[BimmerOne]

When cleaning my car after a long roadtrip I've noticed two tears in my leatherette drivers seat. Not sure how it happened, and I don't know what to do. Has anyone had this repaired or replaced before? I'm no longer in warranty, how much am I in for to get this fixed?

See photo for a better idea of what happened.

[IMG] http://[url=http://www.quickphotohost.com][/url][/IMG]

http://www.quickphotohost.com/uploads/b4cf88d7ac.jpg

[BimmerOne]

Sorry the photo is huge! I don't know how to change it

[brinkmann]

Open it up in paint, hit ctrl + w, reduce it to 35% of both its horizontal and vertical size.

[Noc57]

Doesn't look that bad, I'd just forget about it unless you want to fork out the $$ for new seats.

You might be able to get an auto upholstery place to repair/ patch it up for you, which is probably your best bet. No experience in dealing with leatherette so I can't really comment further.

[JLoupis]

Happened to me on my 00 and my 07. It split. They replaced it free both times. Can't tell if it happened on it's own or if you did it yourself though.

[mkbug]

Sheepskin seatcovers? Cool in Summer and warm in winter.

[runrider]

If you were my dad, you would fix it with a sharpie.

[SpeedBuggy]

Had the same thing happen to mine although not quite as bad as yours. Yours looks like the same black leatherette as my 325i has. I rubbed a little Kiwi Black shoe polish (paste) on it and wipe it off almost immediately and it did a good job of covering the tear. Mind you, I didn't go crazy rubbing it all over the seat, but concentrated on the tear its self. The tear is still their but it is not as noticeable. Sure beats the price of a seat cover.

[BMWinNorthdakota]

Happened to me, BMW provided me with a brand new seat bottom! If you were under warranty still they would fix this right up. I would try for a goodwill maybe... Worth a try.

Otherwise, have an upholstery guy fix it, should cost about $100

[BimmerOne]

Originally Posted by BMWinNorthdakota

Happened to me, BMW provided me with a brand new seat bottom! If you were under warranty still they would fix this right up. I would try for a goodwill maybe... Worth a try.

Otherwise, have an upholstery guy fix it, should cost about $100

I just got a goodwill repair for broken lock actuators, I doubt they are going to be willing to give me anything for something that is clearly not their fault.

[BMWinNorthdakota]

Originally Posted by BimmerOne

I just got a goodwill repair for broken lock actuators, I doubt they are going to be willing to give me anything for something that is clearly not their fault.

It is a known fault in the leatherette according to my SA.

Not really your fault man, worth a shot..

[Barbera335]

Originally Posted by mkbug

Sheepskin seatcovers? Cool in Summer and warm in winter.

And look like crap year round

[Dayclone]

Learned from my E46.... I put seat covers now.

Also, try leather repair kits.com or something. google it please.
Its leatherette I know, but technically that kit should work. I'm going to try it tomorrow actually on a friends E46. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Subscribed btw.

[faz]

I have a similar crack in my drivers seat in my X5. I just assumed it was due to wear and tear, and didn't bother asking the dealership while it was still under warranty.

Imagine my surprise when I saw on this and other forum that people had it changed under warranty. Surprised, and very pissed at myself for not asking.

[Potty_Pants]

vinyl (sp) repair kit...

pepboys has em.

worth a shot ! if possible PRACTICE on another piece of vinyl.

this stuff works on leather and vinyl but you must be skilled.

also you can take the car to an ulpostery repair center (for house furniture & cars) they will essentially do the same thing but a better job at a higher price... my guess would be 50-100

ppp

[BimmerOne]

I'm going to take it to a repair place today and get a quote. I'm not the type of guy to try and fix something like this myself.

[nogard13]

Originally Posted by BimmerOne

I'm going to take it to a repair place today and get a quote. I'm not the type of guy to try and fix something like this myself.

That's exactly what I was going to suggest.

When I purchased my 06 325i CPO, I noticed a very small tear in the passenger's seat (something that nobody else had noticed, apparently, because the manager apologized for not having caught it during the CPO inspection). The only reason I noticed it was because it was raining out and my hand was wet when I was inspecting the seats. When the tear got wet, it was noticeable, but you couldn't see it when it was dry (weird, I know).

Anywho, they called a leather repair guy to come over and fix it. It took him 15 minutes. He covered it with a filling agent, and then sanded it down. After that, he covered the interior of the car and proceeded to air brush it with a paint gun. I have the light gray interior and you CAN NOT tell that it has been repaired. The service did an excellent job.

I'm sure that any local leather repair facility you have locally will be able to do this.