I need a interior and or seat rebuilder referral

[GaAlpinaOwner]

Guys who does
"great" work on refurbishing M5 Interiors, seats, etc....
Well several of you know that I have been looking for M5 seats preferrably rebuilt, refinished in natur leather color (NO VINYL)
Well this search has yielded little to zero results. So I am now considering sending my seats off to be rebuilt and reupholstered with new leather.
Can anyone refer a reputable company to do this work?
any referrals will be most appreciated. PM me, if you do not wish to publically divulge.

I understand Creative Options in GA is one company that does this type of work. Anyone have any other referrals?


thanks
David Frankel

[Machtig]

Guys who does
"great" work on refurbishing M5 Interiors, seats, etc....
Well several of you know that I have been looking for M5 seats preferrably rebuilt, refinished in natur leather color (NO VINYL)
Well this search has yielded little to zero results. So I am now considering sending my seats off to be rebuilt and reupholstered with new leather.
Can anyone refer a reputable company to do this work?
any referrals will be most appreciated. PM me, if you do not wish to publically divulge.

I understand Creative Options in GA is one company that does this type of work. Anyone have any other referrals?


thanks
David Frankel

David, I'll find out who did mine when I get home and look at the receipt. The PO of my car had them redone with Gahh Leather and they look spectacular. I know he lived down in Naples, FL , so it may be a ways from you.

http://www.gahhinc.com/

[gray635]

David:

As I think I have already mentioned to you, there's an old thread in the M5 section here regarding my efforts to have the front seats in my old M5 (now owned by Cory) recovered.

I checked around at all the upholstery suppliers (Kevin Chinn/Creative Options, World Upholstery, GAHH) and wound up sourcing the leather from GAHH. It was a pretty good match, but still had a small amount of grain - unlike the OE leather, which is very smooth. Still, the GAHH leather was the best I could find.

The front seats in my "new" M5 were recovered by the upholstery shop in San Diego (Jack's Upholstery, IIRC), where Ron Perry and others have their upholstery work done. I think they also did Chris Kohler's PB interior in his 535is. Anyway, the seats in my old M5 - GAHH sourced leather, sewn and installed by Kevin Chinn - are better than my current seats. One problem is that most upholstery shops do not have the ability or desire to go to the extra effort to sew the thicker, vertical stitching on these seats. Kevin has this capability.

Hope this rambling response is somewhat helpful. I'm still anxious to see the new car!

Regards,
Mike

[Machtig]

Forgot I had my maintenance records spreadsheet on my computer, so here is the info on who did mine:

Xtreme Auto Interiors
1518 Easton Road Roslyn, Pa 19001
http://www.xtremeautointeriors.com/index.php

Like I said, they used Gahh Leather, and the total cost (in 2004) was $1179.43 which also included some repairs to the seat frame, if I remember correctly. This was for the front seats only.

I'll post some detailed photos of the seats when I get home.

[Karl Grau]

The front seats in my "new" M5 were recovered by the upholstery shop in San Diego (Jack's Upholstery, IIRC), where Ron Perry and others have their upholstery work done. I think they also did Chris Kohler's PB interior in his 535is.

Mike,
You were close, it's "Jim's Upholstery"
They'v done work for a bunch of the AZ and NorCal guys and pretty much have a lock on SoCal.

[JoshInAtlanta]

I've heard good things about Jim's. Sending my headrests off to them tomorrow to finish my interior up.

[gray635]

Ah, yes - it's Jim's! At least I got the first letter right. The total charge for reupholstering both front seats in my M5, subcontracted to Jim's through LaJolla Independent, was just $850. Pretty reasonable, IMHO.

[wkohler]

Jim's did my front and rear seats in the 535is. They're nice, but as Mike said, they don't have the capability to replicate the coarse thread stitched into the centers of the seat cushions.

I wouldn't use Kevin for several reasons.

Of course, you haven't shown us your seats, so are they really that bad?

I wouldn't recover seats unless it was absolutely necessary.

If you're going to redo them, you need to do front and rear. Seriously. Don't cheap out. I can tell.

[alpinacsi]

His leather is actually in good condition but the piping is broken and missing a small section. The padding is shot and the seat needs some tightening of fasteners.

[gray635]

David and Todd:

FWIW, when Kevin did the front seats in my old M5, he got some piping that was a very close match for the original. As you know, most upholsterers just make their own piping by covering a small plastic "core" with leather - not the way the Germans did it originally! I think that it is a very simple job for a competent upholstery guy to just replace the piping. My local guy did this repair on my old 535is cardinal seats and they turned out great.

[GaAlpinaOwner]

Thanks everyone for the assist. As Todd mentioned it is not that bad but I want to consider what a re do will entail.
Mike thanks for the tip on the piping. This is what really needs attn on the drivers side as well as new foam. The bolsters can be redyed to match. (this is the economical option)
But I also want to see where other owners are finding very good quality replacement.

thanks

David

[Karl Grau]

The total charge for reupholstering both front seats in my M5, subcontracted to Jim's through LaJolla Independent, was just $850. Pretty reasonable, IMHO.

Their prices have crept up a little. When I had the e30 done in '06 it was around $1,200 for front/rear seats, 4 headrests and the parcel shelf.

[Tucker]

The total charge for reupholstering both front seats in my M5, subcontracted to Jim's through LaJolla Independent, was just $850. Pretty reasonable, IMHO.

Their prices have crept up a little. When I had the e30 done in '06 it was around $1,200 for front/rear seats, 4 headrests and the parcel shelf.

That's super cheap! Earlier this year I got quoted $1400 for the front seats in the M5, with all the correct stuff, by a really good local I guy I like & trust who does amazing Porsche and custom interiors. He showed me his cost, and most of my price was in materials. I'll pull the trigger on it eventually, once I fix the driver's seat left bolster frame.

[gray635]

Tucker: That's about what I wound up paying for my previous M5's front seat job, with me supplying the leather ($940 from GAHH) and Kevin doing the cut/sew/install. Since this was my comparison point, I thought Jim's Auto Upholstery's pricing was a real bargain!

[Devinder]

another price point for Jim's Upholstery from 2009 -- I paid $1400 for the fronts in non-BMW leather. I think they wanted $1600-$1800 for BMW leather.

[Karl Grau]

I don’t know what the breakdown of labor vs material was but I know they had a hard time finding the correct cloth. It came out of L.A. and cost about the same as if I’d done it in leather.

[Machtig]

Here's some photos of my reupholstered and repaired seats. I think they look fantastic and the Gahh leather is a very close match to the rest of the leather in the interior and very supple. I am very pleased with them.

[wkohler]

another price point for Jim's Upholstery from 2009 -- I paid $1400 for the fronts in non-BMW leather. I think they wanted $1600-$1800 for BMW leather.

Really?

They did my 535is interior in 2008 (two sport seats, rear seat and rear headrests) for $1400 in Pearl Beige.

They did a set of Recaro SEs for me for about $800.

[GaAlpinaOwner]

Here's some photos of my reupholstered and repaired seats. I think they look fantastic and the Gahh leather is a very close match to the rest of the leather in the interior and very supple. I am very pleased with them.

Machtig - your seats look great. This is what I want my interior to look like. Thanks for sharing

[Genepool]

im really digging the oem plaid on the evo e30 very scrumptious



or this e28 m5 two tone.. i cant decide between which one i want.. hmm http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3004133/4

[cfalco]

I just got a quote from Jim's in San Diego - 850 for the fronts using BMW leather including left bolster repair, 1450 including the rear seat. There seems to be quite a price range here.

[Devinder]

now that you mention it, the cost I gave above is for all 4 seats and rear headrests. They also had to repair the seat pan on one of the seats.

I was thinking of the door panels and other work that really added to the cost

I should take some pictures of the work they did

[ElGuappo]

Yes you should Devinder, thats quite the sea of red leather!

[Devinder]

[GaAlpinaOwner]

The Red color is not my cup of tea, but the quality of the work looks fantastic.....thanks for sharing....

[Devinder]

it's hard to reproduce red on monitors. The actual color is pretty dark now. I was scared when I first sat in it but they told me it would darken. Someone said the current color is actually "oxblood" whatever that means.

[Karl Grau]

Did you make the camera mount yourself? Any more pics of it?

[Devinder]

Charles,

yes, it was really easy to make. I remember taking it apart for pictures for someone at Darin's this year.

I'll try to get you some pictures this weekend.

Devinder