Failing Seats Leather, What to do?

[Jamesp]

The leather on the left bolster of my drivers seat is just about shot. What are my options?

[Pdwight]

You could find a good shop that does upholstery , I had the seat on my E36 reupholstered int he same area about 5 years ago, he was able to match an at a fraction of the cost of a complete upholstery job.

[litespeedp]

If your seat is black,the matching is easiest.What color is your seat?

[Smallblock454]

Can you give us a photo of the situation?

[Jamesp]

Black seat, here is a photo. The surface of the leather is failing in the creases, particularly in the lower part of the photo.

[Smallblock454]

Thanks for the photo.

No big deal.
Leather has to be cleaned with leather cleaner to remove dirt and old contaminations. Scratches and little gaps can be filled with a special fluidleather. When it is dried the leather has to be carefully sanded with light "sanding pad" to flatten the leather surface and make it plain and smooth (not sandpaper!). Than the leather has to be dyed with a color that matches your leather color exactly. Finally the leather will be sealed with a leather fat.

Here is a good desciption which also contains videos: Risse und Löcher in Glattleder mit Flüssigleder reparieren | Lederzentrum - Spezialist für Lederpflege, Lederreparatur, Beratung

Sorry - it's only availabe in german, but if you use google translator and watch the videos i think you'll understand how it's to be done.

Scratch and crack removing and dying:
https://youtu.be/W0-p0Mj7ps4

Fluidleather repair:
https://youtu.be/_i23e228sC8

If you have a coloured leather interior it is in general air brushed with new leather color:
https://youtu.be/rhyIhfwo8vo

Hope that helps.

[Ryan986]

Check out the reconditioning done in the DIY section, Looks amazing:

Reconditioned Leather Seats before and after pics

Let me know how you make out. Im in the same boat.

[Phil C]

Ive got a beautiful seat back left over from a seat swap on my '02 S. I'll make you a great deal if you're interested.
Send me a pm.
Phil C

[DrCactus]

WHY YOU HAVE “CRACKS” IN YOUR LEATHER

If you’re saying there are “cracks in your leather”, then the first thing you need to do is condition the leather with Soffener Leather Conditioner. Here is what’s causing those “cracks” in your leather, and how you can fix them.

The interior layer of the leather is made up of omni-directional fibers. These fibers hold residual oil and moisture. Over time, this residual oil and moisture evaporates through the pores of the leather. As the leather hide loses moisture, it begins to shrink and stiffen. This leaves a miniscule gap between the leather hide and the color coating on top of it. The color coating is no longer supported by the hide. Without proper support, it starts to crack. The cracking you see on your seats starts in the color coating. Without treatment, the cracks can become severe enough deepen into the hide. Before you apply the Surflex Dye to restore worn or abraded color, and in order to diminish the cracking, you first have to condition the leather using the Soffener Leather Conditioner. Soffener has more natural oils than other conditioners and is formulated to absorb deep into the leather hide. With its natural moisture restored, the re-hydrated hide can once again give proper support to the color coating.

If your leather is very dry, it may take several applications of the Soffener Leather Conditioner to restore enough moisture to the leather hide so that it can again provide the support needed to the color coating to prevent further cracking. Also, the edges of the cracks have (microscopically) lifted off the surface of the leather. After you have applied the Soffener Leather Conditioner, you can use 400 or 600 grit sandpaper to go LIGHTLY over the cracks to smooth the lifted edges. This technique usually does not affect either the color or the grain pattern of the leather – however, it is important that you test this technique first in an area that doesn’t show to make sure it will not affect either on your leather. You can repeat this condition/lightly sand process until the leather has absorbed as much of the Soffener as it needs and the cracks have been minimized as much as possible. Then you can use Surflex Dye to restore color to the leather surface.

[Duezzer]

What perfect timing - Thanks for the great info.

[Jamesp]

Originally Posted by Phil C

Ive got a beautiful seat back left over from a seat swap on my '02 S. I'll make you a great deal if you're interested.
Send me a pm.
Phil C

PM sent. .