I've finally completed full swap from beige to black interior

[BMW540san]

Some of you may have read about my 528 transformation to something quite unique:
https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?2430068-Just-completed-E36-M3-S52-engine-5-speed-manual-along-with-interior-swap-on-my-528

At that that time I did partial black interior completion. I couldn't find decent black carpet and I painted lower dash experimentaly into black but I knew I eventually wanted to find correct OEM black pieces. Also, original beige headliner was sagging too.

Few weeks ago I found crappy craigslist ad for 2002 528 partout (Yeah, I know) and after I got some pictures I decided to make 2 hour drive.
Of course, it wasn't 2002 528 but 2003 530 manual with M Sport package sitting in the back of junkyard that was so packed you couldn't even walk. I knew it was going to be PITA to remove the seats, as the car was dead, no key and no room to fully open doors. But, we struck a deal and I got all of this for $200. Yes, a great deal but with me busting my ass for 3.5 hours and carying 70 lbs seats for good 300ft through a tight maze of cars.

The pictures show cleaned carpet and cleaned / conditioned seats but in all honesty they were in extremely good condition other than carpets being wet and seats being dirty:

https://i.postimg.cc/nhnBJVCm/IMG-20210203-153220525.jpg (https://postimg.cc/8jnjdSdk)

https://i.postimg.cc/0QnhVyMC/IMG-20210130-173845319.jpg (https://postimg.cc/FdfPRmxf)

https://i.postimg.cc/g24Rk9ZT/IMG-20210205-173658981.jpg (https://postimg.cc/NK9Lpzb6)


As far as headliner goes, I removed it myself and took it and pillar pieces to good local upholstery shop to recover them in black. Shop used different style material which I actually prefer over OEM:

https://i.postimg.cc/pTs1Dc4G/IMG-20210115-190816717.jpg (https://postimg.cc/BL1g3pqH)

https://i.postimg.cc/bw2cqPWz/IMG-20210127-132026747.jpg (https://postimg.cc/ZWZDLGJg)

Also, I ended up painting sunvisors, handles etc... into black as donor car had those pieces in gray color. I'd like to eventualy find OEM black pieces but they're surprisingly expensive:

https://i.postimg.cc/C1SWCq11/IMG-20210127-135540352.jpg (https://postimg.cc/sBH6s15d)

And then of course I had a lot of fun removing interior:

https://i.postimg.cc/fbLdVH7T/IMG-20210205-120640546.jpg (https://postimg.cc/Yv50VzyJ)

https://i.postimg.cc/WzWL11s4/IMG-20210205-120721645.jpg (https://postimg.cc/n9DwdZj8)

Found some surface rust in right rear corner from vapor barrier leak long time ago and cleaned it and protected it with some white spray paint containing rust protection:

https://i.postimg.cc/yd3SPkrM/IMG-20210205-131616347.jpg (https://postimg.cc/ZBZRYKmH)

Assembly is tedious and it takes a long time but I'm very pleased. I know we have all different taste but I hate beige interior with passion. To me, classic BMW combination is Alpine White Black and that is what I got:


https://i.postimg.cc/3R0gnD52/IMG-20210207-131453381.jpg (https://postimg.cc/S2q2KRKK)

https://i.postimg.cc/j2zyr0j5/IMG-20210207-131516789.jpg (https://postimg.cc/H8krQNXD)

https://i.postimg.cc/VL8jW67b/IMG-20210207-131445588.jpg (https://postimg.cc/mhmzbbWb)

https://i.postimg.cc/jjmfwdw2/IMG-20210207-131522907.jpg (https://postimg.cc/FfbzwvxX)

https://i.postimg.cc/hvPRndWw/IMG-20210206-160330004.jpg (https://postimg.cc/5YGRqjtq)

By the way, my "old" black seats are for sale in classified section. They are in very good condition with all motors operational and no twisted cables:

https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?2443888-For-Sale-E39-BMW-Sport-Seats

[seagreen323i]

Looks fantastic! Wish I could find an all black one. I almost had one secured for 300 but realized it didn't have sports seats.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

[BMW540san]

Looks fantastic! Wish I could find an all black one. I almost had one secured for 300 but realized it didn't have sports seats.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

Thank you!
The sad reality is that finding decent E39 in any color is getting harder. And to find decent black interior with good sport seats is even harder.
P.S.
My seats for sale in classifieds (link is at the bottom of my OP) are in actually quite decent shape and if you're interested, PM me. We could meet half way or something.

[Ed CT]

Wow! That looks great! And for only $200 and your labor. That's a good deal (but only because we all love E39s!!! LOL) Your 528 makeover should be pretty much complete now, isn't it?

[BMW540san]

Wow! That looks great! And for only $200 and your labor. That's a good deal (but only because we all love E39s!!! LOL) Your 528 makeover should be pretty much complete now, isn't it?
Thank you!
The total cost for complete interior swap is probably around $500 after counting previously bought black upper dash and black rear seats and deducting for selling front beige seats plus the headliner /pillars recovery was $300.
Yes, the reason me, you and many others here do it is the love of E39. Otherwise we could all buy Camry and Accord and drive happily ever after, lol.
And yes, the makover is completely done as the preety much the only original part left is the body.

[DennisCooper]

Hi BMW540san,

I have a full black interior in my Touring, it came with cloth anthracite standard and the Police kept that but as soon as I got the car the modifying began and within a month or two back in 2006, I had black leather in (normal SE seats though). The Sport black leather came about a few months after that and about 18 months ago, it's now got E38 Black leather Sport Contours. Great result for you in finding a set and in good condition and price, just a pain of the 'extraction' from the yard for you !

With the interior out like that and treated, if you'd posted pics at that stage, I'd have urged you to have used some of the thin sound deadening mats and covered the floorpan with it! but alas, you've refitted the interior now! I have this project to do on my car as the material itself is nicely priced. I've previously sat in a customer's E39 that had the floorpan, doors and roof done with sound deadening material and it was a hushed interior! if a set of double glazing comes along at a decent price I'll perhaps add that in too later on!

I've yet to add my black roof liner and like your's my Touring is white. It'd be a 'full' black interior at that point as I've got the high gloss black trim set, however I'm thinking to break the black up with some colour on the trim set !

What's next on your modification list ?!!

Cheers, Dennis!

[BMW540san]

Hi BMW540san,

I have a full black interior in my Touring, it came with cloth anthracite standard and the Police kept that but as soon as I got the car the modifying began and within a month or two back in 2006, I had black leather in (normal SE seats though). The Sport black leather came about a few months after that and about 18 months ago, it's now got E38 Black leather Sport Contours. Great result for you in finding a set and in good condition and price, just a pain of the 'extraction' from the yard for you !

With the interior out like that and treated, if you'd posted pics at that stage, I'd have urged you to have used some of the thin sound deadening mats and covered the floorpan with it! but alas, you've refitted the interior now! I have this project to do on my car as the material itself is nicely priced. I've previously sat in a customer's E39 that had the floorpan, doors and roof done with sound deadening material and it was a hushed interior! if a set of double glazing comes along at a decent price I'll perhaps add that in too later on!

I've yet to add my black roof liner and like your's my Touring is white. It'd be a 'full' black interior at that point as I've got the high gloss black trim set, however I'm thinking to break the black up with some colour on the trim set !

What's next on your modification list ?!!

Cheers, Dennis!
Hi Dennis!
I've known your Touring for years and it's fine specimen of E39. Sport Contour seats are awesome and probably my favorite ones. I sure wish I could find some.
To be honest, even if you have suggested the sound deadening mats before assembly, I'd probably pass on them. I'm sure they would make difference but the metallic noise of Supersprint headers sort of suits the character of the car and I don't want to change that.
I am kind a thinking of high gloss black trim and I can higly recommend the black trim vs body colored one. IMO, it works great with E39 lines. I'm probably going to refresh the steering wheel as well.
Cheers,
Z

[MotorMouth93]

Those are some of the nicest looking junk yard seats I've ever seen, the black interior looks great!

I've been hoping to come across some decent black sport seats to replace the comfort seats my car was optioned with but nothing so far.

[DannyL]

Great looking used black seats but the rubber mats? In my opinion, nothing worse than rubber floor mats and black wheels. Nice job on the change over.

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

What the hells wrong with rubber mats?

[crdiscoverer]

Awesome transformation! Congrats man! I so need a couple of sport seats in black.

Now you just need the Euro lower dash to make your interior even more unique :stickoutt

[BMW540san]

Those are some of the nicest looking junk yard seats I've ever seen, the black interior looks great!

I've been hoping to come across some decent black sport seats to replace the comfort seats my car was optioned with but nothing so far.
Thanks! I followed my gut feeling and found a diamond in a rough at the back of junkyard. My other ones are for sale in classifieds.

- - - Updated - - -


Awesome transformation! Congrats man! I so need a couple of sport seats in black.

Now you just need the Euro lower dash to make your interior even more unique :stickoutt
Thank you! Euro lower dash creates more room for sure but I like the look of US one.

- - - Updated - - -


Great looking used black seats but the rubber mats? In my opinion, nothing worse than rubber floor mats and black wheels. Nice job on the change over.
Thank you. I guess it's matter of preference. I don't like carpet mats and rubber ones protect carpet underneath better.

- - - Updated - - -


What the hells wrong with rubber mats?
Everyone is entitled to their choice. One of my first thing to do when getting a new (used) bimmer is to ditch carpet mats and get OEM rubber ones. But , some people are the total oposite and nothing wrong with that.

[philly98540]

Awesome transformation Z! White over black is a nice look. I don't know how you got so lucky to find seats in that condition, but damn thats an incredible find these days and for cheap too. Have you been on alert to any new E39's coming to the local junk yards? Did you look at 20 sets before finding this set or just get lucky? Just curious as every E39 I see is picked over or a total POS at my local yard.

Any close ups of the headliner fabric? How much was it to get the stuff recovered? My headliner foam is starting to go bad (stays pushed in when you touch it), so I may do this at some point.

[Arson8]

That interior is stunning! Nice work!

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

Yeah, I can’t stand the carpet mats either. They get dirty way too fast. I also have a black set of Weatherteck floor mats, I like them, but I figured I’d wear out the oem rubber mats first.

[QtheGenius]

Nice job! I did this myself last summer. I found a black interior wagon with sport seats in my LKQ, and I was able to pull everything but the carpet for $325. I had a grey sport interior, but i kept the grey carpet. With black floor mats, it adds a little two-tone action which I really like. Only thing I lost was my heated seats, but being in SoCal, I'm ok with giving that up for the black look.

[BMW540san]

That interior is stunning! Nice work!

Thanks!

- - - Updated - - -


Nice job! I did this myself last summer. I found a black interior wagon with sport seats in my LKQ, and I was able to pull everything but the carpet for $325. I had a grey sport interior, but i kept the grey carpet. With black floor mats, it adds a little two-tone action which I really like. Only thing I lost was my heated seats, but being in SoCal, I'm ok with giving that up for the black look.
Thanks!
I agree on two tone grey / silver, especially if done correctly. My donor car had gray pillars and gray headliner which IIRC is quite common.

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Yeah, I can’t stand the carpet mats either. They get dirty way too fast. I also have a black set of Weatherteck floor mats, I like them, but I figured I’d wear out the oem rubber mats first.
Yes, Weathertech looks OEM in car too plus they're good quality.

[DennisCooper]

Hi,

Its amazing how the price of parts can vary so much between territories! With our E39's then in 'general' prices in direct comparison for parts from old/scrap/not great condition cars is often significantly more expensive than us here in the UK. It's not 'always' the case, but in general/most part.

I had my Sport Black Leather seats in from around 2007 to just over a year ago and they were still in excellent condition and shape, no worn or saggy areas and drivers bolsters etc. I'd also had the seat backs covered in a Carbon Fibre flexi cloth for a little added sparkle too!

https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/rr183/DennisCooper/BMW%20Products/E39%20Connects2%20Dual%202DIN%20Fascia/.highres/DSC05517.jpg
https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/rr183/DennisCooper/E39%20Touring/.highres/DSC05340.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds

Now the E38 Sport Contours are in, I sold both front seats for £100 (about $135 USD currently) A few 'decent' condition full interior seats/doorcard sets get listed for around £150-180 and plenty other more worn sets for much less.

I've got cloth mats, not really liked the rubber ones!

I need to take updated pics of my car and interior, the two above are from around 2012/13 ish. Changing cameras currently!

Qthegenuis, the mix of grey/black can look really good! got pics ?!
BMW540san - thanks for the kind words about my example! plenty more has been done and more to come! an interior revamp is on the cards as well, shortlisting colours and highlights etc !

Cheers, Dennis!

[BMW540san]

Awesome transformation Z! White over black is a nice look. I don't know how you got so lucky to find seats in that condition, but damn thats an incredible find these days and for cheap too. Have you been on alert to any new E39's coming to the local junk yards? Did you look at 20 sets before finding this set or just get lucky? Just curious as every E39 I see is picked over or a total POS at my local yard.

Any close ups of the headliner fabric? How much was it to get the stuff recovered? My headliner foam is starting to go bad (stays pushed in when you touch it), so I may do this at some point.
Hi Philly,
I responded to this post few days ago but when I tried to update it with close picture of headliner fabric, it somehow got deleted.
Anyway, it was combination of gut feeling and pure luck to find such a good seats. It also helped that this was not organised pick and pull place like for example LKQ in my area but rather overcrowded place where 530 was literally hiding in the back.
$200 is a great deal but I've also busted my ass for 3.5 hours working on dead car and no room whatsoever plus I had to carry 70lbs for good 300 ft through a maze of tightly packed cars.
I paid $300 for headliner and pillars pieces but that was with me removing them and taking them to a shop. I thought $300 was high till I checked other place where they wanted double.
I'm very pleased with new style material and here is a close up per your request. I never liked "hairy" style OEM fabric and this feels and looks more modern, at least to me.

https://i.postimg.cc/d0hMrGtv/IMG-20210210-082717107.jpg (https://postimg.cc/GBnS18yS)

[philly98540]

Thanks for getting back on the fabric detail. That looks great and should be very durable. I will see what shops charge up here. I bet its double. North East prices...

[BMW540san]

Thanks for getting back on the fabric detail. That looks great and should be very durable. I will see what shops charge up here. I bet its double. North East prices...
No problem.
I believe that prices are high everywhere because of demand for used cars due to Covid. The reason I believe so was that shop that wanted double works primarily on dealers cars and my job is very small for his volume so he wanted to justify his time.
So if I were you I'd check the shops that primarily work on custom interiors such as hot rods, muscle cars etc... (as I did) and I bet you can find a decent deal and probably better workmanship.

[philly98540]

^good tips. Thanks.

[BMW540san]

^good tips. Thanks.
You're welcome Philly.

[DannyL]

Rubber mats are for work trucks. If BMW finished their floors off with a spray on rubber coating and tried to sell them that way, no one would be impressed. That's why they use carpet on the floor and leather on the seats and other relatively good quality materials in their cars. These rubber mats have been marketed to death and people have accepted it... They are ugly as sin, but of course each to his own.

Cheers

[crazy4trains]

Rubber mats are for work trucks. If BMW finished their floors off with a spray on rubber coating and tried to sell them that way, no one would be impressed. That's why they use carpet on the floor and leather on the seats and other relatively good quality materials in their cars. These rubber mats have been marketed to death and people have accepted it... They are ugly as sin, but of course each to his own.

Cheers

I prefer not to saturate my carpets with slop from the outside environment. With freezing rain, snow and the application of salt and other road detritus my carpets still stay clean.