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So my drivers seat was looking a little sorry for itself. Years of my 6’8” 330lb *** getting in and out of it multiple times a day was taking its toll on the leather. It was creasing and cracking along some perforations, and a large crease in the leather even had a hole worn through it. It was also stained from denim dye which I couldn’t for the life of me get out.
Looked at replacement leather from Audi which was simply silly money, and then likely a hassle to fit without damaging. Finding good condition used on eBay of the right spec was also turning out to be a largely futile exercise.
So called up a local leather and fabric repair guy and he’s done a pretty damn good job of revitalizing the seat and bringing it back to almost new appearance. The photos don’t really do it justice as it was clearly in fairly poor shape to the naked eye and I’d say it was a well spent $250. Let’s hope it lasts!
Car is an ‘04 with 86k miles. I realize that in the world of beat up car seats, this was still in relatively good shape. As I said the pics don’t do it justice because of the compression the website puts on images, taking out much of the fine detail. The leather perforations all had tiny cracks all around them, and quite a few had turned into larger splits. The side bolsters were fairly scuffed too. To the naked eye it was clearly a well worn seat.
I could have left it but it was at that tipping point where the wear and tear would have increased at an exponential rate if it wasn’t dealt with. And stuff like this plays on my OCD!
Some closeups that hopefully show the issues better.
IIRC pretty much all high end German luxury cars use leather that is protected via a water based clear coat. This clear coat is original matte finish (just check out a part of the rear seats that haven't been touch). However, with age they get a nice shiny finish (this was also the case for my 2001 740il). I can't explain how much time and different products I used to try to remedy this, with little to no success. Finally one day I stumbled upon an AmmoNYC video where he explains that a steamer wrapped in a microfiber will work wonders. Sure enough it does. It not only removed the wrinkles from the side and bottom bolsters, but also the shininess. Also, if anyone decides to go about this, I learned the hard way that you have to be very careful over the perforated sections of leather, as they have the ability to shrink fast if you keep the steam in one area for too long. So from a cleaning standpoint, a clothing steamer and microfiber cloth will work wonders, just don't let the steamer sit too long on the perforated sections or it will end up looking like shriveled beef jerky (I plan on replacing the skin, just have yet to find one).
06-12-2018, 05:08 PM
Seat leather repair
