Leather seat upgrade for my 2015 SV

KBrian · Oct 3, 2018

Assad, did you discover any shortcuts, tips or tricks doing the passenger seat that will improve the installation experience when you tackle the driver's seat?

assad · Oct 3, 2018

Hi KBrians,

Definitely should be faster when I tackle the driver's side.

Now I know the correct order to remove the upholstery, and how to remove the motor cover that is used for moving the seat back and forth, I did struggle a little bit with that in the beginning.

The bottom part comes off completely, ie it can be remove from the frame easily ( as you can see in the first picture), so this will make it easier remove the top upholstery once the bottom part is removed. It was by accident that I found out you can remove it from the frame, and by then I had already struggle to remove the top upholstery while it was still tied to the frame.

The air bag is another one I struggle with to get it in there. It goes inside a pouch that is attached to the leather cover. What makes it difficult is you have to insert the airbag inside the pouch first, then pull it inside the foam, then bolt it in, and then attach the hog clips. The trick is you have to insert the airbag before you try to put the leather on, then slide it through the hole and bolt it in.

The bottom part is easy, but the top part is very hard because it has lots of hog clips and it is a tight fit.

I think I made the wrinkle worst on the top part...
The trick here is to not stretch too much the leather as you slide it in. The leather itself conforms to the shape of the foam already, so no need to stretch it to fit.

Nam Vu · Oct 4, 2018

assad said:
Hi KBrians,

Definitely should be faster when I tackle the driver's side.

Now I know the correct order to remove the upholstery, and how to remove the motor cover that is used for moving the seat back and forth, I did struggle a little bit with that in the beginning.

The bottom part comes off completely, ie it can be remove from the frame easily ( as you can see in the first picture), so this will make it easier remove the top upholstery once the bottom part is removed. It was by accident that I found out you can remove it from the frame, and by then I had already struggle to remove the top upholstery while it was still tied to the frame.

The air bag is another one I struggle with to get it in there. It goes inside a pouch that is attached to the leather cover. What makes it difficult is you have to insert the airbag inside the pouch first, then pull it inside the foam, then bolt it in, and then attach the hog clips. The trick is you have to insert the airbag before you try to put the leather on, then slide it through the hole and bolt it in.

The bottom part is easy, but the top part is very hard because it has lots of hog clips and it is a tight fit.

I think I made the wrinkle worst on the top part...
The trick here is to not stretch too much the leather as you slide it in. The leather itself conforms to the shape of the foam already, so no need to stretch it to fit.

From watching some upholstery people before they install like seats or a convertible top, they leave material outside for awhile to make it easier to install then they hit it with a steamer

assad · Oct 9, 2018

Katzkin leather upgrade completed

I finally completed the leather upgrade...

If you ask me I would do this again, the answer would be HELLLL NOOOOOO.

Sometimes I can be very adventurous, but this was a bad idea to tackle it myself.

The back seat are as hard as the front, if not harder, the foam do not come off the frame as I thought. Also being an SUV, they are heavy to lift. They are bolted down pretty hard, you will need a breaker bar to remove them.
At the end all my hands were sore, I wonder how these people assemble 1000s of these in production. Maybe they have a template they press down the seat to put he hog clips.

On the positive side, the experience was priceless, I learned a lot, how the seats are put together, and how the leather cover are installed.
And I really like the end results, it looks beautiful, the leather is very high quality, and feels really comfortable. They are easy to clean also, I just use a fiber cloth damped with water.

Here are some pictures, hope you like it...

KBrian · Oct 11, 2018

How many hours did you invest in this project, Assad?

assad · Oct 11, 2018

Hi Kbrian

More than I originally thought.

If you watch the katzkin install online, they make it seem so easy, but that is not so. I guess every car is different, and the murano is very hard.

I started with the passenger seat which took me 8hrs. The driver's seat is a little harder that the passenger seat, because it has more components. I started Friday night with the driver's seat, and finished everything Sunday evening. So, 2.5 days for the driver's seat and back seats.

KBrian · Oct 16, 2018

You did a beautiful job, Assad. Your willingness to dive into major projects on a three year old car is admirable. I did the same thing 30 years ago with my first new car, an 88 5.0 Liter Mustang. Its still in my garage, but much of the originality is long gone

Robotaz · Oct 16, 2018

That’s really, really sharp. Nice work.

assad · Oct 17, 2018

Thank you guys!!!

Although I did not know what I was getting myself into when I started this.

This is by far the biggest project I did on the car.

goombaypunch · Jul 29, 2019

Hi assad. Just wondering how the leather has held up and if the wrinkles went away? Looks good anyway!

assad · Jul 30, 2019

goombaypunch said:
Hi assad. Just wondering how the leather has held up and if the wrinkles went away? Looks good anyway!

You be the judge!!!

Here is a picture I took today of the driver seat.

IMO, it held up pretty well so far. No fading or leather peeling off.
I only use water to clean it as the manufacturer recommended.

goombaypunch · Jul 30, 2019

I am impressed! I will try get this done once I get my audio setup they way I like. Taking your advice though going to have it professionally installed. Thanks for the update.

Leather seat upgrade for my 2015 SV

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