Alcantara Seat Repair Options

[Whammy]

All,

It is finally time for me to start considering repairing the front seats in my car. One of the seats has the suede starting to tear (see pictures below). What options do I have at getting these seats repaired?

[ELCID86]

I had a quote from a local shop when I was looking at a car with similar seat bolster (whole). I think it was in the $250 range. Not sure about matching color, etc. can you clean and use a sweater shaver on the lower portion?


Thumbs, iPhone, Tapatalk.

[Vas]

Bottom cushion is not that bad and a fabric shaved should be able to clean it up. Upper portion will require having the hole patched or buying a complete new section which is expensive iirc. Some members here had similar holes just repaired. Not sire how close of a match it was in color and material.

[derbo]

I have the same hole.. I think I got quoted $250 to reupholster that section only. The cost of the OEM upper skin is about under $600 not including labor to install.

I put my recaro seat in while I ponder what to do..

[Silber92]

I think repair may be about the only option available at this point. When I was checking on replacement upholstery for my vert, even though the parts show up in online catalogs (Tischer, TheBMWStore, ECS) most pieces are NLA. May be a different story for coupes and sedans though. Plus even if they are available, the pricing is insane.

Most decent upholstery shops should be able to handle the repair with no problem, and the price quotes above seem right in line. I was told $300-400 for the driver's upper and lower bolsters, inner and outer, one section of rear seat bottom and driver's armrest. I think I got that quote before my upholsterer had a price list for the Alcantara.

There are a lot of aftermarket ultrasuede materials out there, so far I've only been able to find one place that retails the genuine Alcantara, Gulf Fabrics out of FL. The aftermarket stuff may be an exact match, but I'd prefer to spend a little more and have it look factory fresh. Haven't checked with Coby or Kevin Chinn at Creative Options though to see if they can source it. My local gal said it was pricey at $175 a yard, but that should be enough to do front seat, the door armrests and possibly the rear seat section.

Good luck and let us know what you end up doing.

[Torxuvin]

It cost me about 500 to replace both at a local fabric shop. A good match is key though. They had to order stuff from Cali. Mike at Coby is great, but when I spoke with him he didn't have any suggestions/help for seats.

[MrMaico]

If you're in need of some bulk fabric there is this place mentioned earlier......

http://www.gulffabrics.com/alcanta.htm

Just remember, the OEM stuff is 9002 Grey Alcantara.

[derbo]

Good to know about the fabric! I'll try talk to local fabric shop and see if they are willing to do it with the oem fabric.

[Hermes]

I wish Gulf had M8 Alcantara

[derbo]

I wish Gulf had M8 Alcantara

Don't we all. It would be nice to have the M-Tech Cloth too..


Anyone know a good local upholstery in the bay area?