Leather Dye Colours

[RickyZ]

I know but if I ruin the leather it ll cost a lot more lol

[Gaz]

You're not going to dye your leather though are you? You'd be better off getting rid of yours and buying some more becuase it's the 'exclusive' colour.

[RickyZ]

I was thinking of getting cheap M3 interior and dying same colour as mine now, hence not wanting to mess it up lol

[mjn]

Watched Wheeler Dealers the other day, and they had the leather in a Bentley (i think) re-dyed for about £250

[suhail97]

Was that a colour change though?

[Jorge-]

I need to get a sample of the leather I want. Unsure what to really do now.

Might go to like a leather upholsters??

[foxy]

George, you have far too much time on your hands!

I am liking the cinammon colour though, would look spot on.

[mjn]

Was that a colour change though?

No, but the seats had lost nearly all of their original dye, they looked very tired.

[Jorge-]

Ha, thought that may have been you when I saw a couple of your posts Foxy.

I'm a student, what more can I say.

[foxy]

Still a student? My god man what are you studying... rocket science?!

[Jorge-]

Still? I quit for 3 years, hence how I afforded the BMWs.

[pablo]

did you go anywhere with this Jorge?

[Jorge-]

Not yet, I need to free up cash first

[J45ON W]

champagne leather in my sapphire black vert would look amazing, imo

Thats what i have in mine along with the 2 tone dash. it does lift things up and its a nice place to be, cant be doing with dark interiors tbh but thats only my opinion.

@Jorge, Which way and colour have you decided on ?

Full colour changes are available at a modest cost in comparison to re-covering. What they dont tell you is it's durability, they tend to spray the colour then seal it. Very similar to when they do bolster repairs. I beleive there are videos on this subject on youtube. Might be worth a look if you haven't already.

Edited February 29, 2012 by J45ON W

[Bespoke Leathering]

Interesting but unbeknown to me i have a cinnamon sample all along!

well it wasnt called cinnamon but not long ago i renovated a cinnamon leather interior and in the back of my mind i thought hmmm its looks very familiar.

So i started to look through all the leather samples i have and vola...found a match...thing is its a different name, not sure why BMW changed names but believe it was down to UK cars and other cars around the world, i got this sample from the US and i suppose some colour names are changed... sometimes..

Its called Zimt....i put the zimt leather sample to the Cinnamon leather in the car and ...well...looked the same, both BMW Nappa leathers as well.

Durability.

there are a number of things that affect the longjevity and the main one is expectation.

its not bullet proof as we all now but can take some heavy wear and unlike cloth and vinly you can get some excellent results from renovating.

If you purchase a car with warn leather and see the wear pattern then as you are the new owner you will usually get a different wear pattern, some things are constant such as wear on the bolsters and seat base going baggy due to stretch

Usually the shorter you are the more back bolster wear you get, the taller and the back side boster is near the B pillar which wont move like the bolster so you avoid it, thus less wear on that bolster.

But larger people tend to wear the base bolster and the foam under the leather can split.

So irrespective of if its OEM leather, renovated leather (same colour) or colour change, you will get wear.

How much depends on

1 how you prepare the leather

2 how you apply colour to the leather

3 The technique, tools and patience you have.

Most people go wrong on the preparation, for me if this is wrong then its either it wont perform and wear like leather, meaning once areas wear they are a lot harder to renovate years later, if it lasts that long.

So it will wear, but how. You need to prepare the leather and dye it so that it;

1 looks good

2 wears well

3 if needed, through damage or natural wear can be renovated (not colour changed) again...say the bolsters ect and still look good.

As an example, if i colour change and e46 interior irrespective of colour from/too and this is after taking the interior out, stripping it down to individual parts and removing all the doorcards inserts. Spend 3-4 (have spent more in some cases)days prepairing before full dye application (3-4 days includes putting dye in hard to reach areas)

then ill check the preparation again then look to spray the colour change, always looking and checking.

If applied correclty you can apply many coats, inbetween you can wipe of some top coat sealer for extra rub protection and spray more coats on top, repeat a few more times.

Colour change dyes etch into the origional leather at a micro level, if the origional leather isnt clean then areas can breakdown.

When finished you should be able to scratch the dyes leather with your nail (as long as there not like wolverine) and it should stand fast.

So, the question of how long will dyed leather last?

with so many variables its hard to say, but if prepared correlty and dyed correctly it should last a long time.

Ive done colour changes years ago that still look good, yes touch up has been applied but then ive appled dye to bolsters on car interiors a few months old.

Remember

You cannot solely base preparation on effort thats gone into it but only by the preparation itself.

Edited February 22, 2015 by Bespoke Leathering