BMW E36 Full Leather Interior Repair | COLOURLOCK
How to repair a damaged car seat and all the leather repair steps
Same process can be used for all leather seats Audi, Mercedes, Porsche etc...
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Colourlock Website
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Clean And Shiny
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Training Info:
www.colourlock.com/training
Products and Tools
Phase 1
Mild or Strong Leather Cleaner
Colourlock Brush
Leather Cleaning Spirit
Viscose Cloths
Sanding Blocks
Phase 2
Filler
Binder
Spatula
GLD solvent
Sanding Blocks
Phase 3
primer
paint
Matt
Gloss
Crosslinker
Huge thank you to the legend that is Ram from Colourlock...
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#forensicdetailing #detailing
I honestly did not know that leather was filled, sanded, painted and clear coated. Great video. Really educational guys. Ram is an artist.
Great job. Ram makes it look so easy. Be interesting to check in on them again in 6-12 months to see how well they have held up.
Ram is the man. That's an incredible transformation.
Simply amazing. So glad you brought Ram to us a few years ago!
I work for a company detailing and I've got to say it's one of the most satisfying jobs in my opinion Nothing better than seeing a customers face when they collect their vehicle I've learnt something new here great upload guys, clear and concise 👍
Amazing to watch Ram doing his stuff. Never would have thought these seats were repairable!!
BMW E36 Sportsitz :))
WOW! What a HUGE improvement! Ram did a fantastic job!😎👍
Fantastic work, it’s amazing to see old seats that you think have gone too far be brought back to life. It’s a very similar process to painting bodywork, clean sand,degrease,fill,paint and clear coat I thought it would be so much more complex. Great result tho 👍🏽
Deeply satisfying to watch. Really well filmed, and very informative. Thank you for your hard work!
Great video Jon, so happy you got the 328i these video's are so much better than touching up a new car.👌
That was absolutely brilliant what an amazing job!
Amazing work, was nearly a and than better than an episode of wheeler dealers!
What a fabulous insight into how the repairs are done Jon. Awesome video 👏 👌
Great video with great results. Really enjoyable to watch the restoration process, like Bob Ross but with leather! True craftsmanship 👍🏼
Great video John. Its the best bit repairing seats on a new car.
Excellent work, I have used this product myself with good results. Patience is the key, don't rush the steps, and the end result will be rewarding.
Can't believe how good they have come up, top work 👍
Ram knows his stuff!
what an artist fantastic video, my seats are like the before.
Amazing work the transformation is unbelievable
An artist at work, well done
That looks soooo satisfying
Brilliant video, that guy has got some skills. They look awesome!!
Repair turned out great. Awesome video.
Amazing well done guys
Thats one of the most amazing things I seen in my life when I seen that seat I thought to myself it will never happen but wow what a transformation good work Ram And I know how much it costs to buy products and put these videos together so you do expect some adverts as noticed someone moaning about
It doesn’t last 🤭
THAT IS AMAZING. i know what I,m doing the weekend!👏🏻👏🏻👍🏻🇬🇧
Mega! Unreal what can be repaired!
Looks sensational
That was brilliant
Very impressed jon.the guy is a magician
Never thought in a million years those seats could be salvaged. Good job 👍🏼
Just found you!! Yay 😅 thank goodness!! ❤ from Diane in FL. Love your videos!!
That’s a brilliant video to see the transformation. I just wonder if the driver seat would be cheaper to re-leather it.
great work , i keep wanting to do training for leather
Beautiful. Like butter.
Great video and informative. Can you do one on perforated leather seats and how to,repair wear and small tears in the perforated leather!👍
Same as in the video. Just mind you that sanding residue and fillers can fill in the perforations, but you can simply puncture new holes in it before colouring.
Wow, that was really interesting. I'd love to add this service to my business. If only I had a garage to do it in.
You dont need a garage, you can do this on the spot, inside the car, inside a kitchen even.
Great job sir will join your training session soon.
fantastic video!
thanks david
Great video John and very interesting, have champagne seats with violet piping in my 328i Sport and whilst not quite as bad as yours they need a little love.... now I know what to do 👍🏻
Is that a UK car with registration ending LFR? I was looking at buying a similar car at the beginning of this year.
XenFPV yes it is though I’ve taken that reg off the car now
That's a pretty fine job Ram. I was skeptical at first but I have to say the results are outstanding. The patch area turned out ok too despite it being difficult to replicate the 'grain' using filler. This repair/paint process would only suit seats with matching stitching of course. Imagine trying this on seats with Individual stitching. There'd be no way you could cover up the stitches for paint.
I need him to come to Canada and do mines 😁
Cracking workmansjip
Craftsman at his best
Good stuff. The leather sounded so hard.
Amazing job! Well done! #Repairdontwaste
Ram is leather man . He makes it look easy and we know it takes some practice to make turn out like new seats.
Awesome....I hereby rename your channel to Automotive Archeologists! Thank you for sharing. Greetings from Durban South Africa.
greeating Raj nice to meet you so to speak and thank you for watching sending best wishes to yourself and the wonderfull people of South Africa!
Wicked content mate well done pretty sure I saw you m140i on hayling today 👍
Its in ireland now Scott.
Great skills and looks amazing. I wonder the cost and how long it will last for? I use leather wipes for now on my 10 year old BMW, as leather dries out especially in hot cars this summer.
"Crackin" video. Now it's crack-a-lackin. Such a quality job done there. You would he stoked dropping off what you had and getting those back.
I would like to see the seats a year from now ?
WOW I had no idea this was possible
Wow, that gives me hope for my seats! Couple of questions though: 1. How many hours did it take to do the seats? 2. I don't have access to a spray gun or compressor, are there any alternatives to colouring the seats? (I have a 2004 VW Passat Highline with grey seats)
Great video ! However i would have reupholstetered the bolster , as you can see a blemish when finished , I think you would feel the repair . Overall very impressive from what they were . How long will the seats last colour fast wise ,just as long as original leather ?
it was a big hole reupholstering is definetly an option. how long this lasts really depends how you maintain it. but it should lasts many many years.
Is this a reason you would not go in with an APC or IPA initially? would it cause more damage?
Very interesting. That is a really impressive save on those seats. Hope ate happy Jon? We are, you didn’t talk too much😂 Just kidding 🤪 that interior has put a grand on resale value 👍
I know this is a year old getting in to leather restoration, couple of questions, can you give a rough paint spray set up guide I.e compressor size type of gun etc brilliant.
Really good result given how bad they were. Personally ive never had seats that bad. But for minor cracking you can often get away with cleaning with Gliptone leather cleaner, and then applications of Gliptone conditioner. After about 4 coats over a month the leather absorbs all the conditioner and swells slightly which has the effect of closing up very small cracks so you cant see them.
After been recoloured and sealed I'm not sure any conditioner would actually penetrate the leather. My BMW with 'dekota leather' never smells of leather, so pointless as far as I see applying any 'conditioner'. My 18 year old Maserati however does smell of leather, so any conditioner can get through, if the smell can!
@@michaelheathcote9488 partly true. Modern coated letahers contain a PolyUrethane protective topcoating. Polyurethane degrades under UV exposure. This is why on modern leathers, conditioners play less of a factor, but protectants do. Something like Leather Repair Company's LRC4 protection cream creates a fine sacrificial layer to protect against dirt and grime clinging to the coating, but also against UV exposure.
what kind of thinner is good for leather paint? I mix it with paint powder.
Hi J., great video as always. Ball park...how much would this cost for a civilian?
Did you make steucture again in the repaired part? Looks great, but now all the sticksels have paint all over it
This is the same process used on ageing bimbos. You must have got this 'car' for next to nothing I imagine to bother this much with it. Imagine the hourly rate bill from the shop for plebs like us! It is pretty amazing to watch those seats come back from the skip bin to as new though. Thanks for showing.
some people love their cars.
Someone else mentioned it, but do you have any of your repairs 6 mos to a 1 yr later to show how well this product holds up? This looks great, as in, the seat looks brand new.
Where do you get the backing cloth from, I have a hole I need too try and fix. Great video. Very helpful
Colorlock website
Subscribed 😊
welcome aboard elaine
Looks like a good job but cannot really see the finished texture of the seats in the repaired areas vs low wear places such as headrest in the video. What can be done if there is coloured stitching? Also worth mentioning that removing seats on cars with seat belt tensioners will require an error code to be cleared.
yer if you goto the unplugged channel I did a video on how to clear the errors. Exactly like you said. pre-tensioners in the seat open circuit errors. :( pain. you can do texture matching, and embossed ment cloning with rubber pads. we did this in the other colorlock video, its a skill. One compramise when you use lots of filler is you will create a smooth finish.
Fantastic, thank you!! Would you refer me to a colleague in Los Angeles please?
Amazing! I would love to know what something like this costs if you were to take somewhere and have your leather seats repaired like this?
i think about 200 quid a seat. at least I would guess.
Firstly I love the video and Ram has worked wonders however, I was wondering about costs involved as for that kind of work you expect to pay a good price so any chance you could give the price and maybe not mates rates just the cost of this excellent work.
so really colourlock supply the training and products to detailers or leather repair specialists up and down the country. So the prices will vary massivly. You can pay as little as 80-100 pounds to have a single seat re-finished. But for major surgery like my seat with holes and a failing paint system I would imagine you would pay more for that seat. Maybe 200 pounds? To do this whole interior like this I really dont know what the price would be? I would guess 400-800 depending on the company. the alternatives are try and source a new seat from BMW which will cost a fortune. Or try and source a old seat from a breaker (which will no doubt need refurbing)
@@ForensicDetailing Cheers for your reply bud much appreciated, are you missing your X car yet ? she was truly beautiful and I loved the colour, Im not sure I could happily go back to manual cars after 15 years of autos as when I take her car out I am constantly trying to pull away but normally in the wrong gear, anyhow I am looking forward to watching the Black Panthers Progress lol, keep up the great work Jon your doing a stella job and I am a big fan.
I was very impressed with this seat play video. However, it is doubtful how long it will last.
1 year ago Ram did the DIY color fresh repair (the single stage paint system you can apply with a sponge) people said the same about this and its still going great. but this repair has dedicated top coat layers. and with proper maintainance with the "shield" product should last long long long time.
@@ForensicDetailing Are you planning on doing some more protective coating on them now?
@@peterlabiak1051 i just apply some shield every 3-6 months thats it.
Hi John, have you ever though about getting a DJI Osmo? I got one recently its a great bit of kit, you can get an adaptor for a gopro too
yes but I cant really fly it in a residential area. I think money would be spent on cam corder or better DSLR for me. been shelling out so much money on the car restores I have litmited cash for camera gear at the moment. gotta work harder :)
@@ForensicDetailing It's not a Drone but a hand held 3 Axis Gimbal :) Gives super smooth video
@@xelad6159 oh of course yes.. this would be cool addition for sure.
Hi Jon What was the name of the dye colour? Lots of different shades but it does look very close to my beige E30 interior which I'm wanting to re dye.
colorlock mix it to the exact OEM color. Or you can send them a sample like a headrest and they can send it back with the paint. The DIY system is called Colour Fresh as it contains all the binders in a single part system you can apply with a sponge and hair dryer.
Where are house guys located,,need mine doing
I've got a E92 BMW 2012. Would a leather conditioner be a waste of time due to a clear coat. Not sure if it has one TBH and would like to know what to do to take the slight shine on the driving seat. I've tried Autoglym leather clean and hasn't made a notable difference in bringing it back to the original matt finish?
hey jonny they clear coat will erode away on the contact areas specially on the drivers seat over time. The proper top grain leather parts of your drivers seat can now after 8 years benefit from conditioning, especially if they are starting to show any signs of going dry and brittle. But the most of the time, if your leather still feels soft and supple.. Just keep it clean with a leather cleaner.. and make sure you you "colourlock shield" to sit on top and simply reduce friction wear. Its friction wear that will kill your leather over time.
How much did you charge per seat in this condition?
i'm curious if it's possible to paint large areas of lethetr wihout using paint gun but only sponge.
yes mate you can... like this video here. kzhead.info/sun/YNWDg76jrp6sgps/bejne.html
Did you buy another project John now you sold the M140i? 328i in the stable?
yes m8
I was fully expecting the kitchen towels to be charcoal black when Ram wiped the seat after cleaning.
Is there a easier, but still lasting way to do it without spray gun ? Are leather paint balms any good please ?
boom :) kzhead.info/sun/YNWDg76jrp6sgps/bejne.html
@@ForensicDetailing Thank you very much Kind Sir.
Have seen a few videos of companies restoring leather seats and although they all seem to have similar cleaning and sanding procedures. Have different painting methods. In an episode of Wheeler Dealers, the one where they restore a Bentley, the guy is applying the paint with a sponge, basically working it in. Mike Brewer asks him “Couldn’t you just spray it on?” To which the guy replies “You could, but you wouldn’t want to sit on it!” And to be fair, it did look a good job. But another episode they use another company to basically dye the leather and they used spray guns (The bmw with drop down doors, Z3?).
Stippling or sponging it on is a good way to build an initial coat and can add some texture to repaired and flat areas. I use a spong for a base and forst layer and finish off with an airbrush. Just lightly sand high spots with at least a 1500 grit before laquering
Jon Could you ask Ram your specialist. What to do about dents in the leather of the rear seat. The previous owner of my BMW once put something on the rear seat, and now it has 4 dents. It is not perforated or torn, just 4 stupid dents and they irritate me.
Hi Marinus, Just heat the area using a heat gun and gently massage the leather. that should get rid of them.
@@leathercareram9736 thank you for the response, I will try this.
What is the official bmw name for this colour of seat, desperately trying to find some paint to match but don’t know the name of the colour. So many different types of beige seats.
Nice transformation. How do you now maintain the finish now the seats are 'painted'? Normal leather treatments?
Hey Steve you use a product called colorlock shield, which simply lowers friction on anything rubbing over the leather.. it is not a conditioner.
@@ForensicDetailing hey Jon, I've been reading about the Colour Shield. I've just managed to get my 2008 TT cream colour leather seats in great condition using Doctor Scratch colour matched balm. I'm curious as to what your cleaning regimen would be like if you apply Colourlock Shield, would you APC the leather then reapply it? Thanks
@@JWL-UK hey buddy yes just every 3-6 months gentle clean and apply colorlock shield. And this it really. And try to not wear anything clothes with studds or anything that will scratch it if you can.
@@ForensicDetailing I'll get me some then! Thanks for replying. Check out Doctor Scratch Colour Restore Balm (UK made) on eBay, I'm shocked how well their product works, I'm very picky when it comes to leather and try to keep that showroom look for as long as possible when I buy the car new. Their balm really made the 12 year old leather on my TT much much better. 2 or 3 coats applied by hand, leave on for 5 min each time and buff off with a plush microfibre, that's all if takes.
All modern leathers used on carseats, and even older styles of leather, are painted. There are kinds that are dyed though, but those generally arent used to make car seats.
Nice job, but how long it will stays like that ?
years mate.
How long does the paint and patches last?
Years
Im curious to know what happens when you have contrasting stitchings
your in trouble :) Ill ask ram. but I cant think of any solution. You cant really tape the stiching up as you need to paint under it perhaps?? Hmm I think you would literally have to mask up the stiching with thin low tack tape and accept you cant paint there unless you want to lay the paint out with a tiny brush and try and work the stiching almost drying brushing the paint on.. would take hours though... dunno.
Mask them and when you have transfer you redye them usin cotton swabs or toothpick. Pain in the arse. And as said, paint in between the stitches with fine brushes or toothpicks.
I’ve recently clay barred my car, and need to get rid of the marring. Can you recommend a decent polish? It’s a black car.
hi ya washing kzhead.info/sun/dLmypLuZg6aFgqc/bejne.html decon kzhead.info/sun/bKZyc9JlfpeApK8/bejne.html polishing kzhead.info/sun/gK2YnZaqhl-Fo4U/bejne.html products kzhead.info/sun/fJuqZalwgqxjdpE/bejne.html
Thanks mate. Don’t have a machine polisher so hoping for decent results by hand.
Hey Jon, does Ram do work for the general public? Or is he just a Colourlock demonstrator?
im not 100% sure about this. I know he still does work. But I think hes trying to move away from doing repairs to running the business. But give them a call and say you watched the videos and you are wondering if Ram can come. I think if ram cant do it they might know a detailer in your areas thats colorlock trained.
@@ForensicDetailing thanks Jon, i'll get in touch with them. A colourlock trained repairer would do the trick, don't necessarily need Ram, I'm just after the side bolster touching up on my bmw, so not a big job. Cheers 👍🏻
Notice you have taken the seats out of vehicle, how do you get round ones with air bags etc. do you need diagnostics. and if a clients vehicle what insurance liability cover would you need . accident wise.
Battery off, 15 min, wiring loom off 7nder seat. Liability insurence and permission good
@@ForensicDetailing thanks
Can we use auto paint and 2k clear coat or shall it be specific type? Tnx
no mate you cant. its a special flexible clearcoat specifically for leather.
@@ForensicDetailing what is the name? Can I find it in Germany?
I show it in this video its the topcoat you mix the matt and the gloss together to get the desired finish. Its a professional product this mohammed. but colorlock I believe are based in germany. Lars I think is the guy. Reach out to colorlock europe on facebook they will be able to assist mate. www.colourlock.com/all-diy-products/professional-products.html
@@ForensicDetailing thanks for your consideration
Thought I'd comment here with a query. Anyone know how to find the RPM of a tool ? my brother has a SIP air sander with random orbit action and I wondered could I make it suitable for paint correction. it just has a pull handle when fully pressed goes to 10,000 RPM...a tad too much. I need to figure out what RPM it is at around 1/4 trigger pulled if you understand what I mean? that was I could make a trigger stopper or something to ensure I'm not burning paint within seconds.
it might not be linear. So a 1/4 pull might not be 1/4 top RPM. only way to know would prolly be use some measuring device like a strobe or something. Or ask the people that make it what it would be approximately with the airflow you are providing.
Forensic Detailing Channel some money came thru I wasn’t expecting and I see a meguairs g220 for sale for nice money so gonna play it safe after all. I see what you mean regarding linearity and good point I’d not thought of
What do the seats look like after a year? Curious on the durability
good mate but Ive not driven much. you can see an update on this on the channel. I had to repair perished foam under the seat which was causing issues.
Anyone know what spirit the “leather cleaning spirit” is?
Most likely 99% IPA, similar to LRC3 Alcohol Cleaner
With this much damage, would it be better to simply re-upholster the seats?
fresh new leather gonna rock but that will cost a lot more money. but imo the drivers seat was right at the limit of what is repairable. came out well though. If you had all these skills the cost of doing this repair is pretty low. You can almost follow this guide if you are brave.
@@ForensicDetailing I just love the smell of new leather and I thought the experience of driving this would have been totally transformed but aye, £50 notes do not grow in anybody's garden (well, some do in their lofts ;) ) so budget has to be balanced. Did you look into second hand ones from breakers?
@@peterlabiak1051 had a quick traul of what ones were being broken but more drivers seats on breakers cars will be in equal of worse nick they are just very old seats.
Was the patch glued? Was not clear to me .....
a backing cloth was inserted and heated to activate the glue and then pressure put on it to stick it down, then filled.
Love the work, but for those without a paint gun? 🤷🏻♂️😂
boom you use the color fresh system in stead see this video.. kzhead.info/sun/YNWDg76jrp6sgps/bejne.html
Why did he only start with Mild Cleaner and not Strong Leather Cleaner if the seats were so dirty? Im after buying some Strong leather cleaner and gosh this stuff is strong!
they were not actually that dirty just very very very very worn. but only moderatly dirty.. the mild leather cleaner is pretty powerfull stuff. can use strong if you want though.
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