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Subject: Yes, I'm doing a dye color-change from brown to silbergrau Author: DavidC (moderator) : member since December, 2003 : 11918 posts Posted on: 2006-11-11 01:01:05

I found a set of front seat leathers on ebay that were in excellent (nearly new) condition. The only problem was that they were brown and my interior is gray (silbergrau). So, I'm using the Leatherique re-dye kit and, so far, the results seem to be pretty good. I'm planning to do a full write-up when I'm done, but here are a few photos that should give you an idea of what's involved.


The brown leather seats after cleaning and soaking with "Rejuvenator Oil" and "Pristine Clean".


Each of the seats was lightly wet-sanded using 400-grit sandpaper and Leatheriqe's "Prepping Agent". The goal is to eliminate the shiny finish on the leather, along with any silicon or other chemicals that may have been used on it in the past. This also removes quite a bit, though not all, of the color.


You can see the dark brown to light brown color change in the photo above, a result of the sanding. You don't want to make the leather smooth or shiny.


Here's my first attempt at applying the leather dye. I used a folded paper towel to apply several thin coats, separated at 20-minute intervals, of dye. it worked pretty well, but the air brush ended up producing better results.


Here I am using an air brush (30psi) with the dye diluted 20% with water. The key is to use very thin coats -- let it dry 10-20 minutes, then re-apply another thin coat.


Here's a shot of one of the seats after two coats of dye. You can still see the original brown color showing through.


And, here's a shot of a finished seat. It's dry, but it still has to cure for 48 hours. After that, I'll buff it with a cloth and it will be ready to install in the car. I still have to do the armrests and headrests.

David Cecil

'97 740iL, 150k miles
'92 750iL, 88k miles
'86 735i, 101k miles

Visit e38.org for everything technical about your BMW

• New BMW leather seat covers (url) - Nick (Australia) 2006-11-10 08:27:19 (271 views)
  • Very stylish.... (nt) - windhund 2006-11-12 07:12:45 (73 views)
  • They look nice. I'm in the middle of dying new leather for my '92 750iL. (nt) - DavidC 2006-11-10 12:07:38 (91 views)
    • As that is also on my todo list...do tell me more! - Johan750 2006-11-10 12:27:34 (109 views)
      • Yes, I'm doing a dye color-change from brown to silbergrau (pic) (url) - DavidC 2006-11-11 01:01:05 (955 views)
        • Followup - pics of completed seats here. (url) - DavidC 2007-01-05 05:18:18 (153 views)
        • I am ready to pay to get mine done - FrancoisP 2006-11-13 20:29:44 (88 views)
        • Beautiful! I didn't believe 'ther color could be changed. (nt) - Patrick C 88 750 154K 2006-11-13 15:29:30 (71 views)
        • Please full write-up when finished looks great. (nt) - slydon 2006-11-12 04:55:43 (66 views)
        • looks nice David, keep us updated (nt) - shogun 2006-11-11 08:02:56 (86 views)