Official Extended Leather Appreciation Thread

[robrez]

Most of the extended leather threads I've across dealt with repairing torn, dried, and shriveled leather. Let's leave the inevitable wear and tear out of this thread and just appreciate the beauty of soft, supple cowhide.

Extended leather was a non-M option and is usually associated with leather-clad dashboard pods, upper door skins, and console boomerangs. But there are many variations including two-tone seats and steering wheels, and matching center consoles. I believe there was even an option of leather covered sunvisors.

Note that the extended leather two-tone dashes, consoles, and seats, have a color pattern that is inverted from their two-tone M counterparts.



Two-tone vs solid seats






Sport seats vs. non-sport seats




Sport steering wheel



Not technically extended leather, but two-tone sport seats are nice touch

[CaliAgents]

Mouth-watering thread right here. Although leather is one of the worst dash materials you can use due to its propensity to shrink, it adds much needed elegance and quality to the interior. As I had said before, BMW should have offered extended leather for the MZ3s!

Rob, keep that gawjus interior out of direct sunlight and extreme heat as much as possible.

[robrez]

What do you do if you want extended leather, but your car didn't come with it? You retrofit it Here's the first retrofit I ever saw, and still the most impressive - JohnM's Individual Walnut interior. As I understand, his brother AndyM ordered his 3.0 coupe with the walnut interior and then they swapped it into John's M Coupe.




This pic inspired me to pursue my own retrofit project. I believe it sold to a forum member, but I'm still waiting for it to re-appear in the buyer's car



I might have bought it, but topaz blue over red is not for the faint of heart



Yash's save/restoration of this extended leather fanned the flames of my desire




So after I collected all the pieces, I did my own retrofit.

[moonvan]

I would love to find an imola extended interior

[robrez]

If the oem pieces aren't enough, you can buy aftermarket leather pieces. LeatherZ sells leather hatch trim, among other things.



Or you can DIY. Look closely, this black leather interior has red stitching

[CaliAgents]

What do you do if you want extended leather, but your car didn't come with it? You retrofit it Here's the first retrofit I ever saw, and still the most impressive - JohnM's Individual Walnut interior. As I understand, his brother AndyM ordered his 3.0 coupe with the walnut interior and then they swapped it into John's M Coupe.

So after I collected all the pieces, I did my own retrofit.

Yep, John Maddux's Imola S54 with individual Walnut extended leather transplant is legendary. A full extended leather swap is on my short "to-dos" as well.

Your Topaz conversion is a beaut mayn.

I would love to find an imola extended interior

As far as I know Imola extended leather doesn't exist (for Z3s) as Imola guts and exterior are/were only available on M cars. It'll have to be custom

Or you can DIY. Look closely, this black leather interior has red stitching

Actually that isn't red stitching although it looks like it at first glance. The owner of that Roadster just highlighted where exactly the extended leather stitching is located.

Some more extended leather porn.

[resunoiz]

here's mine.
I love more being satisfied "inside" than "outside" of a car, because is most of the time i live it.
without extended leather, i confess, i would NEVER have bought a Z3. extended leather doesn't show 15 years age.

[hexagone]

I looked up extended leather pieces last night for something I'm mustering up, and let's just say that even if they're available, you don't want to buy factory replacement parts.

The gauge surround was like $3100 in walnut.

[edit] I should keep out of this thread. It's not good for my mental health.

It should also be noted that I'm a dash stroker and thought of a leather wrapped Z3 dash is tantalizing. Larry knows all about it.

[robrez]

Actually that isn't red stitching although it looks like it at first glance. The owner of that Roadster just highlighted where exactly the extended leather stitching is located.

Ah, thanks for clarifying. Black extended leather is such a subtle, classy look.

I wonder how hard it was to order M seats in a non-M color? IMHO, the M two-tone seat pattern flows better with extended leather than the inverted non-M two-tone pattern. The leather flows from the dash pods down the center console via the boomerangs to where it meets the red bolsters. Though this car doesn't have them, leather upper door panels would have completed the transition from the dash pods to the door skins.

[yash]

Yash's save/restoration of this extended leather fanned the flames of my desire

So after I collected all the pieces, I did my own retrofit.

Glad I was able to motivate .

Also that Imola and black interior is shitted on by that silver and black steering wheel in the Roady pictured above. IMO .

[JWin]

I wonder how hard it was to order M seats in a non-M color? IMHO, the M two-tone seat pattern flows better with extended leather than the inverted non-M two-tone pattern.

The extended leather is, without question, a better two-tone look than the M. The only thing I can figure is that they were just trying to make it different for the sake of separating the cars a little more.

[fmcfad01]

Walnut interior is epic.

[robrez]

Here's another example of a non-oem extended leather project.

[british green]

Here's another example of a non-oem extended leather project.

Now that is delightful!!! Very nice

[SCCompact]

I picked up a 1999 Mroadster on Saturday (Black interior). What past of the interior are leather?

[CaliAgents]

here's mine.
I love more being satisfied "inside" than "outside" of a car, because is most of the time i live it.
without extended leather, i confess, i would NEVER have bought a Z3. extended leather doesn't show 15 years age.

You did an excellent job restoring the peeling pods of the interior. Looks excellent and thanks for sharing.

I looked up extended leather pieces last night for something I'm mustering up, and let's just say that even if they're available, you don't want to buy factory replacement parts.

The gauge surround was like $3100 in walnut.

[edit] I should keep out of this thread. It's not good for my mental health.

It should also be noted that I'm a dash stroker and thought of a leather wrapped Z3 dash is tantalizing. Larry knows all about it.

$3,100 for just the driver's side gauge pod?! BMW interior parts prices are astronomical compared to many other makes but that's just outlandish.

Yes, this thread makes me weak in the knees as well. Going custom is far more feasible than going after the OEM stuff off-the-shelf new, unless you absolutely have to have OEM upholstery.

Ah, thanks for clarifying. Black extended leather is such a subtle, classy look.

I wonder how hard it was to order M seats in a non-M color? IMHO, the M two-tone seat pattern flows better with extended leather than the inverted non-M two-tone pattern. The leather flows from the dash pods down the center console via the boomerangs to where it meets the red bolsters. Though this car doesn't have them, leather upper door panels would have completed the transition from the dash pods to the door skins.

I'd wager that it was a ROW (rest of world) only thing in terms of having many more interior options than what the U.S. market was given. I agree about the continuity of the colors as well. Not a fan of the early single-stage door panel centers either as they just don't look right.

Glad I was able to motivate .

Also that Imola and black interior is shitted on by that silver and black steering wheel in the Roady pictured above. IMO .

Mos def but whatever makes the owner happy you feel me?

I picked up a 1999 Mroadster on Saturday (Black interior). What past of the interior are leather?

Centers of door panels, door panel grab handles, most of the center console (upper surface, shift boot, shift knob, e-brake boot, boomerangs - lateral pieces that connect up to the dash), and seats.

[cleanerPA]

Those OE prices that CaliAgents posted up are crazy- you can get the whole dash of a Ferrari done for a tad over $3k- and that is a Ferrari, where you would think the prices are going to be inflated.

[CaliAgents]

Those OE prices that CaliAgents posted up are crazy- you can get the whole dash of a Ferrari done for a tad over $3k- and that is a Ferrari, where you would think the prices are going to be inflated.

I was curious about the price which Hex quoted as it sounded way too high and just ran the numbers. Walnut driver's side dash piece is not $3,100 but $672.80 versus $1,455 in same but in schwarz (black). Why the huge price differential I do not know.

Speaking of Ferraris, they've had numerous dashes replaced due to peeling and/or bubbling leather. Seemed to be an issue of improper choice of adhesive and even warped fiberglass dashes. Even garage queens with <10k miles had to have a portion or even the entire dash replaced or refurb'd. Same issue with certain generations of Maseratis, Jags, Porsches and the like. Bottom line is that the combination of extreme heat and UV light will surely speed up the peeling and shrinking process of skin.

[cleanerPA]

I was curious about the price which Hex quoted as it sounded way too high and just ran the numbers. Walnut driver's side dash piece is not $3,100 but $672.80 versus $1,455 in same but in schwarz (black). Why the huge price differential I do not know.

Speaking of Ferraris, they've had numerous dashes replaced due to peeling and/or bubbling leather. Seemed to be an issue of improper choice of adhesive. Even garage queens with <10k miles had to have a portion or even the entire dash replaced or refurb'd. Same issue with certain generations of Maseratis, Jags, Porsches and the like. Bottom line is that the combination of extreme heat and UV light will surely speed up the peeling and shrinking process of skin.

Ferraris have terrible problems with trim, leather, plastic, whatever. I know that owners that have replaced the OE leather for the dash, luggage area, etc. using the popular places for that type of work have not had problems since.

Of course you're right on point, any leather dash will have a big issue with cracking, wrinkling, shrinkage and other damage from the sun and heat. It's definitely not an ideal material for the dash.

I see that some of the OE trim pieces are much more reasonable than $3100, that makes more sense. If you're going to spend thousands, you can have the guys that do cars like Ferraris redo your whole interior in leather and it will look NICE.

[resunoiz]

You did an excellent job restoring the peeling pods of the interior. Looks excellent and thanks for sharing.

thank you so much for appreciating

$3,100 for just the driver's side gauge pod?! BMW interior parts prices are astronomical compared to many other makes but that's just outlandish.

Yes, this thread makes me weak in the knees as well. Going custom is far more feasible than going after the OEM stuff off-the-shelf new, unless you absolutely have to have OEM upholstery.

Yes, they have astronomical prices. Crazy. But excelent quality and finitures too. Thinking about it, 15 years of heat and sun are a lot of time, for damages like mine, typical of the Z's. not so tragical or consistent to destroy the car's appeal.
Going custom is a must, but I think that if I would have money to buy a brand new Z, I'd never want to take a new car and "dismantle" it when it already smells of brand new factory. The choiche would have been extended leather. Different would be today.

[mpire]

Pulling those dash pods is more work than it sounds because you have to pull the whole dash out of the car.

I keep planning on doing the dash pods in alcantara at some point when I find the time.

[yash]

here's mine.
I love more being satisfied "inside" than "outside" of a car, because is most of the time i live it.
without extended leather, i confess, i would NEVER have bought a Z3. extended leather doesn't show 15 years age.

Love your steering wheel , I needs.

[QuestMCoupe]

Cool thread. To be honest, I never really looked into what extended leather was. I'm jealous of some of these pics.

[mpire]

I think I would be interested in doing something like the stock black leather pods but in vinyl so that it looked like leather, but didn't age like leather.

Kind of like the NSX.

[resunoiz]

Love your steering wheel , I needs.

thank you so much