Project: Dyeing dove grey interior to imola red & black

Let me start by saying your work looks great.

The guy who said that you are just painting your seats is actually correct. The product you are using just covers the dye already on your seats. I am sure you know that cows do not have grey hides. The process of making your seats grey to begin with is actually a paint type product as well. Technically seats are not dyed they are painted. I found this out when I went to a leather shop to have my steering wheel re dyed.

I have been trying to peel the dye they used on my steering wheel as I no longer use it, and after several years it is still quite well bonded. If your leather pealed it is probably due to improper prep.

Keep up the good work man. I am tempted to buy a car with grey seats to try this myself....Joking.

Looking good man!

Seems like you've found a great way to do something productive with otherwise rather invaluable grey seats!!!

Originally Posted by M3HER310

All I have to say.

Originally Posted by cak323i

I have seen Brian's interior in person and can say that the Imola dye looks awesome!!! Brian took his time and did everything right

Thanks Charlie!

Originally Posted by Showtime_M3

Let me start by saying your work looks great.

The guy who said that you are just painting your seats is actually correct. The product you are using just covers the dye already on your seats. I am sure you know that cows do not have grey hides. The process of making your seats grey to begin with is actually a paint type product as well. Technically seats are not dyed they are painted. I found this out when I went to a leather shop to have my steering wheel re dyed.

I have been trying to peel the dye they used on my steering wheel as I no longer use it, and after several years it is still quite well bonded. If your leather pealed it is probably due to improper prep.

Keep up the good work man. I am tempted to buy a car with grey seats to try this myself....Joking.

Originally Posted by Asmod3us

Looking good man!

Seems like you've found a great way to do something productive with otherwise rather invaluable grey seats!!!

LOL!!! Thanks man! Carpet that I got from you is awesome!

Just finished cleaning my interior with Meguiars interior detailer... I took some photos but the interior cleaner made it a little shiny. Once the cleaner dries out and gets absorbed, it should go back to matte finish... I installed my grey front seats to be able to drive the car and see if there was anything else that we forgot to connect... So far so good... All the controls, dash lights and ac vents are working... Only problem I had was the sport button mode. I tried pressing it and I just did not feel the pedal sensitivity that it normally gives. The light for it turns on so its not the fuse or connection. I even texted m3freak86 (Chris) and Josh about it and also tried to contact EVOLVE... Finally I got the answer from EVOLVE... The battery of the car was disconnected for 2 weeks to avoid the airbags blowing up on me. Sal at EVOLVE told me to give the car to adapt again since the adaptations get reset if you unhook your battery for that long... So for all of you guys that have the EVOLVE Tune, if you do plan in storing your car over winter, get a trickle charger. I have a Trickle Charger but like what I said, had to disconnect the battery because of the airbag... So all is well!!! Right now, the car looks funny because of the grey seats up front but it felt good to drive the car yesterday and today and hear it! Damn I hate driving my other car!!! LOL!

DETAILED PHOTOS FOR BRANDON... (He asked me to take some to see the stitching/pipings)








REAR SEATS ( Still need to install the middle part)




HOW THE CAR SITS AS OF NOW...

Looks great. The final piece should be the steering wheel, get it recover in two-tone Red and black would be perfect.

Originally Posted by LeonL

Looks great. The final piece should be the steering wheel, get it recover in two-tone Red and black would be perfect.

Thanks man! I already placed an order with COBY WHEEL...

Updates: I was bothered by the A pillars having that covering at the bottom part starting to peel off so I took the covering out and tried to re-wrap them with some felt fabric that I got from Joannes fabrics. It came out good but as I was installing the A pillars back in, they would not fit right because they were thicker now compared to OEM. I got frustrated and just took them out and threw them away. LOL! I just ordered a new set of OEM A pillars and their covers in Tulley BMW and will be picking them up today. I also placed an order with COBY WHEEL for a Black Alcantara Tri-stitch Steering wheel and a shift boot that will match it. I just wanted the steering wheel to be plain black alcantara with no time attack stripe since to just make it clean and simple. I will take some photos when the pieces get here.

THIS IS COBY WHEELS' PHOTO... ( I hope Mike does not mind me posting it)
This is what I exactly ordered...

Great work man. You definitely did it the right way.

I really like what you did with the dash.. because if you ever look closely in a car with a black dash, the lower part (below the trim), it gets a purple hue in sunlight. I'm not sure if it was like this stock or it happens over time. Your car looks brand new though!

Nah...Alcantara steering wheel won't match with your two-tone leather interior. I thought you get it done in Leather too.

Originally Posted by nike001

Great work man. You definitely did it the right way.

I really like what you did with the dash.. because if you ever look closely in a car with a black dash, the lower part (below the trim), it gets a purple hue in sunlight. I'm not sure if it was like this stock or it happens over time. Your car looks brand new though!

thanks!

Originally Posted by LeonL

Nah...Alcantara steering wheel won't match with your two-tone leather interior. I thought you get it done in Leather too.

why should I have my leather steering wheel re-done in leather again? It's in good condition. I have plans of purchasing black suede recaros later on so I am preparing my interior for that. I am sure this will just look fine.

home page thingy.. bet money

wow awesome job man.

Originally Posted by tehcbass

home page thingy.. bet money

Originally Posted by omni01_k

wow awesome job man.

Updates:

My in-laws are leaving today so most likely I will be able to start the front seats this week. I also got photos from Mike at coby wheel for the alcantara steering wheel and the shift boot that I ordered from him which are shipping out today...

I'm sorry, why is your rear view rectangular? I thought every m3 had the oval? Is that just an option?

Anyways stunning work mate!

Originally Posted by Toxx

I'm sorry, why is your rear view rectangular? I thought every m3 had the oval? Is that just an option?

Anyways stunning work mate!

Thanks! M3's came out with both oval and rectangular rear view mirrors... I am just not too sure why... Maybe someone can enlighten us.

I think that the difference is that the oval rear view mirror (I have one in mine) is automatically dimming, while the rectangular mirror has manual dimming.

Originally Posted by DSilk56

I think that the difference is that the oval rear view mirror (I have one in mine) is automatically dimming, while the rectangular mirror has manual dimming.

mine dims automatically too...

Found the answer!
Cars built from 2001 - 2003 have ovals, where as all cars 2004+ have the square mirrors. One of the small part quirks of the E46. also square mirrors have bmw assist and oval ones do not.

Originally Posted by Busabos77

Thanks Charlie! I texted Chad to look at it... I'm not sure if Russo is lurking around! LOL!

ya man, looks amazing... still didn't start mine yet but now that its getting cold out, there is nothing fun to do anymore, will be starting soon... i'll be hitting you up with some pointers if you don't mind

Updates:

I was at BMW Tulley this morning to pick up my A pillars that I ordered and saw an E46 M3 with Imola red interior that was being serviced. I wanted to compare my dye job from the real OEM Imola interior. After looking at the Imola Interior that the E46 M3 had, I realized that my rear seats that I dyed were the same color but a little shiny rather than a matte color that the OEM Imola interior had. So when I got home from work tonight, I took the rear seats out again and decided to mask them and sand them down with 400 grit to take out a thin layer of the dye that I had applied. I back tracked a bit from what I did and realized that I applied thick coats to the seats and kinda rushed them a bit compared to the door panels. The door panels were perfect and has the exact color and sheen compared with the OEM Imola interior that I saw. I just finished sanding all the pieces for the rear seat and will apply very light coats and set the spray to super fine setting to achieve the same sheen and color with the interior that I saw earlier. I want this done right and to look exactly OEM!

MASKED THE REAR BACK RESTS AGAIN!






COMPARING HOW SHINY THE FIRST DYE JOB THAT I DID TO THE SANDED ONE WHICH LOOKS MORE OEM ( Left one sanded down and right one the previous work that I did)

BEFORE


AFTER BOTH BACK RESTS ARE SANDED



REAR SEAT SANDED DOWN