interior carpet swap - just a few pics

[themadhatter]

switched from grey to black.

what a PITA that was to remove and install - wow. took me half a day but the results are beautiful.

special thanks to Kim who gave me some trim. :icon23

-Ron

[dz223]

pics? and how much was the carpet? I've been thinking of changing from tan to black for a while but the carpet has always been an issue.

[devilbones]

Umm, arent there supposed to be pics?

[94is]

switched from grey to black.

what a PITA that was to remove and install - wow. took me half a day but the results are beautiful.

special thanks to Kim who gave me some trim. :icon23

-Ron

No problem. Post pics of the body bag in your garage!

[toddman35]

I demand pics!

[kennasbimmer]

PICS!!! where did you get the carpet from?

[str8chillin718]

no pics...what's the point????

[themadhatter]

man...I must be getting old. this is the second thread where I forgot to actually post the damn pics.

www.rsiwerks.com/project332is/interior

-Ron

[themadhatter]

the carpet is from 94is. ....anybody have black rear headrests they want to sell me?

-Ron

[themadhatter]

ah forgot to add. I painted the center console black with a vinyl dye. it came out great but for what ever reason, the flash from the camera makes it look out of place...the color is a perfect match to the naked eye. I actually painted a few parts black including the kick panels and door moldings (the plastic runners). the rest are original black parts including the dashboard that I've sourced from various places over the years.

the next step is to reskin the headliner, rear deck and A/B/C pillers in black microfiber or alcantara. I already have black oh-sh!t handles and sunvisors.

completed pics will be posted only after I do those parts. I'm probably going to leave the doors for now but I do have new skins that I should slap in the rear some time when I'm not busy.

since I have door mounted airbags, I'm probably not going to bother replacing the whole skin. I'll paint it first, if it looks like ass...then I'll buy new ones from the dealer.

-Ron

[G. P. Burdell]

Looking good so far! Black interior =

P.S. - Ron, I can only see the thumbnails. If I click to enlarge a picture, all I see is a red X.

[jbcritch]

Post the "how to" in the DIY mirror site....
others will want to know HOW....

[themadhatter]

odd...maybe they didn't upload....let me check it...and thanks for the compliment.

[themadhatter]

fixed the problem with the larger images...I had to change the file extensions to lower case.

I bought myself new BMW floor mats to go with the interior and I'm very happy with the outcome so far. funny thing is that when I ordered the car, I ordered black but they ordered silver (dove grey) by accident.

---

jbcritch - it's pretty straight forward.

unplug the battery - wait thirty minutes to allow the SRS system to discharge

unbolt the seats then unplug the harnesses from under them.

pull the seats
pull the rear bench - literally, it snaps in
male torx bit for the front seat belt anchors
the center console was sorta tricky with the armrest...I never realized how sturdy that damn thing is, I was very impressed.
pull the console
pull the kick panels
pull the door runners
pull the lower dash
pull the glove box
pull the sunglass holder (or gauges in my case)
pull the OBC
pull the accessorie switch panel
label all your harness!
pull out the main console (where the shifter is)

pull the carpet from the back, it isn't glued down so it's actually pretty damn easy. rather then pull the carpet, I actually cut it out with a very big serrated knife.

the hardest part is pulling it out from above the trans hump/dash. aside from that go to town.

when reinstalling, I modified the new carpet a bit to facilitate installation.

it's simply a time consuming job but rather easy....though I would never want to do this install on a hot day. I was also very impressed with how much engineering was involved in making the carpet.

[G. P. Burdell]

fixed the problem with the larger images...I had to change the file extensions to lower case.

I bought myself new BMW floor mats to go with the interior and I'm very happy with the outcome so far. funny thing is that when I ordered the car, I ordered black but they ordered silver (dove grey) by accident.

Thanks for fixing the pictures. Interior work really is a PITA - I recently ran some wires from the engine bay to the trunk, and I really hope to never do that again.

A black interior is so much easier to maintain. Dirt just doesn't show.

[Jed]

Nice job Ron!

How are you doing this from Africa????

Dude, stop doing work on that 323 and get cracking on the 318i!!! That interior was freaking disgusting man. I remember spiders coming out of the woodwork when I'd get into it to start it up.

[themadhatter]

yup, my dove grey interior was great but I'm not one to keep up after the car's interior by cleaning it weekly etc.

after I had the carpet out, I did actually do some rewiring and now that I know how easy it is to run wires under the carpet, I'll probably be doing it again when I get around to wiring a new remote power lead from my head unit.

-Ron

[themadhatter]

the e30's interior? oh, no worries there - I'm going to cut it out and light it all on fire.

the car is going to be stripped clean and then I'm going to install a pair of aftermarket sport seats cause that interior is beyond nasty. I had a conversation with a rat in there on my way down to the gas station to fill the tank and add stabilizer in there.

first off though is the engine, I still need to give it a complete tune up before I make it all pretty inside.

...that and I have a new toy over here in Africa - Dakar Yellow '94 M3. I'm currently researching if the car is stolen or not before I make plans to ship it to the USA. the interior is a custom job by BMW Individual, black and red with a custom bmw steering wheel that I've never seen before in my life...it has an airbag warning light built into the wheel itself.

more details when I get them.

-Ron

[Jed]

the e30's interior? oh, no worries there - I'm going to cut it out and light it all on fire.

the car is going to be stripped clean and then I'm going to install a pair of aftermarket sport seats cause that interior is beyond nasty. I had a conversation with a rat in there on my way down to the gas station to fill the tank and add stabilizer in there.

first off though is the engine, I still need to give it a complete tune up before I make it all pretty inside.

...that and I have a new toy over here in Africa - Dakar Yellow '94 M3. I'm currently researching if the car is stolen or not before I make plans to ship it to the USA. the interior is a custom job by BMW Individual, black and red with a custom bmw steering wheel that I've never seen before in my life...it has an airbag warning light built into the wheel itself.

more details when I get them.

-Ron

NICE!!!! That sounds awesome Ron!!!

As for that M10 in the 318i-that thing does run pretty well for a 20 year old engine with over 250K or whatever miles. Just needs a tune up like you said.

There was a rat in the interior???? WTF?

[themadhatter]

well I don't have the car just yet:

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...38#post3148538

[94is]

Nice pics Ron! Looks like the m3 when I tore it apart, although I didn't have to worry about putting it together.

[themadhatter]

the carpet took 30 seconds to go in but 30 hours to come out.....you had the hard job.

[Jed]

Ron,

Make sure that M3 has the South African aftermarket goodies to prevent carjacking-stuff like flame throwers and retractable blades.

May come in handy during a DE or autox. Like if you are too close to a cone you can melt it or slice it in half.

[DerekVa]

ah forgot to add. I painted the center console black with a vinyl dye. it came out great but for what ever reason, the flash from the camera makes it look out of place...the color is a perfect match to the naked eye. I actually painted a few parts black including the kick panels and door moldings (the plastic runners). the rest are original black parts including the dashboard that I've sourced from various places over the years.

Did you dye the armrest/cupholder or the console (my definition of the console is the bit with the OBC and shifter in it)? How easy was it to do, where did you get the dye, how much did it cost and what's the estimated life-span of the dye? I'd love to dye the top of my dash black (it is currently tan) for less glare.

-Derek
'95 318i

[themadhatter]

Derek,

I used a vinyl spray dye (works like spray paint) that I bought from an auto parts store. I forget the name though. The part that I dyed was the console that consists of the cupholders, e-brake surround and armrest. I did NOT dye the leather armrest, I left it dark grey and it looks fine.

-Ron