Sunday, March 29, 2015

1975 BMW 2002 Esty Carpet Install

The 2002 interior door panels, rear seat and dash were all in really good condition. All that was letting the interior down was the front seats, (which were deflated and the drivers was torn) and the well worn original carpet. The 1974 came with a one-piece molded carpet, as opposed to the "cut and sewn" multi-piece rugs of earlier cars. Some say the cut and sewn looks better aesthetically, but I decided to order up a replacement one-piece molded carpet to replace the one that was being removed. I wanted a quick and easy install...

I received the one piece carpet from ACC. I had previously installed a molded ACC carpet in my 1974 Ford truck and it fit like a glove! It went in easily and looked fantastic, hugged all the bumps and curves as good as an original carpet. I hadn't had even a second thought about using them again.

Sadly, the carpet for the 2002 was a completely different story. I guess the floor pan is quite a bit more complicated than the old Ford's, because this carpet was a very poor, sloppy fit. There are a lot of nooks and crannies and little protrusions on the BMW 2002 floor that demand close and custom fitting. Yes, the ACC did lay down on the floor, albeit not at all snug, leaving annoying air voids everywhere, and generally requiring custom modifications that were not possible, given the one-piece design.

I didn't want to put forth the effort to make the ACC fit, because I knew I would end up with a very marginal final product. On the advice of a friend, I switch to Esty, a known custom carpet maker for old BMW's. The Esty carpet was less expensive (had I known that, I would have chosen that one first).

The Esty BMW carpet is a better choice as it is individual pieces, cut and sewn like the earlier cars. You can manipulate each piece as you install to attain the best fit possible. And with the sewn edges and original-looking materials, it really is a nicer looking finished product.
 I stripped the original carpet, the seat belts, brake lever, console and shifter.