacrifice's guide to mat transfer was a lifesafer, I owe you a beer or two Matt. I decided to call it a night there as I was knackered and the swear jar was already full enough
Wednesday evening I got stuck in to stripping the M Sport passenger seat and swapping over the occupancy mat. I've previously stripped seats when I swapped bases on the two other sets of Z4 seats I have, so that's not a major issue for me. Actually peeling back the seat cover on a new seat is another matter! Eventually I got there though and the seat was back in one piece. Night over.
Thurs night was non-car stuff (keep Mrs a11y happy!).
Friday evening and time for some heat gun action: inspired by the results Matt achieved with tightening the leather on his red M seats, I gave this a try with great results on mine. Not much of a difference on the doorcards though.
And finally up to Saturday. The dash panels were straight-forward enough as long as you know about the spring clip holding the passenger end in (basically don't pull the panel as NOTHING will happen - I found that out eventually
) and once the clip was removed it was an easy job. Next were the doorcards, again an easy job using tips previously posted on this forum. Finally the seats. Disconnected the battery, etc well before starting, unbolted the old seats, undid the wiring connectors, swapped the first aid box and bracket over, and fitted my new seats. VERY VERY HAPPY
2011-03-20 (19) by Ally Mitchell, on Flickr
2011-03-20 (18) by Ally Mitchell, on Flickr
2011-03-20 (17) by Ally Mitchell, on Flickr
2011-03-20 (16) by Ally Mitchell, on Flickr
2011-03-20 (20) by Ally Mitchell, on Flickr
2011-03-20 (21) by Ally Mitchell, on Flickr
2011-03-20 (24) by Ally Mitchell, on Flickr
2011-03-20 (25) by Ally Mitchell, on Flickr
2011-03-20 (28) by Ally Mitchell, on Flickr
MORE PHOTOS HERE.
I wasn't sure the colour scheme was going to work on a silver Z4, but I'm now extremely glad I decided to go for these. They're still not perfect and I'll be contacting the Liquir Leather folk for some yellow leather dye to sort out the driver's bolster. There's also a sizeable rip in the leather on the driver's doorcard which has been repaired previously but not very well. I've got some contacts for leather repairs in my area and will sort it in due course. I'm confident that a good repair can be done, and given what I paid for this interior I'm more than happy to spend to get it sorted properly.
Also on the cards are the following:
- mostly-red rear lights (got the spare lights, tint spray and lacquer, but not got the time)
- clear side repeaters (still to buy)
- possibly tri-colour M wheel
- possibly some sort of darker/wrap centre console trim
- possibly black air vents/headunit but then I'd have to change the light switches and the instument binnacle hoods...
But first thing is clearing my airbag light that I managed to trigger. I'm not sure what the cause of it is and have posted in a seperate thread HERE - please post if you can help. I think it'll be either the seatbelt pretensioners (how can you tell if they're fired?) or the occupancy mat
So, there we are. I know they'll produce a bit of a love/hate response but I like being different
Cheers
a11y
good work!
south yorkshire
