Desirability of M5 "M Hurricane" fabric?

[BimmerBreaker]

Hello E34 community,

Last year I worked hard to reproduce the coveted "M Rain" interior fabric for the E36 M3. Details on that fabric can be found in this thread. Now, about a year later I'm able to offer M rain, a few Alpina fabrics, Alcantara and M tech for the E30 is on it's way.

We are currently looking into making another fabric, but with limited resources we only have the means to produce one more at this time. We have already made some progress on the E36 M3 "M Cross" interior but I am thinking we should shift focus and offer a product to a new market; namely the E34 community. The M Hurricane fabric is my personal favorite of this era BMW fabrics but we are unsure if there is sufficient demand within the community to produce it. So I wanted to post here and gauge interest as we are worried that for the more luxuriously appointed 5 series many may prefer the leather and demand for the M Hurricane would be minimal and possibly limited to those already with the fabric interior who are wanting to reupholster. A lot of E36 guys buy the M Rain to upgrade their leather seats to the fabric/alcantara design.





So in short, how many of you guys like the interior pictured above and would want to upgrade to that style given the chance? Keep in mind we don't currently sell seat skins, just raw fabric, but we have the best prices on Alcantara and our reproduction of M Rain has received nothing but praise. We went through about 5 companies before finding one that was good enough, and then a further 10+ samples evolved to give us a product I felt was good enough to sell to the community. I say this to let you know that I'm a perfectionist and if we did reproduce the M Hurricane, it'd be of excellent quality. Curious to hear your thoughts

[SVD115]

I would be insanely interested
I have a pair of sr3 recaros I've been wanting to retrim and have wanted to do the hurricane.

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[UnrulyGrace]

I am very interested. Almost pulled the trigger on your M Rain cloth, but wanted to stay e34 specific so I held off.

[fanboi]

I'd like to do something with my interior, black exterior + black leather seats in Arizona = that not so fresh feeling in the summer. Not sure that the Hurricane is my favorite but it's more unique, which is good. The biggest problem is finding a good upholstery shop.

[Sam Son]

I could go for some of that material

[atl530i]

I would also be interested

[struka]

Would be interested.

[BruinBimmer]

Is this feasible? Can we have a vote? Would love my Recaro wrapped in this

Also, would be nice if we had rough estimates for cost, e.g. '$X for a group buy of 10, $Y for a group buy of 20, etc'

[Shock(/\)ave]

Last year I worked hard to reproduce the coveted "M Rain" interior fabric for the E36 M3. Details on that fabric can be found in this thread. Now, about a year later I'm able to offer M rain, a few Alpina fabrics, Alcantara and M tech for the E30 is on it's way.

You have a terrific business idea and implementation - thank you for thinking of it and bringing it to fruition.

We are currently looking into making another fabric, but with limited resources we only have the means to produce one more at this time. We have already made some progress on the E36 M3 "M Cross" interior but I am thinking we should shift focus and offer a product to a new market; namely the E34 community. The M Hurricane fabric is my personal favorite of this era BMW fabrics but we are unsure if there is sufficient demand within the community to produce it. So I wanted to post here and gauge interest as we are worried that for the more luxuriously appointed 5 series many may prefer the leather and demand for the M Hurricane would be minimal and possibly limited to those already with the fabric interior who are wanting to reupholster. A lot of E36 guys buy the M Rain to upgrade their leather seats to the fabric/alcantara design.

[snip]

I'm a perfectionist and if we did reproduce the M Hurricane, it'd be of excellent quality. Curious to hear your thoughts

This is without question my favourite E34 interior fabric: I have an E34 M5 with the light grey hurricane fabric, and if all of the vinyl in the interior and the headliner weren't light grey I'd be buying your reproduction fabric as soon as it was available (I'm happy with my second favourite choice, though, as it's paired with my favourite exterior colour).

With that said, I think the E34 market is much weaker than the E36 market for this fabric, in that there just aren't that many people out there investing money in these cars to the point where a new interior would make sense for them. If you're comfortable investing in a small run of this fabric out of your passion for it, and are prepared to sit on it for a while, I'd love to see you go forward with it.

[clevertd]

Interested.

[reykavik]

Interested

[struka]

With that said, I think the E34 market is much weaker than the E36 market for this fabric, in that there just aren't that many people out there investing money in these cars to the point where a new interior would make sense for them. If you're comfortable investing in a small run of this fabric out of your passion for it, and are prepared to sit on it for a while, I'd love to see you go forward with it.

I think you nailed it.

[E38740iMD]

Interested bit I know I can't afford it

[BimmerBreaker]

Is this feasible? Can we have a vote? Would love my Recaro wrapped in this

Also, would be nice if we had rough estimates for cost, e.g. '$X for a group buy of 10, $Y for a group buy of 20, etc'

We have a lead on that fabric and would love to produce it but that is independent of our current projects

There really isn't a "X price for Y quantity" order type structure here. Because of the nature of producing fabric like this, when we get it made we have to produce more than any reasonable GB would take into account. And the E34 fabric due to the nature of it's design would be produced at a different company than the M Rain (same company that is making our upcoming E30 M Tech fabric) and their prices are a little higher for production but at the same time we can produce a lower quantity (still more than a GB would take into account though)

I expect the prices at launch to follow the M rain pricing structure at $120 for 1 yard, $220 for 2 yards and $95/yard for 3 yards and larger orders (prices include shipping to continental US). It costs more to make this fabric or the M tech fabric and prices for these may eventually go up a little bit, but not substantially.

You have a terrific business idea and implementation - thank you for thinking of it and bringing it to fruition.

This is without question my favourite E34 interior fabric: I have an E34 M5 with the light grey hurricane fabric, and if all of the vinyl in the interior and the headliner weren't light grey I'd be buying your reproduction fabric as soon as it was available (I'm happy with my second favourite choice, though, as it's paired with my favourite exterior colour).

With that said, I think the E34 market is much weaker than the E36 market for this fabric, in that there just aren't that many people out there investing money in these cars to the point where a new interior would make sense for them. If you're comfortable investing in a small run of this fabric out of your passion for it, and are prepared to sit on it for a while, I'd love to see you go forward with it.

I do agree that the E36 market is a larger market, but at the same time we just sold the M rain to that community. By selling M Cross we will be catering to a relatively small % of enthusiasts who wanted fabric interiors to begin, then a smaller % of them who are in a position to buy fabric to re-do an interior, and yet a smaller % of them who would only buy M cross and didn't opt for M-rain when it was available. It may be catering to a very small piece of a large pie. M hurricane is catering to a smaller pie, but one equally as delicious and it'd be for the whole pie.

But you do bring up the main concern of mine. I have some friends who own E34's and some of them bought their cars for less than it'd cost just in materials to re-do an interior. But then I know other E34 owners who would love to have a fabric interior almost regardless of cost.

I will start a GB to gauge interest. This is not a commitment to buy or anything, just to gauge who would seriously be interested in buying and how much you'd want to buy (so please let me know quantity you want)
1 yard: $120
2 yards: $220
3 yards: $285
+$95/yard each additional yard
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

[UnrulyGrace]

I'm curious as to how much fabric it will take for the e34 including door panels? My idea is to mimic the original, but use a parchment alcantara instead of the dark grey. Count me in for the GB, just not sure how much I'll need.

1. UnrulyGrace

[fanboi]

I will start a GB to gauge interest. This is not a commitment to buy or anything, just to gauge who would seriously be interested in buying and how much you'd want to buy (so please let me know quantity you want)
1 yard: $120
2 yards: $220
3 yards: $285
+$95/yard each additional yard
1. UnrulyGrace
2. Fanboi
3.
4.
5.

Yeah I'd be in, with the same questions as UnrulyGrace. I'd be interested in enough to do the seat centers front and rear, something along these lines:

http://maxmauku.1g.fi/kuvat/Automoti....jpg/_full.jpg

[clevertd]

1. UnrulyGrace - how much fabric including door panels?
2. fanboi - enough to do the seat centers front and rear
3. clevertd - 3 yards

[BimmerBreaker]

I'd figure about 4-5 yards for the full interior. I imagine the "real estate" on the E34 door panels is what would eat up a bit more material. 5 would be a safe bet to me, but with careful measuring 4 might be doable.

Our material is printed at the correct slant to ensure there is minimal waste. So if 4 door panels are under 54" tall in combined height for the panel insert then you can use essentially use 1 yard for all the door panels (assuming they are about 1 yard wide). Then usually seats need the full 58" height, add the combined widths together, add a couple inches for tucking the material behind the seat, and you'll have your number. I don't have access to an E34 right now to measure myself but in thinking about it, 4 is within the realm of possibility.

[UnrulyGrace]

1. UnrulyGrace - 5 yards
2. fanboi - enough to do the seat centers front and rear
3. clevertd - 3 yards

[fanboi]

1. UnrulyGrace - 5 yards
2. fanboi - 5 yards
3. clevertd - 3 yards

[wmrcs]

Ooh, I'm super interested but probably wouldn't buy any until the end of summer. What're the odds of getting some then?

[BimmerBreaker]

It is unlikely we will have the product before the end of summer. It would likely be done around fall if it does happen so if you are interested in buying around that time, put your name on the GB. And if it is produced, it will be kept in stock for the foreseeable future.

[struka]

1. UnrulyGrace - 5 yards
2. fanboi - 5 yards
3. clevertd - 3 yards
4. struka - 1 yard

[Shock(/\)ave]

I'm still really tempted to add my name to the list even though that would require a completely new interior for my car. That's how much I like this stuff.

How much of the E36 fabric have you got left? I'm considering an order to keep in storage in case my seats get damaged, and am also considering the Alcantara to go with it.

[MMMEAT]

Interested..I've been hoping and hoping some would be around somewhere in the world, in time. I would just put away about 12 yards(I'm exaggerating/kidding, put me down for 5) just to have it around for the future!


Here are some more pics of what I have, to wet some appetites..

IMG_2442.jpg
M-Sport-21.jpg
M-Sport-12.jpg