I had mine recovered in ultrasuede and did not use any backing whatsoever. The material had no backing and was glued directly to the headliner board, pillar covers and sunroof sliding cover. The ONLY foam that was covered was the actual underside of the metal sunroof panel itself. There are no issues with any material binding, and everything has a crisp line to it, much like the newer BMW's. I have not noticed any increase in noise, just a fantastic looking headliner....
'93 850Ci - Mineralweiß Metallic
2001 740iL - Titansilber
ALPINA B7 -Alpinweiß III
...the price of cool ain't cheap!
$75 for the material (enough for headliner, sunroof switch cover, A&C pillars, package shelf, sliding panel and sunroof panel) + $150 to have everything glued up. I brought all the individual pieces to the upholsterer, all he had to do is glue it all up.
'93 850Ci - Mineralweiß Metallic
2001 740iL - Titansilber
ALPINA B7 -Alpinweiß III
...the price of cool ain't cheap!
The headliner, pillar covers, and sunroof were removed from the car I bought and started working on recently. Today I started on pillar covers, removing the fabric and brushing off rotten foam. Every pillar cover is either cracked or broken so I used some plastic bonder to glue most of the pieces since super glue did not work well.
This plastic bonder glue seems to stick very well. I will need to use some Plastifix to fill in bits and pieces that are missing. I will also need to fill some holes where foam is missing. These plastic parts are so fragile so I am tempted to cover with a layer of epoxy/glass cloth to reinforce the parts, but this would take some time to finish nicely so that fabric can be applied directly.
I sent off for some Alcantara/Ultrasuede samples and ended up ordering 4 yds of fabric found on sale at $25/yd (retail is $100+) to cover everything including the shelf under rear window. The pillars should be smooth enough to cover directly without any backing. I would also like to apply fabric directly to headliner if it cleans up nicely.
Headliner removal is quite simple. Do not let the upholsterer do it, otherwise you will have a lot of broken pieces.
'93 850Ci - Mineralweiß Metallic
2001 740iL - Titansilber
ALPINA B7 -Alpinweiß III
...the price of cool ain't cheap!
Keep us updated on how this project goes. I will be doing my headliner next spring. I was quoted over $600 (or was it $800) from a shop to do the job (and that was through a friend that used to work there). And as GR8White said, I am sure they will break stuff trying to remove things. I would rather break things my self and fix them correctly when reinstalling.
My Cars - 1991 BMW 850i - mine for fun, 1993 Saab 900c - mine for fun, 2008 Lexus is250 - my daily driver, 2003 Dodge Durango - my wife's, 1994 Acura Legend - gave it to kid
I will keep this thread updated. I am just waiting for my 1.5 mm neoprene to be delivered, then I am going to cover and test (intensely) the sunroof panel and the sliding sunroof ceiling liner.
Just to recap, my goal here is to reinstall the original factory headliner that has lost its foam backing and has separated from the vehicle due to age. I am a purist, so I am trying to keep the original look and feel of the factory headliner.
My Cars - 1991 BMW 850i - mine for fun, 1993 Saab 900c - mine for fun, 2008 Lexus is250 - my daily driver, 2003 Dodge Durango - my wife's, 1994 Acura Legend - gave it to kid
I tried to go the "reuse the original" route, but it didn't look good after it was done. A lot of work for mediocre (at best) results.
'93 850Ci - Mineralweiß Metallic
2001 740iL - Titansilber
ALPINA B7 -Alpinweiß III
...the price of cool ain't cheap!
Not my personal experience, but I saw a post on the Facebook group "BMW 850 (E31) World Owners Association" from somebody who reused the original material and it came out well. Search "headliner" in that group and it's the first result. I'm going to give it a try on my rear parcel shelf.
Could someone tell me if the pillar in photo is completely original? There is some silver re-inforced tape at the top of each pillar but its hard for me to tell if this is original or if tape was used to repair the pieces. I dont know if the parts have been covered before so I have included a photo of the cloth on headliner. Thanks,
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'93 850Ci - Mineralweiß Metallic
2001 740iL - Titansilber
ALPINA B7 -Alpinweiß III
...the price of cool ain't cheap!
Can't believe I've seen so many posts on here about failure of the re-used fabric option.
I must have been very lucky as my restored Anthracite headliner and pillars came out looking better than new, with no shrinkage or stretch issues along the way.
The trim shop I used are highly regarded in the local rod and custom community, which may have been the point of difference in achieving a good result. They were expensive, but in retrospect it was worth every cent.
Current:
1994 E31 850CSi Sterlingsilber/Anthracite Buffalo
Previous:
1987 E28 M5 Delphin
1986 E23 M745iA Arctic Blue
1986 E24 635CSi Polaris
1976 E3 3.0 Si Arctic Blue
yes you are lucky..... I tried and to much streched and now it is foam with alcantara (almost perfect match), pillars no foam (just alcantara). And I kept the original liner (just in case we find a solution in the future and it is black so rare anyhow).
BMW 850 CSI march 1994 (EU spec), SOLD. https://www.classiccars-forsale.com/...94-bmw-850csi/
BMW 850 CSI november 1994 (EU spec)
For the many purists out there like me its clear that reusing the ORIGINAL fabric would be the best way to go for many many reasons... its original, an exact match, free, takes much less effort, much less time, doesnt require removing and recovering the a and c pillars, sunroof switch cover or the rear deck. Im sure that as more and more headliners fail someone will eventually come up with the widely accepted method to reuse the original. It seems like the crucial part to being able to use the original fabric is the cleaning phase. Washing machines are shrinking, stretching or putting holes in the fabric. As a work around I suggest someone try one of the following ideas. 1. completely skip cleaning the fabric all together, no washing machine no damage. 2. Gentle 24 to 48 hour soak with Woolite (ultra gentle detergent) then a light HAND wash, then lay flat to air dry. The beauty is that if neither work one can easily undo it and get it reupolstered with nothing but a little lost time.
Also, I am suprised the washing machines are damaging the fabric to begin with. Using the right type of machine and correct settings shouldnt do damage. Front load machines only, no agitators... they put holes in delicate fabrics like our headliner. Gentle cycle, cold water, liquid woolite, only a few seconds of spin, lay flat to air dry. This is exacly how I clean my Griots PFM.
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