I once thought that Recaro seats (in my BMW) were just the coolest thing possible but no longer. Too constricting. I recently lucked into finding two standard E30 seats in black leather in excellent condition - stole 'em for $130.

I want to sell my Recaros, decent shape, no rips but there is a lot of scuffing that is not attractive. I'm wondering if black shoe polish would help. My neighbor is thinking it might be obvious that I was trying to cover something up.

I dunno. Any experience in this out there?

__________________
1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Just to clarify, I don't mean the thread title to be read as in:

Refreshing ice tea! Try some!

__________________
1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Whoever sits in them might not appreciate the shoe polish. Get some leather dye, or leave it alone.

How much are they worth, and what do they fit?

Cmac - those need a full refinish. You could try Leatherique. Clean, strip and re-color. They should turn out well if there are no actual tears. Check out the customer pictures on the site, some impressive results. I've heard a lot of good reviews on Leatherique's products, though I have no personal experience.

__________________
Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
2007 GL450 4Matic - 62,000 Km - Obsidian Black Metallic, black leather, all options
1998 E430 - sold
1989 300E - 333,000 Km - sold
1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon

Only in Berkeley do you see a guy driving a Beemer ripping copper pipes from walls to sell at the recycling joints (see pics #1 and #3)!

Zeus is spot on. Clean, rejuvenate and restore. Any attempt at dyeing or covering will stick out like a sore thumb.

They fit the E30 Bimmer, that's the 3 series from early/mid '80s to about '91 IIRC. Mine's an '87 325i. I just found some info stating that the later series, the E36, seats don't fit the E30 without some modification.

I bought my first pair around '03 for about $220 on eBay, with about $70 shipping. Seems nutty now. The pair I have now a buddy spotted for me at a Pick n' Pull around '07 - he grabbed them on the spot for $35 each - in better shape than my first pair had been and those were getting funky anyway.

I'm seeing them online now for around $150. Crap. I was hoping for $200 + but oh well.

__________________
1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Yeah, well I'm a half-fast plumber, boss. Most of that is for re-use, one piece is funky and I get about $100 to $200 every year for all the scrap brass and copper I accrue.

Don't ever throw out old faucets, toilet and sink shut-off valves (AKA angle stops) etc. Made of plated brass and worth a few pennies.

__________________
1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Looks like a good route to go; the seats I just bought are black leather also, in very good shape but looking a little dry so with any luck, the 16 oz. bottles will do 4 seats. I couldn't see the price of the dye. I'll look it over more closely after I get a good night's sleep.

At the very least, I'm thinking if I invest $50, I'd likely get $50 more than I would have w/o the refinish and be more likely to sell them period.

I'll do a review with pics if I end up going this way.

__________________
1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

I've used black shoe polish on small touch ups, or on larger ones on cars I was going to sell, as long as you don't glob it on, and let it dry a bit it doesn't come off on your clothes. However true leather dye stick much better as that is its job.

Use Melthonean shoe cream (I think that this is what it's called) I used that on my 6.9 back seat and it worked a treat. There is a post about it on my "weekend wrenching" thread on the vintage forum.

If you google it, you will see that lots of people have done the same in the past. Once you buff it, don't let anyone sit on it for a few days.

I had an 85 Opel Manta GT/E with Recaro's. They fit like a glove and were comfortable. 15 years on, i'm more suited for Lincoln town car seating

Here is a link to my efforts:
weekend Wrenching

__________________
With best regards

Al

Leatherique cream and dye are good products, just don't use their crack filler for anything bigger than 1/2 inch...

__________________
1987 Mercedes 300SDL; SOLD
1985 Mercedes 300D; SOLD
2006 Honda Pilot - wife's ride; 122K;
1995 Toyota Land Cruiser - 3X locked; 182K

Thanks for the heads up . . .

__________________
1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

I used navy shoe polish on my sec iirc. I seem to remember it worked fairly well.

__________________
[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I ended up going with Meltonian black Boot and Shoe Cream Polish. The Leatherique approach looked like it would be really good if these seats were in a valuable keeper, but as I'm going to sell them, I'm thinking to ask $250 for the pair, spending around $150-$175 to restore them wouldn't be too wise.

I bought two of the Meltonian stuff, a little over $3 apiece, came out quite nice, just barely dipped into the second bottle.

The first shot is the seat in the first post, I did both of the seats. What a difference. The stuff buffed out pretty good. After sitting overnight after the 1st buffing, and then a second buffing, no trace of color comes off.

Thanks all for the info.

__________________
1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

So all you did was apply, let dry and buff, then repeat?

Can you still see the scuffs in the texture?

I ask because my Jaguar has some wear in the driver bolster similar to yours. Did you do the whole seat, or can you use this to "touch up" an area?

Thanks,

George

__________________
George Androulakis

Former Mb's:

1990 500sl R129 - 76k Original Miles - New project - Follow the saga http://90r129.blogspot.com/
1990 190E 2.6 148k mi (sold)
1989 420 SEL 246k mi (sold)
1995 C220 175k mi (sold)
1992 190e 2.6 74k original miles (sold)
2000 c230 Kompressor 122k miles (RIP)
1996 C220 149k mi (sold)
2000 C230 Kompressor Sport 127k (sold)

Current Cars:

2009 Mercedes c300 4matic
2006 Mercedes s430
2005 Jaguar XJR
2003 Cadillac Escalade