recommendations for companies to supply a new interior

[Shonick]

I have decided to replace the entire interior: seats in a vinyl , horse hair padding, Carpet and headliner.

Any recommendations for the best places to look, especially for the horsehair padding?

[John_in_VA]

World Upholstery & GAHH are good sources, but not cheap.  It might be cheaper to buy the vinyl & have your favorite local auto upholsterer make covers using your old ones as a pattern.

A member here, Esty, offers nice carpet sets.

There was recent discussion about the pads.  Use the Search box in the upper right corner of the page to discover previous discussions.

Good luck!

Edited October 30, 2020 by John_in_VA

[NYNick]

56 minutes ago, Shonick said:

I have decided to replace the entire interior: seats in a vinyl , horse hair padding, Carpet and headliner.

Any recommendations for the best places to look, especially for the horsehair padding?

Reconsider. Unless you're a stickler for originality, those horsehair pads are a fools errand. Better, less expensive seat options exist.

[Shonick]

What are my less expensive options?

[esty]

if you are not a stickler for original Dave Varco at Aardvark racing does good seat upholstery sets and there a guy on ebay...search ebay for BMW saat upholstery...i've bought from both of them and was completely satisfied with color options, price, fit and finish

 

[NYNick]

12 hours ago, Shonick said:

What are my less expensive options?

Think I'm all in for $1500 with these Recaros and they're better seats.

[adawil2002]

I did the new "horse hair"pads on my interior. Patched the front seat center section with an extra seat back I had. Had to raise the front of the seats close to 1/2 an inch above the adjuster rails to make them more comfortable.

 

In later years BMW put closed cell foam for seat pads. If I were to need re-do the seats, I'd go with closed cell foam. It's more forgiving & comfortable then the "horse hair".

 

 

[Shonick]

Thanks for the pictures and information. I am sure that the Recaros are more comfortable however I am a sticler for originality so I plan on keeping the original seats. But that horsehair padding is ridiculously expensive!

[jimk]

Have you reviewed this post.

https://www.bmw2002faq.com/forums/topic/267297-redoing-rear-seats-with-horse-hair-pad/?tab=comments#comment-1434074

[Conserv]

And... from the originality snob — well, at least when I want to be ? — nothing recreates the original seat appearance, feel, and firmness like the horsehair pads.

 

Below, my ‘73’s re-done spare seats (first photo) and my ‘76’s re-done spare seats (second photo).

 

I’m spoiled by fancy-schmancy modern BMW and MB seats, which allow me to drive up to twelve hours in some comfort. And I’ll freely admit that none of these original ‘02 seats is any good from my perspective after about three hours. But... rarely do I drive an ‘02 more than three hours. Andrew (@adawil2002), on the other hand, spends serious time behind his classic cars’ wheels.

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

[Mike Self]

Coupla points...if you have a roundie, AFAIK (and I wish I was wrong) no one makes a vinyl that's identical to the faux pleated center section material--and especially on the driver's seat, the material will split along the pleats as the material ages.   You can find material that's close, but not identical, so you'll need to do all three seats for 'em to match.  Like Andrew, I've kept my original seats in good shape because I grabbed rear seat backs from parts cars--especially ones that were all sun-rotted across the top and were basically worthless- and used the undamaged material below the tops to repair my split front seats.  

 

If you have your seats done locally, a good upholstery shop can contour the front seats so that the sides of the seat bottoms are a little taller than stock, to give you slightly more lateral support than the original contours.  They still won't be Recaros but will be a little more supportive than the originals.

 

I did a couple of tweaks to my front seats many years ago that made a marked difference in comfort--at least for me--created some lumbar support and tilted the seat bottom for increased thigh support.  PM me if you'd like a copy of the relevant column.

 

Were I to re-do my seats (as a friend just did with his '75) I'd take 'em to a local shop and either have 'em do the seats from scratch using the old upholstery as a pattern, or install pre-made kits over foam padding.  The best thing the OEM gummihaar (horsehair) is good for is turning into orange dirt under your seats.

 

cheers

mike

[Shonick]

40 minutes ago, Mike Self said:

Coupla points...if you have a roundie, AFAIK (and I wish I was wrong) no one makes a vinyl that's identical to the faux pleated center section material--and especially on the driver's seat, the material will split along the pleats as the material ages.   You can find material that's close, but not identical, so you'll need to do all three seats for 'em to match.  Like Andrew, I've kept my original seats in good shape because I grabbed rear seat backs from parts cars--especially ones that were all sun-rotted across the top and were basically worthless- and used the undamaged material below the tops to repair my split front seats.  

 

If you have your seats done locally, a good upholstery shop can contour the front seats so that the sides of the seat bottoms are a little taller than stock, to give you slightly more lateral support than the original contours.  They still won't be Recaros but will be a little more supportive than the originals.

 

I did a couple of tweaks to my front seats many years ago that made a marked difference in comfort--at least for me--created some lumbar support and tilted the seat bottom for increased thigh support.  PM me if you'd like a copy of the relevant column.

 

Were I to re-do my seats (as a friend just did with his '75) I'd take 'em to a local shop and either have 'em do the seats from scratch using the old upholstery as a pattern, or install pre-made kits over foam padding.  The best thing the OEM gummihaar (horsehair) is good for is turning into orange dirt under your seats.

 

cheers

mike

I do have a Roundie (1969) Where is the foam available as a replacement for the horsehair?

[tomphot]

Take a look at this thread. 

 

[Mike Self]

10 hours ago, Shonick said:

I do have a Roundie (1969) Where is the foam available as a replacement for the horsehair?

FYI, if the seats in your '69 are original, the backs are an inch or two wider than the seats used in later roundies.  To confirm this, take a look at the chrome back rake adjusters/recliners.  If the inboard ones (over the tunnel) are covered by upholstery, then you have those early seats.  On later roundies (don't know when the factory made the change), both inboard and outboard adjusters are fully exposed.  My Feb '69 production car has those wide seat backs; I've never been able to find a good explanation for why those seat backs are wide--unless they're frames originally made for NK sedans and used on 2002s until narrower backs were produced for 02s exclusively.  Bottom line is that a pre-made kit might not work on those wider seat backs.

 

As for foam padding to replace the horsehair--your local upholstery shop would make them up in house, although I seem to recall that someone was offering pre-made foam pads for '02 seats.

 

mike