Embraced the Beige

[Rossagge]

It's been a while and I've done quite a bit to the Touring so I decided to start a thread depicting some custom work I've done to it. Mine is a 2002 540iT Sport in Slate Green/449 w/Sand Beige interior...well almost all Sand Beige (from factory that is). I purchased it in May 2017. It currently has 114,200 mi. on the ODO. Mechanically it's all standard equipment with lots of replacement parts. The interior has been customized, like a lot out there, with my own personal touch. And like most I enjoy working on and customizing my Touring. You have to I think, or why else buy one

Here's some pics of how I received it.
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[Rossagge]

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It looks clean in the pics, but those are what I call 5 footers. They look great from 5 feet away, but up close you can see the touch up work that has been done to the seats and other areas. Not to say that it was a mess, but it definitely needed some work to get to look fresh and clean agan.

[Rossagge]

So my one of the first items on the list cosmetically was to replace the front bumper and side mirrors to M5 replicas. I decided to work on the cosmetics first because the car was strong and seemed to be well sorted mechanically. Timing chain, guides, sprockets and solenoids were replaced just prior to my purchase. New brake pads and rotors as well. The steering was tight and tracked well. The touring pulled great and did not hesitate. Super smooth strong.

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I decided to go with the amber fog lights for cosmetic taste as well as the fact I don't use them much and rather truly use them in fog or hazy conditions.

The next item I wanted to tackle was the stereo. I wanted to install an Android unit and purchases an Xtrons unit. And to my dismay of much wire splicing and troubleshooting and much frustration and research I realized I had DSP! This is what cam in the car when I purchased it...
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So you can see why I thought I had a non-DSP vehicle. After pulling my build sheet and finding this...S661ARadio BMW Business (C43), S677AHiFi System Professional DSP, S694AProvisions for BMW 6 CD changer...I then went about sourcing the correct MID which is P/N 65.82-6 914 594
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Turns out it needed a new amp as well. A few pins were corroded and had broken off. Apparently the previous owner must of installed an after market amp and also replaced the MID and CD changer/Control unit. The wires connecting to the amp were soldered and shrink wrapped back together. Good thing is it was all done well and after hooking up the new amp and MID as well as a later model CD changer in order to install an AUX input, it all worked as it should. No more audio shutting off after 20 mins of play or just no audio at all. The CD changer I sourced has a build date of Aug 2002. Mounted the AUX input just left of the aftermarket cup holders.
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[Rossagge]

And of course the mirrors.
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[Rossagge]

I slowly started to change the interior. I first got rid of the doo-doo brown dash with a black dash and dye sprayed the upper door cards black. My goal was to replace the fronts with the M5 luxury leather seats and to dye the rear black. As the title suggest I decided to embrace the beige and not go all black with the interior. I wanted to create a black and tan interior to have some contrast. I sourced a set of M5 front seats in luxury leather. I needed to get the twist out of one of them as well as get the other to recline and to also get the bottom cushion to raise evenly. So I took those apart and adjusted the cables so they would seat correctly in the motors. Found a great thread for this on the M5board. The driver's side seat bolster was basically worn flat so I took the leather off and restructured the cushion with some foam I had laying around. I cut it to fit and shaped it. Ordered new plastic around the seat controls. Put it all back together again and spray dyed the seat black again.
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[Rossagge]

Seats finished.
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[Rossagge]

Cleaned out interior.
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[Rossagge]

Getting rid of the beige and spray dyeing the rear.
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[Rossagge]

Currently cleaning the seat belts. I just unbolted the driver's from the base of the seat and pulled it out then held it from reeling back with a clip. I had ordered a replacement front pass belt so it's not installed and is easier to clean. Soaked them in oxyclean and used a soft scrub brush to help it along. Cleaned them twice in a 5 gal. bucket filled with 3 gals of water. Then rinsed off with clean water in the bucket. I used a microfiber cloth to squeegee them then hung dry in front of my shop fan. Check out that dirty water :S
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[dohalloran]

Ed, that's a really nice looking car. I have the same beige interior in my Black Sapphire (475) wagon, and I've done some minor changes (so far) to the interior as well. For some reason, my dash came in black, not the lighter olivey colour.

I've had a few parts cars, so I've pulled some black bits off them, and replaced some interior pieces. I must take pics for you. The contrast is nice. I may put in some black door cards as well, although I only have front ones. The rears are cut differently in the wagons.

Black M dead pedal; carpet pieces that sit attached to the center console but are by your knee, are black. I have some M door sill plates going in as well.

RE the seats. My driver's seat is a little roughed up, and I'm going to put some black sport seats in there for a while.
Can you tell me what product(s) to use to cover the worn areas that are whitish, and the best way to "freshen" up the seats in terms of cleaning. I know it's been covered on the forums here; just wondering what dye you used, etc.

Last but not least, black seat belts. But first a cleaning, like you've done. Appreciate the inspiration for that !!

Just too cold here to do much outside for any length of time. That said, my parts car leaves here tomorrow, and I get an M bumper for the front as a swap for the car. Plus, I have the seats, CD changer, door sill plates, and door cards. Good deal for me !!!

[dohalloran]

Thanks Ed.

Any super duper leather cleaner to use before I put some dye on the seats ?

Everyone else's car always smells funny; especially after 334,000km !!

I hope I don't feel the difference in the left bottom of the driver's seat (the section that wears so much from getting in and out), in that the cushion has twice the km's on it as my car. I mean, I will always have 2 sets of seats anyway !

[Rossagge]

Thanks. Yours sounds nice and looks good. I'll post up some pics soon of the M5 seats in with the rear done up. I used a diluted amount of Super Clean to clean the seats and very lightly used a Magic Eraser...very lightly. Then I dyed it with ColorBond LVP BMW black spray dye. It goes on nice and drys fast. No smearing or rubbing off. Just follow the instructions. I used it on my door cards and all seats. Dyed the beige rear seat black as you see in the pics. I didn't have any deep cracks so I didn't fill them with anything. I also like the idea of the black seat belt so much I bought a set. But after putting the black seats in with the beige seat belts and them having the black trimming it looked so good I left them in. The contrast looks so nice I think. So now I have a set of black seat belts in a box.

[jp5Touring]

Interior looks great. Nice work.
I might be interested in the black seat belts if you decide to sell.

[Rossagge]

Interior looks great. Nice work.
I might be interested in the black seat belts if you decide to sell.

Cool. I have all four outboards, but the rear center is for a sedan if you're still interested.

[Rossagge]

Here's the trim I originally made (wrapped the orig wood) for it. It's Bronze Carbon/Kevlar weave wrapped over the orig wood. Wrapped and resin overlayed. Came out decent, but has some not so perfect edges on a few of the pieces. I guess these will sit in a box unless someone wants them
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New Trim. Painted Slate Green 449 and clear coated.
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[rjbaren]

I have to say Rossagge, you do beautiful work. I've been working on revitalizing my 2000 528iT for the past year. I changed my Vavona wood for Nussbaum as my Vavona had some cracks. I gave my old Vavona wood to my mechanic and he said he wanted to paint it to look like Aluminum. Interesting, I'm trying to keep that BMW look with the fine wood trim and he wants to get that Toyota Camry look but changing it to Aluminum.

[simmsled]

Outstanding.
This is an inspiration to get to my cosmetic stuff beyond vacuuming and general detailing.
How did the seat belts turn out?
i know from my younger days that once clean, you can use Lemon Pledge on the belts to restore the slick shiny attributes.

[Thanassi44]

I have to say Rossagge, you do beautiful work. I've been working on revitalizing my 2000 528iT for the past year. I changed my Vavona wood for Nussbaum as my Vavona had some cracks. I gave my old Vavona wood to my mechanic and he said he wanted to paint it to look like Aluminum. Interesting, I'm trying to keep that BMW look with the fine wood trim and he wants to get that Toyota Camry look but changing it to Aluminum.

That's funny. Although I think the aluminum trim was a hot trend in sport versions of European cars long before utilitarian family sedans from Japan adopted it. I still have the "Titan" aluminum trim that I purchased from the dealer 15 years ago my second 528.

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[SCRSUVS]

Your work is paying off everything looks good so far, nice job on the seat color change (dying) and finding the M5s for the front...curious did you use the Chinese knock offs mirrors and paint? E-bay / price? Plug and play on replacing the drivers window/mirror control switch/modules?

TKU much...

[itsbrokeagain]

Very nice!

I have Anthracite over beige, I went the harder route...swapped my disgusting interior out for an all black interior from another touring (carpet and all) and did M5 lux seats along with an M5 dashboard. At least my butt warmers work amazing now. I left my seatbelts tan as well and I like the contrast...they are in good need of a scrubbing though, and not sure if I want to put my black ones in.

I like your take on the interior trim. I may go the same route and get my mine painted body color.

[Rossagge]

I have to say Rossagge, you do beautiful work. I've been working on revitalizing my 2000 528iT for the past year. I changed my Vavona wood for Nussbaum as my Vavona had some cracks. I gave my old Vavona wood to my mechanic and he said he wanted to paint it to look like Aluminum. Interesting, I'm trying to keep that BMW look with the fine wood trim and he wants to get that Toyota Camry look but changing it to Aluminum.

Thanks much! I'd say go for it and it won't look like a Camry, haha. It will have that Euro look. Kinda basic old school, but fresh and new. The painted trim reminds me of a 00 323ci I used to have. It had the sport package, but with champagne trim. Looked super basic, so I removed those and painted them piano/lacquer black. I think the aluminum look will make it look nice, but do it all around of course. I had a set of Titan, but didn't install it because I wasn't sure how I would enjoy it over beige. So I painted them body color

[Rossagge]

Outstanding.
This is an inspiration to get to my cosmetic stuff beyond vacuuming and general detailing.
How did the seat belts turn out?
i know from my younger days that once clean, you can use Lemon Pledge on the belts to restore the slick shiny attributes.

Thanks. Do it! The belts came out clean overall, except a small area on the drivers. Most of it came out, but must of been on there too long as it left a slight dark spot. Didn't think it would stain like that since polyester usually doesn't hold stain. Believe me, I've tried. I tried to dye my belts previously and the dye just slid right off with a rinse. I did have some fortune with the brush on then iron stuff. The color didn't turn out right as I was trying to get it to match the exterior paint. Turned out to be more turquoise than slate green as you can see the pass belt in the pic.

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Didn't know that about Lemon Pledge.

[Rossagge]

Your work is paying off everything looks good so far, nice job on the seat color change (dying) and finding the M5s for the front...curious did you use the Chinese knock offs mirrors and paint? E-bay / price? Plug and play on replacing the drivers window/mirror control switch/modules?

TKU much...

Much appreciated. I did use the Chinese knock offs from Ebay. I purchased the folding model and they are plug and play. I had them painted locally. I found a driver's control switch with folding feature on Ebay as well, but it arrived in a condition not as advertised. I ended up buying one from Clemster off of M5Board. Got a lot of parts from him. I also changed out the passenger control module in the door as it needs to have the folding feature. I can find the part number if you need it. Mirrors have been holding up. Every now and again the pass side will not fold on the first try. Not sure if it's the pass module or the mirror. I'm thinking the module. But it folds after a second attempt.

[Rossagge]

Very nice!

I have Anthracite over beige, I went the harder route...swapped my disgusting interior out for an all black interior from another touring (carpet and all) and did M5 lux seats along with an M5 dashboard. At least my butt warmers work amazing now. I left my seatbelts tan as well and I like the contrast...they are in good need of a scrubbing though, and not sure if I want to put my black ones in.

I like your take on the interior trim. I may go the same route and get my mine painted body color.

Nice! And thanks. That is a lot of work, haha. But I know it pays off. I just got done with a friend of mine's truck. Changed out his disgusting dirty gray carpet for black and trimmed out his dash and upper door cards black. Made a huge difference! Would love to have a full leather dash. My old M5 had the full leather and it makes such a difference. Did the custom full leather to a 740i I had. I eventually want to two tone the seats. I'm thinking beige alcantara/ultrasuede inserts with black stitching. Keeping the same pattern as I like the look of the lux stitching and pattern. Or maybe something like this pattern I had on my 7.

Just a thought...
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[Rossagge]

Last piece of the trim is done. Had almost forgot about the shifter trim!
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