DIY: Headliner Replacement

[Jims5543]

Not a super hard job to do in hindsight.

Getting the A-pillar covers off was confusing at first, then I realized there was a little cover over some star head screws and it came right off. There is a skinny strip along the front edge by the windshield that looks like the airbag would deploy through it but its just a cover. Pop it off with a screwdriver and there are 3 star screws. Use a mini ratchet wrench with a small star socket and its easy.

B-pillar was a little tricky and I may have broke stuff trying to get it off. But it went back on O.K.... not great. Behind the lower cover the B-pillar cover is attached with 2 plastic inserts, the kind you pull the center out of then remove the outer part. Getting the bottom off... I probably could have done it better, I pulled it back until I could see the tabs holding it on then popped them off.

C-pillar was a breeze, 2 plastic attachments near the top popped right off. Just pull it back gently and get a screwdriver in there, put a little pressure on and it pops out.

Everything on the roof line was pretty straight forward. Had the headliner out of the car in about 30 minutes.

Scraping, sanding and cursing took about 3 hours.

Cementing the new headliner took about 1.5 hours. Then putting it all back together took another 45 minutes. I am really happy with the finished product. Unfortunately I do not have a pic of it done as a mean storm came in as I was finishing and it was too dark to take a nice pic.


Mistakes made:

I should have ordered 2 cans of cement, I could have used more and had to settle for some Ace Hardware 3M style to do some small bits.

I forgot to mark the holes for the clips for the visors. It was not hard to poke through and put them in anyway just made the job a little harder.

***Good forethought, I bought way too much material and that is good, less stress, lots leftover and I am going to recover the B-pillars in the near future. I covered the 3rd brake light cover with some of the extra and I will even have enough to do the A and C if I want too. All for another $40 worth of material, worth every penny.***

Headliner scraping:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y219/Jims5543/CIMG0031-1.jpg

Nice clean headliner with tools used:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y219/Jims5543/CIMG0035.jpg

Size checking the new headliner:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y219/Jims5543/CIMG0037.jpg

Da glue:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y219/Jims5543/CIMG0036-1.jpg

Back in car, ready to go back in, note I took off the passenger headrest, and moved the seat all the way forward and as far up as it would go. Then laid the drivers seat all the way back. It made putting the board back in easy. I went through the door I am taking the pic through.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y219/Jims5543/CIMG0038.jpg

Crappy Cal-phone camera shot of it up and being buttoned up. I forgot to attach the garage door opener thingy, noticed it in this pic and snapped it in.
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs306.snc4/40643_1505645354173_1025451214_31449729_568338_n.j pg


I had been putting off this job for weeks because I thought it was going to be a nightmare. Its not, if you have a sagging headliner it takes about 5 hours of your time, and $75 and you are set.

[325couper]

Great job, thanks for the DIY. I couldn't help but notice you don't have a moonroof! That is pretty rare for these cars, and in your case, saved you a lot of trouble when re-doing the headliner I'm sure. I think the curves and trim of the sunroof would definitely give an added complexity to this job; something for the rest of us to keep in mind.
Keep up the good work!

[danewilson77]

Good writeup.....and thanks for sharing with the family.

The only thing I wish we could come up with, is a fail safe, efficient alternative, for removing the old felt material.

There has to be a chemical out there that will loosen that stuff up.

[telijah]

Good writeup.....and thanks for sharing with the family.

The only thing I wish we could come up with, is a fail safe, efficient alternative, for removing the old felt material.

There has to be a chemical out there that will loosen that stuff up.

I'm sure a DA with fine grit would be fine for that.

[crazyfool0821]

Thanks for this! Mine's starting to sag so I need to do this sometime soon.

[Jims5543]

Good writeup.....and thanks for sharing with the family.

The only thing I wish we could come up with, is a fail safe, efficient alternative, for removing the old felt material.

There has to be a chemical out there that will loosen that stuff up.

To be honest, the plastic scraper made the job easy, then my wife gave me that pot scrubbing pad and it was like magic. It really worked in the nooks and crannies.

I have no idea how much a shop charges to do this, I actually called one and they stopped me when I said 2001 BMW and told me that as much as he wanted to the work, there were too many plastic parts that break and he does not do BMW's.

So for $70 I did it myself and I sprung for the better roof lining and extra material.

While the removal of the foam was time consuming, it was not hard to do and I thought it went rather quickly. I did a little on Saturday evening after I took it out and finished it Sunday morning. Taking an overnight break was a great idea, I was fresh on Sunday and it was not frustrating me.

[hooRAH]

Jim,

Thanks for the writeup. I had attempted to glue the fabric on my a, b, and c pillars back in place after it started sagging, and it turned into a clusterfracas of glue. Needless to say, I'm not very good at gluing headliner.

Is the headliner material different than the fabric that goes on the pillar covers?

I've noticed a spot or two on my headliner that looks like it *might* be starting to sag, but I'm not totally sure. If it gets bad, how would you feel about doing mine for some side change if I dropped off the piece for you?

[danewilson77]

To be honest, the plastic scraper made the job easy, then my wife gave me that pot scrubbing pad and it was like magic. It really worked in the nooks and crannies.



Stainless steel one....or a greenie?

[Jims5543]

Jim,

Thanks for the writeup. I had attempted to glue the fabric on my a, b, and c pillars back in place after it started sagging, and it turned into a clusterfracas of glue. Needless to say, I'm not very good at gluing headliner.

Is the headliner material different than the fabric that goes on the pillar covers?

I've noticed a spot or two on my headliner that looks like it *might* be starting to sag, but I'm not totally sure. If it gets bad, how would you feel about doing mine for some side change if I dropped off the piece for you?

If you took out the piece, cleaned it and brought it up here we could to it together. The process takes about 1.5 hours.

I bought the material here:
http://www.stockinteriors.com/autoheadliner.asp

I do not know if there is a vendor on here that sells it though.

As far as material, I think the roof material will work on the pillars. It just takes patience.

I am going to do my B-pillars next week. I will let you know how hard it was.




Stainless steel one....or a greenie?

It is in the pic above, it was a green one.

[danewilson77]

Ok....my bad. I did not wait for the pics to load on the droid.

[Hikmat]

Thank you so much for this really useful information man!
buy i got question like:
how much material i should buy to cover headliner and all 6 pillars, and what width should it be? is 54 inches enough or should i go for 60 ?
appreciate it

[HolaSenor]

Great write-up. I'm Pulling the trigger on this one. Wanted to ask you about how much I should order of the materials. I need enough to cover the whole headliner and pillars. do you think 3 yards is enough? Also 54" or 60" width?

My list is:

2 cans of the spray adhesive
3 yards 60" black headliner

Thanks!