saintz

My headliner is sagging and needs a change. I went to a auto upholstery shop today and they have new cloth/foam in a variety of colors. They have something close to the current gray.

I want to go to a dark charcoal or black headliner. I realize this would give a two tone look unless I dye the plastic bits (grab handles) and also cover the C pillars, sunroof shade, and sun visors (that would probably be the hardest).

I would also love to do Alcantra, but the local shops all say they can't do it and I don't have the time or patience to follow Yacht Master's write up.

Has anyone tackled this? Am I better sticking with gray foam?

maxwerks

Ahhhh I just went through it ... Just finished doing Headliner , all pillars, visors, sunroof shade all in Charcoal Alcantara... to save a bit , I took apart everything myself ( Quite tedious but sort of fun , my wife thinks I am nuts anyway.. specially that there was nothing wrong with my headliner ) , then took it to the upholstery shop $600 later, I had them done and reintsalled everything back myself... yes I did debate dying the handles , sunroof shade grills .. but I didnt so far... the two tone still looks nice I think ...if you need any help in this matter dont hesitate to contact me . Also, Charcoal and Black Alcantara are the hardest colors to come by and the least likely to be discounted ( I Got lucky ) , if you decide to have someone else do it or buy the OEM material ... headlinerexpress.com , he is around Orlando FL, he can do it for you if you ship or sell you the material.. he knows the headliner business. Cheers... Max

desired_speeds

I think suede would look hot!

nick 55

If you are looking for Alcantara, I would look at Gulf Fabrics, I went through them(the US importer) for my needs, and dealt with a guy named Dedo. He was great to work with. They even offer samples.

gulffabrics.com is the website.

Nick

maxwerks

Yes I spoke with Gulf Fabrics before , they are good but pricey... but Alcantara is expensive everywhere...one has to make sure that the material must be bonded to a 1/8" foam backing thats is a must. The gentleman at headlinerexpress.com ( Bill ) is quite a nice guy and he knows headliners, and he sells Alcantara ( even though I found it on my own ) .... speaking from experience ... with the price of Alcantara , I wouldnt mount the material on my own, it sounds easy and simple but it is not for the faint of heart. Also , never go over the original material , the old fabric must be removed , and the surface must be cleaned / scraped prepped. I would dismantle everything , send it to a pro, and reinstall the parts yourself. Taking the parts apart is straight forward , just tedious, the hardest part is getting the headliner itself in and out of the car.. PS. if one can remove the front seats that will make things easier. If anyone needs instructions PM me .

saintz

Max, any pictures? Thanks.

And how did you do the visors?

maxwerks

Sorry Saintz.. I sent you a PM .. car is undergoing another surgery .. will post pictures as soon as I can .

saintz

Thanks for checking, Max.

I think I'm going to go for it, after inspecting again. The B pillar is black/charcoal already.

I'm going to have the headliner, sunshade, A pillars, and B pillars wrapped in foam backed cloth, charcoal/black colored. I'm going to leave the sun visors, grab handles, ABS logo, seat belt surround, sunshade handle, and sunshade vent in the current gray color. I think the two tone look should be pretty good.

I'd like to do alcantara, but it's looking like a lot of trouble. I can always dye the plastics later. The visors really would be the hard part, but I think they'll look good in a contrasting color.

maxwerks

Saintz, thinking of it now I am sorry I didnt take step by step photos for a DIY addition to the forum.. but the decision to change it came while working on many other things for the car.. I hope the following helps , I am not sure if you have access to these or not , regardless here they are ..

***Removal of sunroof interior sliding panel:
1
Slide cover (2) to rear
2
Open sliding/pop-up roof approx. 10 cm
3
Remove trim strip (1)

NOTE: Before pulling off trim strip (1) press off on outside with plastic wedge.
4
Completely open sliding/pop-up roof
5
Push cover (2) forward, unhook sliders (3, 4) from slide rail and lift out cover

CAUTION: Press cover (2) to side while unhooking
6
Reinstall in opposite order.

maxwerks

Here are the a/b/c pillar removals

maxwerks

THE REAR SHELF

maxwerks

FInally HEADLINER !!!

maxwerks

Steps instructions below.. there will still be few points here and there.. post your questions .. remember be very careful the pillar covers.. it is very easy to break the plastic tabs just take your time and dont force anything , email or PM me anytime you want .. best of luck.. go get it tiger !!!

Fabio D

I made mine in alcantara & i recommend you remove the front driver side seat, rear lower seat, center armrest & you can remove the headliner by the left rear door without crack them like to the upper picture removing them via front right door friends. in my case my car is an E55 99 (pre-updated) take care the headliner in the 00+ cars are different cause the roof lateral airbags (not mounted in the pre-updated cars). hope that help

Fabio Daniel

mfletch69

Funny Saintz.....I was also at an auto upholstery shop in the last few days and was thinking the same thing about going with a darker grey. The light grey he had does not really match the stock exactly anyway. I will be interested to see your finished product!

maxwerks

Sorry Fabio, I did it myself and I just cant see the headliner getting out of the car from the rear left door, I tried , but there was no way. The rear seat MUST be removed seats and back ( you have to get the back out to remove the rear shelf ).. If memory serves , there is a difference in shape of the C pillar from the post 2000 cars vs. the pre facelift, maybe that why you could do it from the rear door. At any rate , getting the headliner in and out is probably one the hardest steps... just make sure if you do it yourself to have a helper ( MUST for the headliner ) , center console .. yes it would be slightly easier to remove it , but covering it would be OK also, just remember to move the gear shift as shown. its really not that hard just too many steps and parts... I would much rather do the disassembly and assembly as opposed to try to glue the fabric and get that straight and tight over the curves and cutouts... oh, while taking the B pilar , pay close attention to how the seat belt and the bracket swivels.. also where the seat belt attaches to the front seats, pay close attention to that bolt and the rubber washer behind it , regarding the side airbags.. one can disable them, or just be careful and go slow when talking the pillars out, they are in the center of the trim/pillars.. away from the edges... the A pillar was the trickiest.

maxwerks

If one is not doing Suede/ Alcantara.. then I would recommend MB OEM fabric, the newer models come in darker colors and the MB one is already foam backed. Bill @ headlinerexpress.com has them or can get it reasonably. My new W212 for instance has this beautiful almost Anthracite very durable fabric on the roof.

Fabio D

I buy from Bill (headlinerexpress) the alcantara material in 4978 color code. is pretty light light gray (same color as my father's W211) comes in factory alcantara. looks veeery beautiful but i need to recognize is very hard to glued the alcantara to the factory healiner. you need to clean very good the surface & the sunvisor curves are very hard, very hard to made the cuts in the sun roof areas too, but when you finish all the work looks pretty cool

Maxwerks: Yes i think the difference in the updated cars made impossible remove them via rear left door, in the pre updated cars is possible & more easy to remove it.

The updated cars has the rear pillars very small, for this reason the headliner is bigger than the pre updated cars (take in account in the updated cars is more hard upolster the headliner because the rear part have an acentuated curves in the rear pillars zone

Thanks God my car has the gray headliner only & all interior & all pillars in black color, for this reason i only made in alcantara the headliner in gray & stay black factory material in all pillars

Fabio Daniel

SilverarrowE55

You guys are sick. I love it I would love to see some photos of the results. I haven't even finished my performance mods and now you guys have me drooling for some interior updates. I especially like the idea of alcantara. My new Audi S-line has the leather/alcantara interior and I am really starting to appreciate the beauty of alcantara. Heck, I can even rationalize it as a performance mod... wait, maybe I am the sick one...hehe thanks for the inspiration.

Fabio D

Hahahahahahhahahahaha maddnes! hahahahah when i have some little chance i'll take some pics for you guys! looks real awesome.. my car is in our workshop now not in my house, when i have some time i go to take some pics

Fabio Daniel

Fabio D

Here a go fellas! Hope all like it, takes a lot of time & work to made it

Fabio D

Some others & the final is a bonus pic Sorry for the dissaster round the car (& Yes... i need to replace my dome light.. the plastic turns yellowish but.. i need a new one )

saintz

Great job Fabio.

Fabio D

Many thanks Saintz

Hope all like it

Fabio Daniel

SilverarrowE55

+1 Fabio

One question... It looks as if you covered the inside of the sun visor mirror cover. Am I seeing correctly?