My 1994 325is has leather that covers the handle and center part of the inner door panel. On both doors, the leather has contracted and pulled away from the door (probably due to the extreme summer heat here in TX). Is there any way to fix this?
I was told by an auto upholstery shop that they wouldn't do the work, since the center panel that's leather covered would have to be popped out of the main door panel and they had no reliable way to reattach it.
Might a leather relaxer restore the leather to its proper dimension?
That done, how would I reattach the leather unless I too tear apart the door panel to remove the center insert, fully detach and reglue the leather, and then reattach the center insert, presumably with a catalyzed (marine?) glue?
This is a very common complaint among E36 owners. The leatherette bubbles away from the backing. There is no fix that I can make work very well on my car. I haven't tried using a heat gun to melt and then stretch the material back. I also haven't figured out how to reattach the material to the backing, once I get it stretched back into shape.
This is more or less true. The center panel is not available as a separate part, one has to order the entire door panel. The center section is welded -- in a manner of speaking -- into the main panel. It is not intended to come apart. If it has come apart -- the welds have broken -- then your only recourse is to use hot glue or other such product to glue it back in place. this will only reattach the center section to the main panel, you'll still have problems with the leatherette coming off.
If you figure out an answer to this question, be sure to post here.
I have EXACTLY the same issue on a 1994 325i convertible I have just purchased. Given there is no real structural requirements of this part of the door (and I haven't yet had mine off to look), what would stop you popping the panel, taking the leather off, regluing the leather up, THEN gluing the panel back into the door...
I presume from the previous posts I am missing something if it was this easy
I have EXACTLY the same issue on a 1994 325i convertible I have just purchased. Given there is no real structural requirements of this part of the door (and I haven't yet had mine off to look), what would stop you popping the panel, taking the leather off, regluing the leather up, THEN gluing the panel back into the door...
I presume from the previous posts I am missing something if it was this easy
If it was easy, I'd have told you by now. I took my door panels off specifically to fix the bubbles, and to fix the panels because the previous owner apparently tried to fix the bubbles too, and made the situation even worse.
The inner panel is attached by melting some pins after they are inserted through the outer panel. In my car, somebody phisically broke the glue joints between the panel itself and the metal parts that hold the nylon do-hickies that hold the dor to the car -- the result was that the door panels were not secured to the doors. Anyway, I was able to secure the panels to the doors, but I was not able to reattach the leatherette to the panels. I did the best I could on the map pockets on the doors, and elected to not tackle the panels in the back seat that are bubbled in the same manner.
The inner panel houses the door handles, but the handles can be easily removed and they have metal braces inside that secure them directly to the door. The inner panel -- if secured properly and well -- can not be separated from the outer panel without destroying the integrity of the method of securing it. If you do manage to remove the inner panel, you'll need an array of clamps and a hot-glue gun or equivelent to put the panel bacck on. It's somewhat of a pain, and if you don't have a problem with the inner panel flapping around now, I'd not take the panels apart to fix the bubbles.
The nylon do-hickies that hold the door panel to the door can be purchased at your BMW Parts Department for about $ 0.75 each. I get them in packs of ten, and all ten are used on one door.
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