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Extended leather dash repair...

Specific discussion about the E89 2009 Z4 (sDrive35is, sDrive35i, sDrive30i, sDrive23i)
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Maniac
Lifer
Lifer
Posts: 8202
Joined: Tue Oct 26, 2010 2:52 pm

Extended leather dash repair...

Post by Maniac » Mon Feb 20, 2017 9:30 am

So ideally I'd have taken photos but I thought I'd at least post that should anyone find their extended leather dash starts to bubble or separate from the metal dash carrier that it's an easy fix.

So this started to happen to me about a year ago when the car was about six years old. A small bubble in the dash leather jus behind the binnacle. Caused I assume due to drying of the adhesive and the expansion and contraction of the dash.

The bubble slowly increased in size until around three inches of dash leather had separated from the carrier.

So I ordered some fabric adhesive and large bore needles from eBay. They've been sat on the kitchen worktop for weeks until a mild day like yesterday came around.

In the car I used trim removal tools to pop off the dash speaker grill. Detaching the wire to the light sensor i put the cover aside.

Next I took a Stanley blade and cut a 3mm inscision into the side of the leather where it's folded under the speaker grill so that I could put the needle through but the incision would be hidden once the grill goes back on.

Filling the syringe with the fabric glue I inserted the needle sideways along and under the fabric and slowly pushed through the glue while extracting the needle. This took a few attempts to get sufficient thick glue in there.

Next I used my fingers to manipulate the glue between the surfaces along to almost every edge of the area that had separated.

I spent a few minutes allowing the glue to rest between each subsequent manipulation which I then did with a soft rag to keep pushing glue around and allowing it to set a little.

The result has been almost factory perfect with no trace of work performed and a new nice flat surface once again.

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ronk
Lifer
Lifer
Posts: 14199
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2009 11:50 am
Location: Durham

Extended leather dash repair...

Post by ronk » Mon Feb 20, 2017 10:01 pm

Its good when a plan comes together! :thumbsup:
You don't stop playing when you get old - You get old when you stop playing!
So I bought a 35is with all the toys to play with. :thumbsup:

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