What do you think of my new door panels?

[Liquid Smoke]

So I loved how the two-tone interiors looked in the S4/S5 like in the pic below, and loved that deep red leather that M3s have, so I had to do this. Tell me what you guys think, wanted a similar tone to the S4 one and I think it looks pretty clean, still OEM looking. Don't plan on doing the seats for now, I kinda like the rest black and don't want it to look too much, I just did all the leather panels on all 4 doors.

This is the S5 factory one:


My car: http://imgur.com/a/PSkH4

[Okan509]

I was gonna do this. But I wanted the beige interior inserts.

[A4 Quattro]

I like the (factory) seats, I can't really say I'm a fan of the door without those seats.

[yss]

I like it, but I love red.

[Liquid Smoke]

the beige is real nice too, i would love the full two tone black/beige interior but i just went with red since its just gonna be the door panels and itll match the interior lighting and all that. i dont have wood trim either so i wouldnt just want some random brown pieces.

as for the red seats it does look nice, it's just I don't have the sports seats, so it's not like the same lines to follow to get that clean look like in the S4/5. so i didnt wanna bother with the seats and have like those curvy red panels lol, the shoulder rest area i could do or the headrest, but i wouldnt wanna do just the top half so im gonna just leave the seats as is.

[A4 Centaur]

Looks Fantastic!

[eyrah]

That really looks great! Did you just buy new inserts or dye? I think you need some red accents to bring it all together

[Liquid Smoke]

thanks, i just used some leather dye/paint. its a spray paint called SEM color coat, got it off ebay for lil less than $20, can be used on leather/vinyl. i dont know how it holds up so i dont mind just doing it on my door panels since its not really gonna wear on there. but it looks pretty good though, goes on easy and just need about 3-4 good coats. it doesnt go like a thick coat over or anything, but it keeps the leather texture the same so it looks OEM/factory and not cheap at all, feels just the same as well after it dries up.

i dont know if its totally permanent, its just a water based paint i believe so it goes off pretty easy with some goo gone, paint thinner or rubbing alcohol if you scrub it out good, i just dont know what that would do the leather under though, but i plan on keeping it red like this so i didnt really look into it too much, if anything its just the door panels, worth a try and so far im very happy with how it came out.

as for other red accents, not sure what else to do on the interior, in a way i think this is looks good without going full two tone red. but i'll try and find some little stuff to maybe make red, but not sure. maybe will get a shift knob or steering wheel with the red stitching.

but i do plan on making the plastic piece right under the door armrest gloss black, its just that regular black plastic right now, the piece right below the armrest and right above the door cupholder area.

[vtheman]

Not feeling it without the matching seats IMHO.

[Liquid Smoke]

other than the seats, i'm thinking of just doing the gear shifter leather part in all red instead of just red stiching. and without the full seats yet, maybe just the middle part of the backseat and then that leather top of the center console storage/armrest area so its like red going down the middle from the backseat to that. how do you think that'll look? may do some photoshop mockups later.

[TCHUN003]

Awesome job. I want red seats so badly, but dying my seats still seems sketchy. I feel like it would rub off on my clothes.

[Liquid Smoke]

Awesome job. I want red seats so badly, but dying my seats still seems sketchy. I feel like it would rub off on my clothes.

yeah i know what you mean, thats the main reason i havent even attempted the seats yet and prob wont for awhile, i dunno how well paint/dye will hold up to everyday wear and would rather not have my seats looking like crap rubbing off and ruining other peoples' clothes too lol. but yea just a good safe bet on the door panels to test out the product too.

[Okan509]

oh you painted it? I thought you just pawned off some from the real deal

[Liquid Smoke]

yeah at first i was going to just get it reupholstered in red leather or just buy the S4 door panels and swap them out, but then i saw that paint stuff and thought to just try it and if it doesnt work out i was going to buy the real ones anyway. but as of now looks like i'll be keeping it this way, looks just as good to me.

[name.goes.here]

I like! Definitely compliments the interior quite nicely!

[Miles M]

I'd like it a lot more if there was some red anywhere else in the interior.

Still, doesn't look bad. Just a tad out of place.

[Okan509]

I know! do the armrest! It'll pull everything together

[Vito Roma]

I wanted the first photo interior. I like it but don't love it needs some red somewhere else maybe shift boot? Either way thumbs up for trying this,it looks clean

[Liquid Smoke]

here's a real quick photoshop of the red shifter leather and the middle armrest, i know the colors/lighting is a bit off, just a quick photoshop coloring, but should give you an idea.

i think it looks nice, I think I'll do the shifter now after seeing this, will consider the armrest after that.

[Okan509]

I think I'd skip on the shifter, I think it might end up looking tacky. Think the armrest is a better bet

[name.goes.here]

I think I'd skip on the shifter, I think it might end up looking tacky. Think the armrest is a better bet

I would actually skip both - you don't want to push the envelope with this.....

[Liquid Smoke]

yea i'll have to do a better mockup, im thinking in that pic it just looks too much because of the glare and the white around it, but would look better in person, will try to do a better lighting shot.

[dracolnyte]

wanna do a mockup with beige?

[Pared]

That looks fantastic!! I have been searching for an S4 interior for a while... Or other ways to do this. I did it custom on my last car.

Did you do the rear doors as well?

[NoUDont]

how about the door panels and aluminum trim pieces on the doors and dash, just the large trim pieces, like if you were going to swap it for cf trim? photochop it

[Liquid Smoke]

yea i did the rear as well, as for the trim i think ill just end up leaving them with that alum fish scale pattern as they are, gloss black or cf would look nice, its just i'd have to do all the trim pieces and i kinda like just like the silver/alum for contrast. i do plan on doing the armrest part on the door in gloss black though so i'll have my gloss black accents there and keep the silver on the rest.

[coolwater]

Simple solution... Just get/make red floor mats/red car freshner and be done....
Looks good!

-cW

[Pr0n]

Does it fade if you continually rub it? I'm wondering how it holds up.

Mine (done by previous owner), stitching is red too.

[musky hunter]

you need to do more....do the seats and some trim pieces.

[Pared]

Simple solution... Just get/make red floor mats/red car freshner and be done....
Looks good!

-cW

Yeah the floor mats would work well.

No need to go nuts; seems like if it's not a direct rip of the way the S4 Magma looks you won't get approval here.

The silver trim looks strange now though... gloss black would make that pop nicely.

[Liquid Smoke]

yup i plan on doing the floor mats too, not all red but i'll have the black rubber mats and do like a red border or two-tone depending on how the mat's design is.

@Pr0n: that looks sweet, if i had sport seats with the lines like that i'd definitely do it that way. and no it doesnt seem to rub off, i did test it with my arm just lightly, normal pressure, but didnt wanna rub it too hard in case it starts wearing off or streaking incase it wasnt fully dried in yet, but it doesnt seem like it, just not sure on how it'll hold up on like the main seat cushion from constant sitting and wear, but its perfect for trim/side pieces.

so here are some quick mockups, i know the lighting is off and the shades of red look a little diff, just a quick photoshop to get a better visual of it. and these are just pics i got off google so i have good interior pics to work with, dont have the sports seats you see in the front pic.

so for the front it would be the center armrest part, and then the sides of the headrest. then the backseats it would be the middle partition, and that red would go through the middle from the armrest back to the seat so it sort of flows down the middle. also the sides and bottom of the headrests too. as you see i dont really wanna risk the paint on the main cushions yet, or the front of the headrests either, not yet till i see how the paint holds up.

but let me know what you guys think, i think that backseat looks awesome down the middle, would rather have something straight like that rather than painting the rest of those curvy panels.

(backseat mockup looks better because of the better photo, front is a bit rough draftish)

[Okan509]

I think the rear looks perfect like that, but I don't like the red on the sides of the head rest in the front, it's just too far away from the other red, but in the rear I like it

[Liquid Smoke]

yeah im debating on the headrests, the front ones dont look the same so its only on the sides and not bottom like the rears, and yeah the back looks good near the middle, but i dont want back headrests two tone and front all black.

i think i'll leave out the headrests for now, do the middle like that and prob just do the shoulders or one of those middle backrest panels on the front seats. but im in no rush i think ill stick with just that for now and do it as i go, wait till im set on what i want red, dont wanna go on impulse and have it look crap.

[Okan509]

That's sounds like a good idea. I def like what you're going though. I'm interested to do something like this, but don't think I have the balls.

What other colors are there Can you link the product you used?

[Liquid Smoke]

That's sounds like a good idea. I def like what you're going though. I'm interested to do something like this, but don't think I have the balls.

What other colors are there Can you link the product you used?

thanks, yeah im just trying to keep a clean look, not too much red and over the top, dont wanna look like some pimp my ride thing lol, but im not really trying to go full two tone like the S4, i just love the red leather and at least just wanted some good red accents/trim, but not really trying to go full two tone, i like keeping it more black.

and yeah i was kinda scared to do it at first, but thought wth its worth a try, and just on the door panels, cant go too wrong and easy area to paint. so i just masked off the door took like 5-10 min and went with it.

i used SEM Color Coat: http://semproducts.com/product-catal...gs/color-coat/

you can google it and see it on amazon, ebay, and other independent sellers so shop around see prices, colors etc. but the color i used was firethorn red, they do have another special leather paint (this one was vinyl/rubber/leather more multi-purpose) so im guessing the specific leather one will be even better or at least be more durable? but the leather ones come in more natural leather colors, mainly your shades of brown/beige/tan etc. i love the brown one too, but just didnt see it matching well in my car and setup, not without going full two tone black/brown.

[Okan509]

Looks like a really legit product - says it's permanent. hmmm too tempted... lol I wanna do my car

[Liquid Smoke]

lol yeah i checked up on reviews and saw on a few other forums, but not too much info on it so i just pulled the trigger to try it, wanted the red too bad :D they mainly have like leather restoration type stuff but it looks like a good professional product.

but i say go for it, just start off with your door panels or something small, yeah its permanent i guess, but im sure a light coat can rub off or be cleaned off leather with some good cleaner/thinner? would prob clean up nicer on black, on anything light could leave a light hue or something i would assume. but on vinyl/rubber i would say its more permanent.

if you're going for a shade of brown then go ahead with the specific leather paint, i would think that's made to hold up so it should be fine on the seats and you can go all out. the reds and non-natural colors only come in the multipurpose paint.

[promoda]

did you have to remove the panel, or did you spay direct on?
if i knew for sure it wouldn't damage the leather, rub on my cloths i'd do the center of the seats... if only there was a way to do the stitching red ...
my shifter has red stitching from the S4....

[coolwater]

Product looks good! If it doesn't rub off then I say go full out and do the seat centers.
If done similar to the s5 it will look good for sure. Just border the red pieces with black on the seats and it will be legit.
I might do this also. I have the same seats as you....

Maybe ocarbon can make some red cf like panels to finish the look...
Or you can add a little red vinyl trim around the fish scales....
-cW

[Liquid Smoke]

@promoda: you can take it out if you like, but im not that DIY savvy lol, that wouldve just taken me forever to take apart the door panels on each door i would just say f*ck the red :P

but yeah i just masked off the edges with tape, covered up the rest with newspaper and just put a tarp or bedsheet or something to cover the inside so no overspray gets in and you're good, dont really need to take apart the door IMO unless you were already going to, but just for this i feel like its just a waste of time to go through all that.

and i would love the red stitching, i was looking into fabric dye markers where you can just trace over the stitching and color it, but it only works on white/light stitching and wont even show on the black. would just have to be restitched in red i'd think, but thats more expensive and harder for me ATM than just going with this method.

@coolwater: yeah i'll see about the seats, may just do some of the middle panels on the seats but not in a rush to get the seats done, will see what will look best after i get some more mockups and just sleep on the idea for awhile lol