Carbon Leather interior is expensive! So.......

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Starscream

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 Bergen County NJ
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Today Ive been busy wrapping my friends interior trim on his E46 M3 and thought Id post some pics on how that turned out,

This seems to be a very up and coming popular interior mod amongst the BMW crowd, Mostly 3 Series owners, It hasn't spilled over to the Z crowd, But everyone compliments my Carbon Leather in my Z so much Im wondering how many people start this on their Z4's
Its a bit of a PITA, Not what I'd call easy but its not rocket science either,

Here is what I did,

First you start with your stock boring silver graphite parts,

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Then you get your carbon sheets that they sell very cheap these days,
Its a carbon fiber fabric, and imitates the look of the BMW "Carbon Leather" trim I have in my M and can be optioned in most new BMW M cars,

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You then cut what you need leaving ample room around the part, after all you have to wrap it clean over the part and secure it to the back,
Also pictured is the doctors style tools you need for the job, a really sharp pair of scissors and an exacto knife and 3M's Super #77 spray glue

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Then spray the part, I used 2 coats as it gets a bit thick with any more

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Then its time to lay the sheet and start pressing out all the air and getting it nice and flat,

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Next comes the holes, Pretty much speaks for itself, Just cut close to the edge and keep rolling back applying glue to the rear

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And then some finished pics and closeup of the weave,

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The rest of the pics

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I also did the same technique for the rest of his trim and here is that finished

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These two parts interlock together on the dash so I made sure I got the weave to line up, This was a little tricky as the parts contour to the dash so wrapping these was a bit of a challenge but they came out nice

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And thats it so far,
Tomorrow I'll install them and get some installed pics :)
 
For comparison here is some close-ups of the real Carbon Leather in my BMW from the factory,

Not much difference,

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Mine is a little more textured, you can physically feel the weave,
But for $30 a yard the carbon fabric really is an awesome way to add some nice interior mods without going over the top and tacky
 
Superb work :thumbsup: looks a bit shiny compared to the carbon leather in your car or is that the lighting ? looking forward to the pics when fitted.
 
Hey,

Really nice job on that!!

I've been looking at changing my boring silver trim in my Z for the carbon leather, but after finding out the price from BMW, I've decided maybe its not such a good idea..
 
GAZA62 said:
Superb work :thumbsup: looks a bit shiny compared to the carbon leather in your car or is that the lighting ? looking forward to the pics when fitted.
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Its probably the lighting making it look so dramatically different, It does have a little more gloss to it than carbon leather,
The one I did was done inside under a florescent tube light, Giving off that blue hue,
The pics from my M were outside in the sun,

Id still pick carbon leather over the two but If It didn't come in my car I would have done my interior in this stuff too,
 
alexhall said:
Hey,

Really nice job on that!!

I've been looking at changing my boring silver trim in my Z for the carbon leather, but after finding out the price from BMW, I've decided maybe its not such a good idea..
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This stuff is around the $30 a yard price range, Im sure a vendor over here would post to the UK,
 
Looks quite good. Im sure some bits would be a lot easier than others.

On a side note, the plastic trim that is underneath the handbrake and goes around the gear stick/hazards, mines a bit scratched.... Can this be replaced, anyone know? I quite like the black one in starscreems. :)
 
Dreamer said:
Looks quite good. Im sure some bits would be a lot easier than others.

On a side note, the plastic trim that is underneath the handbrake and goes around the gear stick/hazards, mines a bit scratched.... Can this be replaced, anyone know? I quite like the black one in starscreems. :)
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Yes that part can easily be replaced.

Perhaps I should wrap my old brushed Aluminium Trim with some of this a flog it on. I was lucky and found some Carbon Leather Geniune Dash and centre trim on ebay for £180.

Quick serah on ebay 250mm x 1000mm £12.50 delivered.

The length is fine as the dash section is the longest around 900mm, but the centre console is around 280mm wide. I might ask if they do a bigger size.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CARBON-FIBRE-2X2-TWILL-0-25-SQM-MATERIAL-FABRIC-CLOTH_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZ72Q3a1301Q7c66Q3a2Q7c65Q3a12Q7c39Q3a1Q7c240Q3a1318QQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZitem220342119899QQitemZ220342119899QQptZUKQ5fToysGamesQ5fRadioControlledQ5fJNQQsalenotsupported
 
Dreamer said:
Looks quite good. Im sure some bits would be a lot easier than others.

On a side note, the plastic trim that is underneath the handbrake and goes around the gear stick/hazards, mines a bit scratched.... Can this be replaced, anyone know? I quite like the black one in starscreems. :)
Click to expand...

Respray yours satin black then refit try Halfords bumper black spray leaves a nice factory finish
 
just looked again they do 1000 x 1000mm.

What would look best, Starscreams or with clearcoat, I'm guessing without clearcoat.

One reason I got rid of the Brushed Aluminium was the reflection from the sun, so this also would suggest without clearcoat.
 
ok some installed shots,

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and a gratuitous exterior in the freezing snow shot

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Granted its not a jaw dropping total pimp my ride transformation but it looks a lot better and gives a nice transition from black to grey,

I'm now doing the inside door handles and will have some pictures of those when finished,

they should come out like this, Only on a grey door
(these are just pics for reference, Not mine)

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ElegantSpoon said:
If you decide to cover some Z interior and sell it I would buy it!!

Any chance you might do that?
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I would have to find a whole interior trim first,
But yes It seems easy enough and Id be fine with doing it again :)
 
That's great, and I bet it would look even better on an originally black interior.

The only thing missing is the stitching :thumbsup:
 
Looks OEM :thumbsup:

Gee, Starscream... you've maintained your status as the King of useless mods :rofl: But everything is done up so tastefully! :bow:
 
So it looks as if there would be some interest in my spare dash and centre console if I covered it in carbon fibre, I feel a project coming on.
 
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