The $2k Imola/Nat Brown 6MT "Beater" Transformation

Wow, what a transformation!

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Originally Posted by cjulian

That's correct -- I've "known" the car for 10 years and have been courting it for at least the last 4-5!

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Very nice score!

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Originally Posted by az3579

Whaaaaaaaattt???? That leather from BMW is known to be at least $600+ just for a bottom or top half, so about $1200 per seat just for the material... And they definitely used seat covers from straight from BMW? Damn, almost sounds too good to be true.

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Yes, I'm curious about this too and what shop did you use? That is a very reasonable rate for what seems like a nice job.

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Originally Posted by az3579

Whaaaaaaaattt???? That leather from BMW is known to be at least $600+ just for a bottom or top half, so about $1200 per seat just for the material... And they definitely used seat covers from straight from BMW? Damn, almost sounds too good to be true.

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So what he told me was that he's partnered with a vendor in CA who keeps leathers from different manufacturers in stock. He had a sample ring of leather swatches labeled BMW and this one actually didn't look like a perfect match originally but he said it's because my seats were so dry/faded and cracked that it wasn't recognizable. Code was N6NG so I know it was the right product. He recovered the seats in his shop. He was able to salvage the top section of the passenger seat (above the mid-back seam), all headrests and the entire rear seat with conditioner and dye. Overall I'm 10/10 satisfied with the work.

Does this person sell the seat covers directly or so you HAVE to get the work done there to get the seat covers?

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Who did the work? I'm always looking for a good upholstery guy in Austin.

He has the bulk leather material and does all the work in his shop. This is the guy:

Cardenas Upholstery - Santiago Cardenas
Humble shop offering custom upholstery work for furniture, cars, motorcycles & boats.
Located in: Century Automotive
Address: 5220 Jim Hogg Ave, Austin, TX 78756
Hours: Open 9AM ⋅ Closes 6PM Phone: (512) 323-0342

Wow! You don't mess around. Looks great.

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Originally Posted by cjulian

He has the bulk leather material and does all the work in his shop. This is the guy:

Cardenas Upholstery - Santiago Cardenas
Humble shop offering custom upholstery work for furniture, cars, motorcycles & boats.
Located in: Century Automotive
Address: 5220 Jim Hogg Ave, Austin, TX 78756
Hours: Open 9AM ⋅ Closes 6PM Phone: (512) 323-0342

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Thanks, I'll check them out.

Any updates?

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Shade looks a little off on the seats compared to the door cards, maybe it's because of the lighting, but can you provide another picture comparing the door card natural brown and the seat natural brown?