Are you seriously referring to W140 model year 1991 cars as apples to apples ? These are not only old but have seen hundreds of thousands of miles of service in all weather conditions as daily drivers compared to late model low mileage pampered garage queens. Anyway not sure why I'm wasting my breath. My CL65 is not mbtex btw. And the cars are quite a bit cheaper if we want to keep talking about oranges.
I have 11 cars and only the 612 has caused me so much heartbreak from rotten engineering. I plan to keep this car for ever, but that's besides​ the point.
Shiv, may I ask if you are doing the interior yourself or where you are having it done? I think mine needs similar work pretty soon. I am looking for a good local place. Thanks.
Canepa Design in Scotts Valley. Tell Bruce I sent you, but take him the disassembled parts, not the assembly disassembly task or your wallet will be destroyed. His leather guy is probably the best I've ever seen.
Having removed / installed several interiors, as you know, it's a ton of work and requires special skills, tools, patience and knowing not so nice words in multiple languages
Shiv, I have similar cars to you, a 2005 CL55 and a 2007 612. On the CL55 I agree with you, I have never had leather problems. On the 612 I had the same glue problems as you with the dash by the center vents and on the underside of the dash by the speedo. I also had problems with the headliner where it joins the back window. In all cases the glue comes unstuck. So obviously this is a recurring theme. However, overall it is relatively easy to fix. In dealing with both cars (whether mechanical or cosmetic) it is obvious that the Ferrari is hand made while the Mercedes is really a high end, relatively high volume, production car. So totally different animals and the production car will always win out in terms of fewer ongoing problems. So I think the leather issues just go with the territory. Just part of owning the car and not really that worrisome. If you didn't have to periodically fix it, what would you do, just drive it? 😀 Ron
Shiv, I have similar cars to you, a 2005 CL55 and a 2007 612. On the CL55 I agree with you, I have never had leather problems. On the 612 I had the same glue problems as you with the dash by the center vents and on the underside of the dash by the speedo. I also had problems with the headliner where it joins the back window. In all cases the glue comes unstuck. So obviously this is a recurring theme. However, overall it is relatively easy to fix. In dealing with both cars (whether mechanical or cosmetic) it is obvious that the Ferrari is hand made while the Mercedes is really a high end, relatively high volume, production car. So totally different animals and the production car will always win out in terms of fewer ongoing problems. So I think the leather issues just go with the territory. Just part of owning the car and not really that worrisome. If you didn't have to periodically fix it, what would you do, just drive it? 😀 Ron
Ron, it's not hard, it's just extremely time consuming and as Dave says, requires a lot of care and swearing.
sorry to be a pest but I am a little confused now. Not sure what you mean. You suggest I disassemble the dash myself then take the parts down? Instead of having his shop doing this. Wallet destroyed? Now I'm a little worried. If you are inclined to share the cost by PM, it'd be appreciated (I completely understand if you don't). Thanks again.
I've started using a leather cleaner/conditioner (Perrone Aerospace) that I got from a friend that has his jets detailed with. Apparently it helps keep the leather soft and hydrated due to the dry recirculated air. Its suggested by Gulfstream and Lear he was told. So far its been good as it doesn't leave any sticky surface or discoloration.
I'd be very cautious about that. Also, as you point out, aircraft interiors are subject to dry air-- but they are also replaced more frequently-- probably every 5-10 years at most.
This is a good point. I may just go back to rosewater and a light soap oil. Natural always comes out on top! Thanks for pointing that fact out I overlooked. Cheers!
You may want to try Leatherique products. Home Page | Leatherique Restoration Products I know a number of Ferrari owners use them and I do myself. They provide products to maintain your leather as well as to repair it and color match it. I do my leather maintenance myself and it's very easy.
Based on a recommendation from a top detail specialist, this spring I treated all my leather with CarPro Cquartz Leather Coating. It is supposed to protect against staining, but my primary reason for applying it is it protects against UV rays. Right now my dash and rear deck leather is in excellent condition. Hopefully this product keeps it that way.
A while back Shiv posted that he had encountered significant cost and trouble repairing his dash and I know that others have had similar experiences. I want to post a success story so others will not necessary be discouraged and can weigh their options. Most dash repairs are motivated by shrinkage but that was not my issue. I have always found my interior a little boring (tan with red stitching and piping) and the tan dash also drove me nuts because of the windshield glare. So I decided to change it up. I had RMT Motorsports in Yorba Linda replace the tan dash, leather steering wheel cover and floor mats with a black, red and tan leather theme. I have attached before and after pictures and hopefully you agree with me that it was a great job and looks 100% better. However, the real point is that the entire package was not that expensive. RMT did all of the removal and installation work (Shiv your pictures and Dave’s comments certainly discouraged me from any thoughts of doing it myself) and RMT subbed out the leather work to a specialist. I think they did a great job and you cannot tell the difference from a factory job. They used "Ferrari leather" imported from Italy (I am told that is a must) and about the most unreasonable part of the job was paying the "Ferrari tax" of $800 to change out the tan plastic air vent in the top of the dash with a new Ferrari OEM black vent. So I would tell everyone not to be afraid to try it if you get someone that knows what they are doing. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I had to do the headliner, dash, sage on the interior roof etc but had it done by Ferrari in Atlanta - not cheap but a great job -
I figured the OP lived in a low humidity environment, but no. I had no leather problems in five years with my 456M, and it was 16 years old when I sold it. Never treated the leather, and San Antonio is brutal in the summer. My garage is climate controlled, though.
Looks good Ron, I like it You seem to suggest it was affordable. Though, without a ballpark cost it doesn't really help others in terms of offering an option for redoing the dash... Mind sharing labor cost for R&R'ing the dash? How many hours? Cost for the leather work? Though, I perfectly understand if you prefer to keep to yourself.
Thanks Jes. I take your point. If I was the Sultan of Brunei then everything is reasonable. I don’t want to compromise RMT but Randy is a great guy and I am sure he wouldn’t mind me “spilling the beans”. Overall it was $6.5k. But that included the black air vent with a $800 Ferrari tax, redoing all the grill plates on the dash from tan to black, having red stitching on the dash leather (not that noticeable in the picture but it really pops live), redoing the entire steering wheel in the Black and Tan leather with red stitching, 4 new floor mats in black, tan and red leather, fixing the rear of my headliner (which was sagging a little—I had previously fixed it myself but that only lasted for a year) and wonderful California sales tax on everything. So in my world that is pretty reasonable (probably in the Sultan’s too!) Obviously a simple same color dash restoration would be significantly less. I can certainly tell you it was great work, looks awesome up close (like it was a factory original job), and the new tan portion of the steering wheel cover is identical in color to my existing tan interior. So I am very happy and no longer blinded by dash glare. Ron
That is very reasonable - AND it looks great. I like the touch of the red center band on the steering wheel. How is your car in terms of stickiness? Don't recall if you already did it...? Otherwise this would have been a great opportunity with it all apart. I pulled my interior apart last spring and had Dave re-do all the soft-coating - only some pieces were sticky, but I didn't feel like doing a piece meal and did a preemptive strike. Not cheap, but looks and feel amazing!
Thanks Jes. The red band was Randy’s idea. So I can’t take credit but it is a nice touch and ties the red in with both the Black and Tan. I also totally agree re the sticky. My car was originally a Florida car and had significant sticky but I made the Florida dealer have Dave fix it before I took delivery a few years ago. So it is fine now. So you are right, I would do that too with everything pulled apart.