Red/Anthracite Interior DONE on Coupe
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 453
Likes: 3
From: Bay Area, CA
'04 Mars Red C230K Sport Coupe (not Coup-EH)
Red/Anthracite Interior DONE on Coupe
Finally, after about a month of intermittently working on it, everything is in and complete. Took it all out and put it all back in myself, which, in retrospect, wasn't too bad. There were a handful of places that took some creative work, especially in the door panels, but I'm quite happy with how it turned out. I kinda feel like the car is more "complete" than it was with the standard cloth interior, though I must say, besides the pattern, it was very good material.
A note: the pictures blow out the colors somewhat; the colors in person go together much better. Flash or no flash, however, I wasn't having much luck getting the pictures to look the way I wanted to.
Enjoy!
A note: the pictures blow out the colors somewhat; the colors in person go together much better. Flash or no flash, however, I wasn't having much luck getting the pictures to look the way I wanted to.
Enjoy!
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Joined: Oct 2002
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From: So Cal.
2019 GT3 RS, 2017 M3 30 Jahre
that looks great! how did they do the stitching on the door panels? I'd be worried that that would interfere with the side airbags. but damn! it looks hott! 
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 453
Likes: 3
From: Bay Area, CA
'04 Mars Red C230K Sport Coupe (not Coup-EH)
Right. So. Details.
My uncle does leather upholstery for all sorts of cars in Dubai, from Toyota Land Cruisers to F430s and the like. My brother went to spend some time with him at Christmas, so half my car went with him in his other bag, a precisely 72-linear-inch 50 pound box.
So it's not a kit; it's a set made using the patterns from my old cloth pieces which were ripped apart to make matching size pieces, as well as reusing all the plastic mounting clips that the upholstery is sewn on to. I sent the headrests complete, as I didn't want to deal with mounting those, as well as the side panels.
Now the side panels are a story. Whereas all the other pieces (for the most part) were pop-off, fight-to-stretch-within-an-inch-of-your-life pull-on (my thumb still hurts), the side panels sucked. I had to pull off the four panels and cut off/drill off the plastic rivets to separate the cloth pieces from the surrounding plastics and vinyl, and I had to attach them with short screws and washers when they came back. They went that way and came back upholstered.
The backs of the fold-down seats were a pain, because there are far fewer clips stock needed to hold the back felt in than are needed with the new pieces, as the new pieces pull at the edges a bit, so as to not have any bubbles. It took me a while to find and order the clips from MB Parts, but 30 clips later, it worked
Also, random bits always broke: the rear driver's side mount for the headrest broke when I pulled it out (and, due to ordering mishaps, was the very last piece to go in on Saturday, two-and-a-half weeks after I ordered it), as did the surrounding plastic for the driver's side front seat shoulder handle. All in all about $30-50 went into a multitude of tiny pieces that kept breaking coming out or going in. I'm somewhat disappointed on this matter; MB uses some pretty stiff plastics for their small pieces that either break or deform so badly when you pull them out that you have to get new ones a lot of the time.
As for the cost, since it's family, I paid their material cost, but the retail for this kind of work from them (materials only) is about $2k. For the quality of the material alone (Italian leather) plus the custom work (the red interior bits plus the red double stitching), it would be worth it. The leather itself comes dyed to them that way in large pieces directly from the tannery. The install was basically free (my copious free time) but, quoted at several upholstery shops locally (a ripoff, IMO, if you know what you're doing) was no less than $2.5k and up. If you know what you are doing and have two people, breakdown should take no longer than an hour and a half, and installation no longer than three hours. At $100 an hour (times two), that only makes about $1k, allowing for an extra hour here and there. Of course it took me longer, but then again, I was taking breaks plus, once I got the front in, I kinda ignored the back for awhile
As for sewing, it was only required on the back corner of the 60% fold down rear seat, as the edges didn't quite line up. Pulled it together and was done in about 10 minutes.
Other than that, my only mistake was not putting a foam shim in the seat parts of the front seats, as they are starting to stretch and bubble a little bit. I'm going to give it some time, then take that bit apart again and put in the shims later.
Any other questions?
Next mod? Engine swap with my brother's 2004 C230 sedan with his six-speed! Muhahahaahha!
Actually, unless anyone knows someone who can do that for relatively inexpensively ($10? Yes? No? With beer?), I don't think so
, though all it should take is detaching and swapping the engine, tranny, and drive shaft, as well as swapping in the pedals. Not going to happen.
It does look like swaybars may be on the horizon...
My uncle does leather upholstery for all sorts of cars in Dubai, from Toyota Land Cruisers to F430s and the like. My brother went to spend some time with him at Christmas, so half my car went with him in his other bag, a precisely 72-linear-inch 50 pound box.
So it's not a kit; it's a set made using the patterns from my old cloth pieces which were ripped apart to make matching size pieces, as well as reusing all the plastic mounting clips that the upholstery is sewn on to. I sent the headrests complete, as I didn't want to deal with mounting those, as well as the side panels.
Now the side panels are a story. Whereas all the other pieces (for the most part) were pop-off, fight-to-stretch-within-an-inch-of-your-life pull-on (my thumb still hurts), the side panels sucked. I had to pull off the four panels and cut off/drill off the plastic rivets to separate the cloth pieces from the surrounding plastics and vinyl, and I had to attach them with short screws and washers when they came back. They went that way and came back upholstered.
The backs of the fold-down seats were a pain, because there are far fewer clips stock needed to hold the back felt in than are needed with the new pieces, as the new pieces pull at the edges a bit, so as to not have any bubbles. It took me a while to find and order the clips from MB Parts, but 30 clips later, it worked
Also, random bits always broke: the rear driver's side mount for the headrest broke when I pulled it out (and, due to ordering mishaps, was the very last piece to go in on Saturday, two-and-a-half weeks after I ordered it), as did the surrounding plastic for the driver's side front seat shoulder handle. All in all about $30-50 went into a multitude of tiny pieces that kept breaking coming out or going in. I'm somewhat disappointed on this matter; MB uses some pretty stiff plastics for their small pieces that either break or deform so badly when you pull them out that you have to get new ones a lot of the time.
As for the cost, since it's family, I paid their material cost, but the retail for this kind of work from them (materials only) is about $2k. For the quality of the material alone (Italian leather) plus the custom work (the red interior bits plus the red double stitching), it would be worth it. The leather itself comes dyed to them that way in large pieces directly from the tannery. The install was basically free (my copious free time) but, quoted at several upholstery shops locally (a ripoff, IMO, if you know what you're doing) was no less than $2.5k and up. If you know what you are doing and have two people, breakdown should take no longer than an hour and a half, and installation no longer than three hours. At $100 an hour (times two), that only makes about $1k, allowing for an extra hour here and there. Of course it took me longer, but then again, I was taking breaks plus, once I got the front in, I kinda ignored the back for awhile
As for sewing, it was only required on the back corner of the 60% fold down rear seat, as the edges didn't quite line up. Pulled it together and was done in about 10 minutes.
Other than that, my only mistake was not putting a foam shim in the seat parts of the front seats, as they are starting to stretch and bubble a little bit. I'm going to give it some time, then take that bit apart again and put in the shims later.
Any other questions?
Next mod? Engine swap with my brother's 2004 C230 sedan with his six-speed! Muhahahaahha!
Actually, unless anyone knows someone who can do that for relatively inexpensively ($10? Yes? No? With beer?), I don't think so
, though all it should take is detaching and swapping the engine, tranny, and drive shaft, as well as swapping in the pedals. Not going to happen.It does look like swaybars may be on the horizon...
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Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 7,684
Likes: 12
From: West Los Angeles
Midnight Blue 2004.5 C230 Kompressor Sport Sedan. 2002 w210 E320, 2009 w211 E350 Sport
that's awesome, jedcred! Making me want to spend more money now 
Definitely a for the stiching. If I didn't know better, I'd think it was a OEM job.
Definitely a
for the stiching. If I didn't know better, I'd think it was a OEM job.
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 453
Likes: 3
From: Bay Area, CA
'04 Mars Red C230K Sport Coupe (not Coup-EH)
Thanks to all for your positive comments; it's great to know that people liked how it turned out. I mean, I like it, but I did the work, so I probably should like it a little 
