Project E30 / Ep. 24 / Lseat leather seat cover install 

Thank you so much!

Thank you!

Playing the waiting game, especially when it's for parts that are the last pieces the the puzzle, is so difficult!

Hey Andrew, I'm glad you found the channel! I'm hoping to write an update for Jalopnik on this car once it's finished.

Thanks David! I agree - I think an interior restoration is a good final step.

Geez I hope not! You must be an intervention if I cross 10k.

Thanks for noticing! I did spend a bit more time throwing in some transitions on speaking cuts.

Thanks for the idea Greg, I might give it a shot anyway! I always forget that I can use the welder to my advantage in these situations.

If there's one thing I've learned from working on this E30, it's to never underestimate the number of variations offered from the factory. This includes the seat covers. The backsides of the old seat covers seemed too "OEM" to have been recovers. My guess is they came off a gray-market car at some point in this car's past. But, I could be wrong!

Here's about the only picture I can find to support my theory of this being a factory-offered seat cover: carnewschina.com/2016/02/17/spotted-in-china-e30-bmw-3-series-times-two/ This E30 appears to be in China somewhere. (Apologies for the sketchy website and tasteless sidebar ads!)

@ghrays I immediately thought they were e36 seats, but I think you're right about them being vert seats which have horizontal striping.

I believe the backrest struts are different between the comfort and sport seats. The height adjustment ones are the same.

I've seen that bracket as a failure point, but none of the seats had it. Surprisingly all the struts work pretty well!

Thank you! Unfortunately the turbo Toyota pickup was sold a while back. Before I bought the E30, actually.

Thank you! The seat frames are different between the sport and comfort seats so the foam wouldn't be compatible.

Thank you! Yep, I plan to recover the steering wheel soon after installing some sport seats.

Yep, I pulled the circlip off the shaft. Unfortunately the hinge brackets would bend well before the center piece would free from the shaft. I considered it, then realized it would just make the piece unusable.

Thank you! I'll definitely make a final cost video. The hardest part will be determining when to call it "finished". Hopefully it's soon though!

I'm afraid the puller would bend the hinge brackets well before freeing the center from the shaft. That thing was on there!

Well, considering these seats are now only usable for parts, there's not much you could lose by trying. Worst case scenario is that you bend them while getting them off.

@@bart_langedijk good point. Might give it a try!

I've noticed that too. I guess rear door molding was replaced at some point.

Me too I ordered seat covers for my 2007 Lexus es350 and they didn’t have headrest covers but I ordered two headrest anyway from eBay off a crashed Lexus..but over all Lseat is great! The quality is Top Notch! And they do have headrest you just have to pick what package you want they have everything you need and if they don’t they will get it done! Great company!

Your best bet on finding replacement seat foam will be ECS Tuning or FCP Euro. I can't say whether the foam is still available though.

I'm contemplating keeping the comforts. I'll recover the sport seats and compare them.

@@PracticalEnthusiast Please offer a comparison. I just picked up a pair of e30 sport seats to recover and replace comfort seats in a e24.

I did. Then it caught on fire. I'm still angry I didn't get it on video lol. Always have an extinguisher nearby!

I used WD40 and one of those door trim pry tools. I cracked the large seat belt holder a little bit, but with it reinstalled it isn't noticeable. All I can say is just give it a try.

I cut the hanger up to create new crossbars in the seat covers for the hog rings to grab. The old cross bars were missing.

I found it locally on Facebook Marketplace. I got lucky to say the least!

Possibly! I might make my own cover and stitch it up myself. Definitely something I've not tried before.

Lseat is great! I did my Lexus and it came out amazing! The quality is Top Notch!

The hog rings are sharp and strong enough to pierce through the leather without pre existing holes.

It sounds like your experience was vastly different than mine! As for Lseat, responses to my emails would not answer the questions I asked, and upon trying to verify that they understood my requests, no responses were given. Replies were also mostly in broken English, which wasn't the end of the world, but certainly made communication more difficult. All misunderstandings could have been easily resolved over the phone, which unfortunately was not possible without them having a working phone number. Text comprehension was obviously difficult on their end. I sent the covers in December 1st and didn't receive the new covers until April 13th.

Practical Enthusiast wow man that blows. Granted I did mine last year so maybe new owners? Idk but sorry to hear that was your experience. The seats turned out great though. The wrinkles will completely go away after about 2 months

The leather quality is really good. It's soft, thick, strong, stretchable, and the dye (or however leather is colored) seems to have permeated deeper than just the surface. So long as you are OK with waiting a bit to get them, you can't go wrong.

Thank you, looks like I’ll give them a try.

I haven't heard that, but I didn't get to find out. I know the convertible rear seats won't fit.

Hi Ryan - I sold the E30 back in 2019, sorry! I'm in OP. But, I would still recommend getting the Lseat covers. The leather and stitching is high quality and you can't beat the price. Although they have a certain industrial scent to them (think Harbor Freight store smell). If I were to go back and do it again, I'd probably try to git rid of that smell before installing them.

@@PracticalEnthusiast is the leather similar to oem quality?

@@ryansoehkle2263 The only OEM E30 leather I've encountered has always been in such poor shape that anything from Lseat is leagues superior lol. It's real leather and I didn't notice any imperfections. I didn't drive the car much after installing them so I can't comment on how well they wear in. I imagine it would be on par with OEM.

They likely have the patterns if you ask them. They said to me that they'd add them to the website but I guess they didn't get around to it.

@@PracticalEnthusiast Thank you!

It's a Hobart Handler 140 using C25 gas and .030 wire.

I got them from ECS Tuning. Part No 52101923907

@@PracticalEnthusiast thanks I appreciate it! Keep up the good work👍

Thank you! I'll have to look into it!