Leather Dye is magic (photos)

Matt Simis

From (this is the seat after cleaning with Glipitone):


To:



Using Dynamix dye (which is the brand I usually use). Colour is "BMW Champagne" and it took far far more coats than the Grey and Blacks Ive fixed before, I mean thats like 7 coats when usually 3 is enough. But end result is such a huge improvement.

Big Nasty

Nice work man!

TGi666

great work and where did you get the Dye from?

Matt Simis

TGi666 wrote: »

great work and where did you get the Dye from?

These guys:
http://www.dynamixdyes.com/

Not especially cheap, but my brother and I both tried stuff that was half the price and it was totally useless. The cheaper dyes come out like water, the Dynamix is like plastidip, its thick and layers upon itself but stays supple unlike real "paint".

kdevitt

Just did a new interior for my M3 with a dynamix kit. Good stuff as usual.

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mathepac

Great job. Did you replace the stuffing as well or is it "just" (with all respect for a great outcome) cleaning and multiple coats of dye?

Is it possible to use a similar dye where you have contrasting stitching? I have black leather with burgundy centre-panels and burgundy stitching; the door-panels and head restraints are the same arrangement.

randy hickey

Matt, how did you go about getting the right colour from them - did you have to send them a small sample cut from under a seat, like they mention in their FAQ, or were they able to match it to a trim code?

P.S. Thanks for taking the time to do the write-up.

Matt Simis

mathepac wrote: »

Great job. Did you replace the stuffing as well or is it "just" (with all respect for a great outcome) cleaning and multiple coats of dye?
Is it possible to use a similar dye where you have contrasting stitching? I have black leather with burgundy centre-panels and burgundy stitching; the door-panels and head restraints are the same arrangement.

On mine (and I suspect Kdevitt's too) its just the cleaner and dye. The Dye and cleaner both have a leather softening agent and I also have the leather after care from Dynamix too (not applied obviously for weeks after painting).
Re: Preserving the contrasting stitching, the dye is applied in a rapid "dabbing motion" with a high density sponge, it doesnt have near the accuracy to avoid small detail like stitching. Depending the colour of the leather behind the stitch you may have to settle with dying it too.

randy hickey wrote: »

Matt, how did you go about getting the right colour from them - did you have to send them a small sample cut from under a seat, like they mention in their FAQ, or were they able to match it to a trim code?

That would be the "best way" of ensuring you got the correct colour, however all I ever do is get the colour code from either the sticker in the car (BMWs usually have both interior and exterior colours printed on the factory spec sticker) or do a VIN lookup which gives you the options list, including interior type and colour, though obviously you need to find a VIN lookup tool for your car make online. Easy for the German (prolly all Euro) brands, not sure about others.


PS: In this exact case I bought the seats on their own, so I have no car or VIN to compare to. I looked up what colours the part-leather interior was offered in for the E34 M5 (these are M5 electric memory seats) and made a guess, but it wasnt hard as I think this is the only creme of the era.

mickdw

Must be fantastic stuff.
I understand its thick enough to layer up and create a new surface. Is it a hard wearing finish or is it something that would need to be done once a year or ?

Matt Simis

mickdw wrote: »

Must be fantastic stuff.
I understand its thick enough to layer up and create a new surface. Is it a hard wearing finish or is it something that would need to be done once a year or ?

Its quite hard wearing, I only touched up my 850CSi leather once in nearly 5 years, although recently it doesnt get much road time, in the past it was a daily driver.

murph226

I have some leather Recaro's that could do with freshening up.

The bolsters are black with yellow stitching, I'm looking for something that will do the leather and dye the yellow stitching black as well, any recommendations?

Kenny Logins

Must give this a go. Expensive?

Never mind, I see the prices now. ...but what goddam colour?

kdevitt

murph226 wrote: »

I have some leather Recaro's that could do with freshening up.

The bolsters are black with yellow stitching, I'm looking for something that will do the leather and dye the yellow stitching black as well, any recommendations?

The dynamix dye should be ok to go on the trim bits as well - might be worth keying them very slightly with some sandpaper first.

Have been doing a lot more of this work lately and can't over emphasise what a difference the spray gun makes for the last colour coats, as well as the sealant. The sealant for use on these is only to be applied by spraygun - looks so much better with it.

Heres a before and after of an interior I'm doing at the moment -

Stheno

Those results are unreal, fantastic after pics!

lomb

Do the seats feel very plasticky after? After all it seems to be a plastic coating that is being put on them to bring them up to new like. They look fantastic.

kdevitt

lomb wrote: »

Do the seats feel very plasticky after? After all it seems to be a plastic coating that is being put on them to bring them up to new like. They look fantastic.

Nope - just feels like any other leather interior. For a new interior, the leather is vat dyed in similar dye.

Holy Crap, that's mental Lad !