Bubbles on leather

[Olorin]

Hi guys,

As you know, bought a 320i E90 2005 a month back. However there are a couple things which were not 100% and I expected as much. There are these horrible hard bubbles that have formed on the leather on the rear passenger side, below the window. I'm not sure what could have caused this, perhaps the sun ?

Is there anything I can do to make it look like new ? Any places I can go to to fix this ? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks. I'm trying to restore the car to an 'as new' condition as much as possible.

 

[Ricky318i]

Hi there, as information to the rest uf us with E9X's, could you maybe show us how these 'bubbles' look/how bad it is? Maybe we can do something to our leather before it happens....

 

[Olorin]

Sure, no problem, I'll show you some pics after work. I'm hoping there is a solution to this without spending loads of cash.

 

[Olorin]

Here is a pic :

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It feels very hard as I move my hand over the bumps. Is this something that can be fixed or do I have to replace the entire panel ? I hope not as that will cost a lot I think.

 

[Ricky318i]

As far as i know, that part of the door panel isn't leather - and it looks like it's something sticking up from below.. :thinking:

 

[Olorin]

I thought it was leather. Hmmm....

 

[Iceman007]

looks like the retaining clip brackets

 

[Hellas]

looks like the retaining clip brackets

Yup, and something heavy that pressed on the door to make the brackets push through.

 

[Nastaliq]

if its under motorplan, take it to the stealer, and insist that they replace everything. although this is covered under trim, they will replace it, if you make enough fuss.

If you are out of motorplan, you have 2 options:

1.remove the panel, slightly heat it and push it back into place. this may/may not work.
2.Get spares from a scrap yard and replace, or if you went with option number one, going with option number 2 will be to save your a55! :excited:

 

[Olorin]

Yes, my car is still under motor plan. So you reckon that trim issues would be covered if I make enough fuss ? Well it's long shot but I'll give it try. Thanks guys !

 

[Nastaliq]

Yes, my car is still under motor plan. So you reckon that trim issues would be covered if I make enough fuss ? Well it's long shot but I'll give it try. Thanks guys !

its not really a long shot, as has been previously discussed in other threads, dealers differ greatly, when i say greatly, i mean the difference between the feeling of tearing a raleigh 12 speed mountain bike, and an M3.

You might have to take it to a few dealerships, to see which one will be willing to do it, as, its explicitly mentioned that motorplan doesnt cover tyres, paintwork and trim.

so depending where you go, they might quote that to you, and give a spiéél about how, its trim that has been damaged by the sun......blah blah blahdy blah.

just be a frikken monster, and insist, that its inferior manufacturing that has led to it bubbling. all other E90s deal with the same sun factor as you do(albeit to differeing degrees), and their trim isnt bubbling, so they must blerry replace it.

Be firm, be angry and tell them you want it done now, not booked in next year this time (cos they are so busy....you know the story when you try to book your car in). Granted, they may not have stock of the pieces required, they may have to order, in which case theres nothing you can do but wait.


let me know how it turns out dude.

good luck.

 

[Olorin]

Thank you for the advice. I'll definitely let you know what happens. In fact, I'll give them a call in the next few minutes and get back to you guys. Thanks again !

 

[Olorin]

Just some feedback. Spoke to the service rep, he told me that it would not be covered under motor plan. I insisted and said I was unhappy and he said that some things could not be fixed. So then they sent me two contact details, one is for Mc Carthy Auto trim and the other is Dinesh Auto trim.

The guys from Mc Carthy popped around to my work this morning to make an assessment. The plastic trim apparently is going to cost me R2500 to fix. Then ashtray has a layer of plastic that has been scrapped off somehow, that needs fixing too. The plastic door supports have some of the paint taken off, that needs fixing too. The passenger seats on the left and right doors are bad. All in all, the guy didn't me a quote, he just gave me a figure of between R4000-4500 and that everything would be fixed. I'm not sure why it costs that much but he tells me it will take 1 full day to have everything repaired.

What do you guys think ? Have you used Mc Carthy before ? Apparently they offer a 1 year warranty on their work.

 

[moranor@axis]

if its soft leather type stuff i would just take the door card off and reinforce it from the back so the clips don't show threw anymore...
im not sure if you allowed to do this under MP thou...

 

[Nastaliq]

No dude,

what the

try another dealership, where you dont normally take your car, dont just go with this McCarthy/Dinesh guy. this guy is telling you your car is a POF so he can make money of it, when infact it isnt.

What you need to do, is try different dealerships, and see what they say.

Dont take no for an answer, even if you have to go to Best Auto in rustenburg to get it done, better do that, than shell out 5k from your pocket dude.

 

[Olorin]

The problem is that they will tell me that I should have voiced these concerns before I took ownership of the car. Some of these things were only seen upon further inspection. When I got the car I was just so excited that I may have overlooked some of the smaller issues. But the more I look, the more I find.

At the end of the day, I don't want to be unfair as well. If these things are not supposed to be covered under motor plan then it is unfair to shift the blame. The only thing I need to know is if I can get everything fixed at a more affordable price. After this the car should basically look completely new.

 

[zaleonardz]

The not covering of trim is due to wear and tear, gradual fading is age related, that is either a manufacturing default, or more likely, the had the cover off to do some work on the window mechanism, and did not put it back properly.

Get your motorplan history of the car, find out at what garage it was and who worked on it (the window most likely to replace a window regulator), and then go and flame them. Mention things like BMW SA, Onbudsman, hellopeter....

Insist that its not caused by normal wear.