Alacantara Suede interior wrapping

[RyanJ447]

Hey guys,

I'm looking to wrap the interior trim of my 125i E82 with black Alacantara, similar to the stock alacantara, anyone know how to go about this or a reputable place I can get it done or purchase prewrapped trim?

Thanks

Ryan

[drover135]

Hey, just saw this and thought I’d chime in. I wrapped all my interior trim myself with no previous experience and it was tedious, but not difficult. I watched several YouTube videos on wrapping trim, all of which are how to wrap with adhesive wrap, not fabric, but it still teaches you the concept.

I bought a yard of unbacked Alcantara in anthracite black (went with anthracite over plain black to better match my headliner) from https://www.upholsterysupplyusa.com/...ntara-unbacked and it is more than enough to do the whole job while allowing for lots of throw aways if you mess up.
I used 3M Headliner Adhesive spray which worked great. Very sticky, but you can make minor immediate adjustments and it allows you enough time to wrap all the edges before it dries so you don’t have to rush with it.
You do have to remove the center console to get to the ashtray / storage tray trim, but it’s not hard at all, and there’s also a YouTube video on that. Just be really careful when you take that trim piece out of the console as there are some delicate clips, I broke a couple but it still went back in fine with zero issue / rattle
Essentially, 1) get a set of interior trim tools, I bought a cheap $10-15 set from Amazon, you don’t need anything fancy
2) pop your trim off, I cleaned it with alcohol
3) lay it face down on your fabric as a template (make sure your fabric is also face down when doing this. The first piece I cut I had the fabric with the wrong side up, so when I went to glue it to the trim, the side I wanted would have been glued, and the back of the fabric would have been showing), cut a decent margin around the trim, maybe an inch or so, then you can go around and fold it over the edges and cut off the excess
4) spray an even coverage of adhesive onto the front surface of your trim and the back surface of your fabric, be very careful not to get adhesive on the front side of your fabric bc it will 100% show and won’t come out (be careful with sticky fingers)
5) pick up your trim piece and press it down into the center of your fabric, trying to lay the fabric onto the trim was so much harder for me. For the curved door handle trim I lined up one end, and then rolled it down the fabric to the other end like a rocking chair motion.
6) fold over the edges tightly. The corners are the hardest part, pay attention to that in the videos. I did a bad job on all my corners yet once it was back onto the car you can’t tell at all
7) reassemble
If you do mess up a piece, you can just pull that piece off and go again, you don’t have to try to clean the glue off the trim. I did it all with cheap fake suede from JoAnns and it looked too cheap, so I redid it with the real stuff and it was extremely hard to get the glue off, so I just left it and resprayed it with no issue (keep that in mind though in case you don’t like the Alcantara look)
I could not be happier with mine. My mom sews for a living so I had her unstitch my stock vinyl / leather E-brake boot and use it as a template for an Alcantara one and sew it back up. I bet you could have an upholstery shop do it for you for cheap. The performance shift boot I had is definitely darker than my anthracite, it’s probably just plain black, so I’m not sure if I want to have her sew a shift boot out of my fabric or keep the contrast.

[drover135]

I’m really leaning in hard to the suede, thought I’d share an updated pic of the interior after installing my new Mashimarho wheel. Much better lighting than my original pics so hopefully it gives a better idea of what your interior will look like should anyone try this out for themselves. The wheel is one of my favorite mods, feels great, looks great, pricey but definitely worth it.

[SilverM2_CS]

That looks really good!

[fotontom]

Did you consider covering the rear shelf? Mine is sun-bleached and has a pinkish tone. I am planning to spray it with a fabric color, but the first step will be removing it. I've looked for a diy for removing it from the car, but no luck. Comments appreciated!