"In this Series about Interior Program for E46 M3, I document my complete interior restoration along with upgrades to CSL specifications and bespoke interior parts and Recaro seats. 

In this entry, we tear into the original seats and start laughing. We explore what makes M-Texture special and get to work on creating the Bespoke inserts for the Pole Position ABEs."
- Matt

The despair. 

The front seats' center section had previously be reupholstered using a perforated leatherette. It was off spec, leading us to believe these had been redone by a furniture guy. 

We tore into the OEM seats to better understand the heating elements, airbags and other components. The previous owner's repairs to the original seats are prime example sof corners cut by an upholstery shop and of owners not knowing the ins and outs of a quality upholstery job.

We found padding material that was may have been taken straight from your nonna's sofa. 

The padding was funny, it got worst as we undid the center section to reveal the inner foam and heated element. The previous upholsterer hadn't bothered removing the previous M-Texture upholstery, he instead stitched right over it. 

It appears he tried to remove the M-Texture as a part of the center section had the perforated Alcantara layer removed leaving only the printed, dotted underside. 

For the purpose of this entry, it did have its use. 

The realities of M-Texture. 

M-Texture is special in its limited availability and fabrication. It made a brief appearance in the E39 M5 and E46 M3, never to be seen again. It was a multi layered fabric with a bottom pad, a printed grey section and a perforated Alcantara section glued on top.

Unfortunately, M-Texture wears poorly over time: the upper perforated section can tear and unglue from the printed fabric section.

Additionally, BMW never officially sold the fabric separately, you had to buy entire panels or seat covers. It was expensive and most, if not all, have now been discontinued.

It led to most M-Texture interiors being left in poor conditions or swapped for other interior upholsteries as on my OEM seats.

Sourcing reproductions. 

M-Texture reproductions are available from US and European sources.We sourced various fabrics to experiment for the bespoke seat program, including various reproductions of M-Texture. 

The reality is not all reproductions are the same quality. There are significant variances that may impact your project - it certainly impacted mine. Below are 2x reproductions with contrasting features. 

The original M-Texture was made with an Anthracite perforated Alcantara top layer as on the right. The left shows a darker black Alcantara. 

The underside highlights further differences. The darker sample has a synthetic backing whereas the Anthracite sample had the printed fabric exposed. 

Reviewing patterns. 

Upon reviewing our rolls, we noticed were various errors on the perforation patterns across some rolls were received. We inspected all sections we would cut out from to ensure proper patterns.

Creating the inserts. 

Creating the inserts involved pulling the original Nardo Arista covers and cutting into its stitches to lay it flat, and re-create it to perfection for future creation of customer inserts. 

We would re-use the original Recaro foams to replicate its exact shape, feel and comfort. For new inserts, we source new replacement Recaro foams.

I have seen shops use their own foams on custom inserts - it's hit or miss. If you see a 500$ set of inserts, consider it a red flag. 

They were relatively straight forward to recreate once we had aligned the patterns.

With the templates created, we cut through the replica M-Texture and stitched each section together, using new velco on the custom covers to fit to the shell. 

We pondered doing the outer section of the cover in Nappa leather to match the original seats and overall configuration, but I needed seats and I wanted to drive the car this Summer. We will be revisiting this later on. 

Test fitment.

With the covers on, we quickly bolted the side mounts to the seat and sliders to test fit the seat in the car. The electric components weren't finished yet, but we wanted to test the seat's alignment with the steering wheel, and height settings. 

It all looked great at first, but with buckets seats - it's rarely perfect on the first try. 

The M-Texture fabric popped, and brought the interior back to life. It's the first thing you notice when opening the doors. 

The seats were a little low, and sitting a tad too straight. My lower back would feel strained on a 30 minute drive. 

Fortunately, it was pretty well center'ed already. We had slight adjustments to do to avoid the seat squeezing with the center console. 

Things were looking up. 

Up next: we finalize the electrical sliders, chat safety and it's a wrap!