Any hope for my armrest?

Through my forum browsing, I've seen some folks do some incredible leather restoration, which is something I've never done. Would someone with some good knowledge of this let me know if this leather armrest on my M3 is fixable? I've searched places like eBay for covers, and the only ones I find have textured leather or vinyl, not the smooth leather like on my armrest. A new one from the dealer is $240 which is a lot of $ for what it is. If I can't fix it, I'll probably take them up on it, but figured I'd look here for some guidance.

Swisswax Leather Healer Leather Dye - an easy-to-apply Leather refurbishing dye, it Is easy to apply and sets automatically and permanently, without leaving a heavy layer of pigments as often encountered with other leather tinting. The purpose of this product is to restore leather to its original colour and with uniform matte finish, but without a "just been painted" appearance.
Apply after the thorough preparation of the leather surface ; Swissvax dye sets automatically and permanently without leaving a heavy layer of pigment as it is often the case with other sprayed-on leather tinting. The leathers fine and natural structure as well as its typical original feel are perfectly preserved.

Certain areas of your vehicles leather interior like seats, upholstery, side mouldings and steering wheels inevitably start to show signs of wear, even if well taken care of, that spoil its overall impression. Often these imperfections are not serious and are simply colour that has worn off or light scratches in the leather surface which can be removed and will disappear with the right application The Swissvax dye is easily applied with a small sponge and sets automatically and permanently. The leathers fine and natural structure as well as its typical original feel are perfectly preserved. 46 standard colours available

"Leather pigment (Dye) restoration" -
http://www.autopia.org/forum/autopia...ml#post1488560

look for a OEM color dye on ebay and amazon. they come in a bottle or spray can. clean the area well and apply the dye. allowed to dry for a day or two without touching it. it'll come out pretty nicely.

if you have some shoe polish, you can try using that as well. it is a cheap fix though.

This is your answer OP

http://www.ebay.com/itm/black-stitch...item519d4cdde9

Or you can do alacantra armrest, shift boot and handbrake cover for the same price from the seller.

Thanks for everyone's replies. I'm liking that one on eBay. I've done several searches, but never ran across that one. Thanks, I think I'll give it a try. If I can't get it to fit properly, it's not much money down the drain, and I can move onto things like the other 2 posters suggested.

Hmm. I see that seller is in the UK, and the notch in the armrest is in the wrong side for a US car. I'll have to contact them and ask a question or 2.

Originally Posted by McGary911

Thanks for everyone's replies. I'm liking that one on eBay. I've done several searches, but never ran across that one. Thanks, I think I'll give it a try. If I can't get it to fit properly, it's not much money down the drain, and I can move onto things like the other 2 posters suggested.

Originally Posted by McGary911

Hmm. I see that seller is in the UK, and the notch in the armrest is in the wrong side for a US car. I'll have to contact them and ask a question or 2.

This thread might answer some of your questions. People here have had success on the boots, I believe someone ordered the armrest cover as well. Just check on that thread once before ordering.

Originally Posted by trj

This thread might answer some of your questions. People here have had success on the boots, I believe someone ordered the armrest cover as well. Just check on that thread once before ordering.

Tanks again.. I just ordered it. Even with shipping from the UK, it was a touch under $40. I'd still like to see that thread you reference. I think you forgot the link.

Il post up some pics once it arrives.

It's done. I got the cover from that link above. Very good eBay seller.

It's made of something more like shoe leather rather than upholstery leather. Thinner and softer. It was a little bit of a pain to install, but not awful. I used some contact cement, which worked great.

I'll still likely end up getting a new one, as I want it factory, but I think this is a good, cheap fix to hold over.

Thanks for the help everyone.