Interior's color choice

[RTV]

Hi folks,

Post #2, let's get right into it, shall we?

I just got my Z3, all original as far as I know. Relatively slow mileage at 45k and a full service history, paid a little bit more over market value but I think it was well worth it.

Now, car comes with a very 90s, strange combination of beige dashboard and door panels with green Oregon seats and door trim (see pic below). While I'm trying to get used to it, I can't say that I'm the biggest fan.

So here's my predicament.... I was looking at getting new seats and door panels, but unfortunately Irish market is pretty much non-existent and if I need to bring some from the UK the shipping cost would be same or even more than the seats themselves. But, it'll allow me to keep the original seats...

Plan B is to dye the leather, apparently very doable and have seen pretty decent results specially if you go to a darker color (black).

Do you guys think it's worth keeping the originality of the seats and invest in new (to me) ones? I have the M44 1.9 if that makes any difference.


Would love to hear your opinions!

Cheers
Rami

 

[andyglym]

Furniture Clinic do a full set of BMW colours if you go down the dying route, not difficult but time consuming to do right. A few on here have done so with great results.

 

[mrscalex]

As Andy says, very doable with Furniture Clinic products. Black pre-facelift seats are plentiful and cheap over here though. Could you perhaps have a weekend break over here with the car and swap the seats out as part of the trip?

 

[RTV]

Furniture Clinic do a full set of BMW colours if you go down the dying route, not difficult but time consuming to do right. A few on here have done so with great results.

Nice one bud, that's good info. I'll definitely look them up.

So I get that you wouldn't be too concern at keeping the car as it came out of the factory? I'm probably over thinking it, right?

 

[andyglym]

Nice one bud, that's good info. I'll definitely look them up.

So I get that you wouldn't be too concern at keeping the car as it came out of the factory? I'm probably over thinking it, right?

At the end of the day it's your car so do as you please, I would. Depends on how much you like/dislike the current interior colour combo

 

[ktnez99]

Hello and welcome @RTV. Having had my Z from new and have all the promotional literature, I don’t recall this being a colour combination. I suspect someone has swooped/dyed the seats and the central door panels to the green colour at some point in the car’s history.
It’s your Z and if the colours are jarring, then think about what you’d like to be enveloped in when you’re driving. You could take a few more days to consider your options: don’t rush your decision, is my best advice.

 

[the Nefyn cat]

Have you tried a VIN decoder to see what it came out of the factory with? Something like this. https://www.mdecoder.com/

 

[RTV]

As Andy says, very doable with Furniture Clinic products. Black pre-facelift seats are plentiful and cheap over here though. Could you perhaps have a weekend break over here with the car and swap the seats out as part of the trip?

I'm in the south of Ireland, so it'll be quiet a bit of a trip. Couldn't take the Z either to make it fun as seats wouldn't fit.

At the end of the day it's your car so do as you please, I would. Depends on how much you like/dislike the current interior colour combo

100%, just thinking about the worth of keeping it original to maintain the value. But at the same time, it might have more value with a better looking interior as well

Hello and welcome @RTV. Having had my Z from new and have all the promotional literature, I don’t recall this being a colour combination. I suspect someone has swooped/dyed the seats and the central door panels to the green colour at some point in the car’s history.
It’s your Z and if the colours are jarring, then think about what you’d like to be enveloped in when you’re driving. You could take a few more days to consider your options: don’t rush your decision, is my best advice.

Yes, it was an original color combo that I'm sure. I don't hate it per say, but not the biggest fan either. I'll probably go the dye route.

Have you tried a VIN decoder to see what it came out of the factory with? Something like this. https://www.mdecoder.com/

Perfect, thanks for that. I'll check it out.

 

[Ianmc]

I have the green interior bits/seats as you have which I like; also the wooden consul. That said, my interior is other wise black (door trims/carpet/dash) and works together well. Perhaps you should change the beige rather than the green?

 

[IainP]

This was Furniture Clinic dye.
Used to be black believe it or not:

Doing the door cards is a bit of a pain, to do it properly you really need to take them apart.
iain

 

[Trevor /chedder]

I quite like it. Sorry if that's no help.

 

[RTV]

That red seat is looking great, very interesting to know that you went from black. Did you go with a white base or straight from black to red?

I have the green interior bits/seats as you have which I like; also the wooden consul. That said, my interior is other wise black (door trims/carpet/dash) and works together well. Perhaps you should change the beige rather than the green?

It's a matter of taste, for sure... doesn't look bad, just not for me. Certainly much easier to change the green than changing the rest IMO

 

[IainP]

I got a red seat cover to replace a torn black base. Intended to dye it black but once I saw it properly clean thought, “I quite like that”.
Seats will be that colour, gear and handbrake gaiters, hockey sticks on center console, the leather inserts in the door cards all done to match. Everything else in black.
Sprayed using an airbrush, 2 coats on the red seat and gaiters, 4 coats on the black seat and hockey sticks. 3 coats of sealer.
I bought new tanin red gaiters, they were very, very close to the seat colour, but the red dye was brighter. I hadn’t sent a sample to match, just picked it off the website. Montana Tanin red.
I’m really, really happy with them.

 

[IainP]

The original red seat and the red handbrake gaiter, the gear gaiter is the new colour.

I don’t have any pics of the process of dying the black seat unfortunately.
This is the red seat after one coat on the headrest, the coverage was great.

Wouldn’t hesitate to do it again, in fact I have a competition seat I plan to fit for track days, if I can make a leather cover I’ll spray it to match, be a bit less obvious then.
I’ll

iain

 

[RTV]

That's the job! Nice one

 

[IainP]

Knew I had pics somewhere.
To get the door cards off, either get some tools off eBay, they’re about a fiver, or make something, 3mm steel thinned and shaped is ideal. Do Not use a screwdriver. The backing is made of the same sort of stuff as headliner material, it’s called biscuit. Really, it is, and it breaks apart just like a digestive biscuit if you don’t support both sides of the clip as you lever it out.

To get the leather panel out you have to remove the panel AND the trim piece above.
It’s plastic welded/riveted. I drilled the center, then used a countersink bit to remove the head. I’ll hot glue it back together when I finish the interior, gotten sidetracked with more than a few other things.

 

[RTV]

Awesome, that's good info as I couldn't find any videos of that panel being removed.

I so have the trim removal plastic kit, so that should do the job.

Thank you sir, I'm convinced. I'll go the dye route.

I'll report back when I complete the job.

 

[IainP]

I’ll try and take pics of the back tomorrow.
Im sure there’s a How To on here to remove the panel, telling where the fixings are.

 

[Stevo7682]

Certainly dying the seats and cards is an option and some decent results can be had

As said furniture clinic supplies all the kit you would need to do most things .
Good ' how to ' videos on their website.

Stephen.

 

[Stevo7682]

The other alternative is pick up 2 beige seat and door cards and keep the original seats.
We have a Turquoise Green zed 3 and it comes with either your interior, all beige, or black ours is beige oregon suits it got rid of black centre console and beige hockey sticks for the wood ones suits our exterior colour the best in my opinion out the 3 .
Stephen.