Interior Retrim Recommendations

[C5Steve]

As per the title, my seats could do with new foam/retrimming as the driver's seat is really starting to show it's age. Looking at the cost of new covers/foam from suppliers plus shipping I think it'll be the same if not cheaper to just get them done from scratch in the UK. May also look at some other bits such as door cards depending on cost.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm in Kent so around the South East/London would be perfect.

 

[jukebox]

As per the title, my seats could do with new foam/retrimming as the driver's seat is really starting to show it's age. Looking at the cost of new covers/foam from suppliers plus shipping I think it'll be the same if not cheaper to just get them done from scratch in the UK. May also look at some other bits such as door cards depending on cost.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm in Kent so around the South East/London would be perfect.

Hi if you look on the parts for sale I have some C5 door panels for sale.
I was keeping them someone who was coming to pick them up last September but he has disappeared.
If interested they will be less than what they were up for.

 

[C5Steve]

Hi if you look on the parts for sale I have some C5 door panels for sale.
I was keeping them someone who was coming to pick them up last September but he has disappeared.
If interested they will be less than what they were up for.

Thanks for letting me know but my door panels are actually in decent condition (replaced the driver's one a while ago). It's getting the seats retrimmed that's my main focus.

 

[Roscobbc]

Mark Eaton (joint Essex rep) had the seats on his long term owned C5 partly retrimed and re-padded by a trimmer based in Great Bromley, North Essex. The quality of work was superb - the leather used was good quality. I was very impressed by the work. I'm sure Mark will testify to that shortly....... Leather Car Trim Essex | Car Leather Interiors London | Car Interiors simon@sfcar-trim.co.uk

 

[johng]

Don't know if it would be any different for a C5, but I took my C3 seats to a couple of trimmers a few years back to see if it would be better to get them recovered rather than buying covers and doing it myself. The prices I got were about twice the price of importing covers. I found that the shipping cost for new foam was pretty prohibitive, but since the trimmers told me they would reuse the existing foam, I decided to do that as well. However, I did have to add an extra 2 inches of foam to make sure the covers were stretched tight.

 

[C5Steve]

Mark Eaton (joint Essex rep) had the seats on his long term owned C5 partly retrimed and re-padded by a trimmer based in Great Bromley, North Essex. The quality of work was superb - the leather used was good quality. I was very impressed by the work. I'm sure Mark will testify to that shortly....... Leather Car Trim Essex | Car Leather Interiors London | Car Interiors simon@sfcar-trim.co.uk

Cheers buddy I'll have a look, would love to see some pics of those.

 

[C5Steve]

Don't know if it would be any different for a C5, but I took my C3 seats to a couple of trimmers a few years back to see if it would be better to get them recovered rather than buying covers and doing it myself. The prices I got were about twice the price of importing covers. I found that the shipping cost for new foam was pretty prohibitive, but since the trimmers told me they would reuse the existing foam, I decided to do that as well. However, I did have to add an extra 2 inches of foam to make sure the covers were stretched tight.

I'm looking at about $1600 before import duties for new seat leather and foam shipped, that's before I make an absolute hash of fitting it as well! I've seen others fit their own and I'll be honest it never looks great so I think even if I sourced the parts myself I'd still want someone else to fit it, so then we're looking at around £2000 all in I reckon. So if it's close to that to get someone from scratch to do both then I'll go with that I think, that was I have more control over what they look like and how they're made.

I absolutely want to try and improve the bolstering with denser foam/Alcantara etc which would require customising the leather anyway.

 

[johng]

If you are going to import foam and pay someone to fit the covers then I'd say it would be better to get someone to retrim the seats, as you can then customise it to suit your needs

 

[CaptainK]

I fit my own seat covers in my FTO many years back. Took ages, as the trick was spending time to do them properly. I've seen the same covers installed in other people's FTOs and they just looked baggy and not great as they didn't take their time to do it properly. Shame really.

 

[C5Steve]

I fit my own seat covers in my FTO many years back. Took ages, as the trick was spending time to do them properly. I've seen the same covers installed in other people's FTOs and they just looked baggy and not great as they didn't take their time to do it properly. Shame really.

Yeah, taking time and especially with the C5 ones steaming them seems to be essential. I think you need to be a bit "crafty" and patient and I am neither of those things lol. They tend to look creased or bunched up especially with new foam in the C5 when you don't do it right, even the best ones I've seen still look a bit off to me when DIY'd

 

[Invetterate]

Cheers buddy I'll have a look, would love to see some pics of those.

Hi! Here is the thread I posted at the time:

CCCUK - View topic - C5 Interior Re-Trim

I really can't recommend Simon enough - he is a genius. Check out the photos of his work on other cars including current Ferraris and Rolls-Royces on Facebook.

Be aware though that he normally is booking months in advance, but you won't be disappointed.

Cheers
Mark

 

[C5Steve]

Hi! Here is the thread I posted at the time:

CCCUK - View topic - C5 Interior Re-Trim

I really can't recommend Simon enough - he is a genius. Check out the photos of his work on other cars including current Ferraris and Rolls-Royces on Facebook.

Be aware though that he normally is booking months in advance, but you won't be disappointed.

Cheers
Mark

Ah thanks for that, weird that thread didn't come up when I searched for it (literally titled what I searched for!).

Wow, they look amazing and I'm already jealous of how comfortable they look. Will definitely be reaching out to them (I'm not in a rush for the work).