Gray or black headliner?

[gwb72tii]

So a question for maybe those who have replaced their headliners in the past.
Maeve is Zinnoberrot with a pearl beige interior. The stock headliner color was, I believe, an off white/beige.
There is no place I can find to source a stock color replacement headliner, and World Upholstery only offers gray and black as a choice, so the headliner color will change.

What looks better? Gray or black? In your humble opinion lol.

[vinceg101]

Maeve is Zinnoberrot with a pearl beige interior. The stock headliner color was, I believe, an off white/beige.
There is no place I can find to source a stock color replacement headliner, and World Upholstery only offers gray and black as a choice, so the headliner color will change.

Press World to send you a sample if possible. Reason being is that the color of the BMW material is technically listed 'grau' which is that kind of weird light gray/wheat color which is what yours is (believe it or not). So while World lists theirs as 'Gray' it may in fact may match the OEM color.

But for purposes of an opinion, I think the lighter color interiors (Pearl Beige, Llama, Natur, even Mocha and Nutria) should have the stock Grau headliner while the darker ones (Swarz, Pacific Blue, Cardinal, Cherry, Taurus, Green) can go either way but look better with the black. I went with black for my Taurus interior and it's fantastic.
[Correction: The material I went with is actually closer to Anthracite which is what the interior carpet is. So this is dark gray, but so dark it's seen as black for intents and purposes.]

[Blue Shadow]

I think the exterior color can also influence headliner recommendations.
My Alpine/Pacific looks right with gray and would be darker with the black. But that is just one case. Maybe in 10 years when I need to change the headliner I can go black and see if what I think is true.

Black does seem to be a popular choice...a step closer to an M5.

[gwb72tii]

I think the exterior color can also influence headliner recommendations.
My Alpine/Pacific looks right with gray and would be darker with the black. But that is just one case. Maybe in 10 years when I need to change the headliner I can go black and see if what I think is true.

Black does seem to be a popular choice...a step closer to an M5.

I was thinking black as it would also match various interior trim pieces, even if it's not the color that came with the car.
I've sent away for samples of the two options at World Upholstery. Once I see what they call grey I can decide. Grey is one if those colors that can be completely different than what you expect.

[DavidE9]

You might try the folks at Veteran Upholstery in LA:

Veteran Company
620 Gladys Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90021
Phone: (323) 937-2233

[vinceg101]

You might try the folks at Veteran Upholstery in LA:

Veteran Company
620 Gladys Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90021
Phone: (323) 937-2233

I tried to find suitable black headliner material from them when I did mine and struck out. The main issue is that most if not all material sold as "headliner material" is thin, kind of stretchy and foam backed. My upholster who was doing mine didn't want to use it since it's really hard to work and sew to fit the E28. It can be done, it's just not ideal. Also, neither of us wanted to put in a material we knew would eventually fail (i.e. the foam backer disintegrating, which was the primary reason I was replacing mine).

Here is the REALLY BIG factor the OP needs to understand: You need to find material sold in 54" wide bolts. The E28 roof geometry requires it and is surprisingly hard to find suitable materials. This was the other reason we couldn't find anything at Veteran, most of what they sold was shorter. So unless you're buying a pre-cut pattern, any raw material needs to be in 54" wide bolts minimum.

[vinceg101]

We ended up using a non-standard material for the black/anthracite headliner (non-standard meaning it was a general commercial grade vinyl material not specific to the automotive world). You can read about it and see it here, midway down on page 6:
https://www.mye28.com/viewtopic.php?f=7 ... &start=125

Worked and looks great. The upholster loved working with it. And wasn't all that expensive either.

[gwb72tii]

I don't think I mentioned, but I will be installing the headliner myself, so sewing my own headliner is not going to work for me. I've done two before on my e10, one that turned out to be practice, and one final.
What I need is a pre-cut and sewn headliner.

Appreciate all your input.

[szacsi72]

I got black leather in my zinnober 28 and I wouldn't want any other colour. Material maybe, but definitely black.