[Shaneartistry]

Hey all,

I got my windows tint two days ago at a local shop where I’ve taken multiple vehicles to in the past.

Immediately after picking up my G80 I noticed what looks like swelling of the leather on the doors. It’s most noticeable on the front passenger’s door, but all four doors have it to a certain extent.

I pointed it out to the shop owner immediately after and he said he had never heard of leather “swelling” and it appears to be soap stains. I’m not so sure I believe him. The ridges have a notable raise when you run your finger over them. He said give it a few days and was fairly defensive. I told him that was fine, but wanted to make him aware that day in case it did become an issue down the line.

I read somewhere on the forums where something similar happened to another member and the leather eventually went back to normal.

Do y’all think it’ll be fine within the week or is there permanent damage?

['Cane]

I don’t think it’s “swelling” it looks like water (or soap) stains. Try using some leather conditioner to clean the affected areas.

[Shaneartistry]

Originally Posted by 'Cane

I don’t think it’s “swelling” it looks like water (or soap) stains. Try using some leather conditioner to clean the affected areas.

That’s great to know. I have a colourlock leather kit I haven’t used yet. Hopefully the cleaner takes it off.

Wish I had sealed the leather before hand.

[chicagofan00]

Agree that it looks like water/soap stains.

[Shaneartistry]

Originally Posted by chicagofan00

Agree that it looks like water/soap stains.

Is it fairly easy to remove with leather cleaner?

[wazzza]

Originally Posted by Shaneartistry

Is it fairly easy to remove with leather cleaner?

If it’s a stain, yes. Use colorlock or Geist to gently agitate and then wipe it off with microfiber cloth. Also, don’t spray directly on leather, use product on brush. Use natural soft brush (boar hair or something) to agitate.

[Forzanerazzurri]

That looks like water got under the leather and has swelled the backing. They must have used a ton of water. That's going to be an expensive fix.

[wazzza]

Originally Posted by Forzanerazzurri

That looks like water got under the leather and has swelled the backing. They must have used a ton of water. That's going to be an expensive fix.

Yeah it looks like a swell to me too, unfortunately. They must have not taped off the seams when putting the tint on.

[squadra21]

If it's raised it's def. swelling. Water might have seeped through the cracks and gotten under the leather. But if it's not then condition it or even just let it air out for a few days.

[Shaneartistry]

Originally Posted by Forzanerazzurri

That looks like water got under the leather and has swelled the backing. They must have used a ton of water. That's going to be an expensive fix.

That’s what I thought compared to just a stain. You can feel the raised portion when you run your finger over it.

[vasillalov]

...and this is why I chose against the full leather on my G80. This area of the door cards gets all the abuse - sunscreen, body sweat, UV rays, rain, etc. Maintaining the leather there will be a constant chore. Same with the foot wells - it takes one careless person withs harp boots to scratch the leather in the footwells and you are done.

[kjx]

Originally Posted by vasillalov

...and this is why I chose against the full leather on my G80. This area of the door cards gets all the abuse - sunscreen, body sweat, UV rays, rain, etc. Maintaining the leather there will be a constant chore. Same with the foot wells - it takes one careless person withs harp boots to scratch the leather in the footwells and you are done.

The driver seat base is the hardest to keep clean (from jean dye staining). Color lock helps but it’s a 2-3 month repeat chore to keep it perfect.

All extra leather is laughably easy to maintain and in some cases is easier to keep dust off because of smoothness (like the dashboard). It’s not a valid reason to not get full leather. And it would take an ultrashort person deliberate effort to kick the dash base - if someone rides regularly with malicious people or intellectually challenged folk sitting in the front, sure.

Most people here have tints and nobody has reported what OP has - he’s just used a place that did a sloppy job applying the tint.

[skyline408]

That is the warped leather from excessive and prolonged exposure to moisture when they were tinting. Weather or not it will go back to normal with time and conditioning is up in the air.

[Shaneartistry]

Originally Posted by kjx

The driver seat base is the hardest to keep clean (from jean dye staining). Color lock helps but it’s a 2-3 month repeat chore to keep it perfect.

All extra leather is laughably easy to maintain and in some cases is easier to keep dust off because of smoothness (like the dashboard). It’s not a valid reason to not get full leather. And it would take an ultrashort person deliberate effort to kick the dash base - if someone rides regularly with malicious people or intellectually challenged folk sitting in the front, sure.

Most people here have tints and nobody has reported what OP has - he’s just used a place that did a sloppy job applying the tint.

Completely agree.

It’s a shame because they’ve done good work for me in the past. Granted, that was several years ago. With COVID they mentioned they’ve had a hard time staying staffed.

There were two guys working on the car at the same time — one on the driver side and the other on the passenger. Most of the damage is on the passenger side. I wonder if the guy working on the passenger side was inexperienced.

[wazzza]

Originally Posted by vasillalov

...and this is why I chose against the full leather on my G80. This area of the door cards gets all the abuse - sunscreen, body sweat, UV rays, rain, etc. Maintaining the leather there will be a constant chore. Same with the foot wells - it takes one careless person withs harp boots to scratch the leather in the footwells and you are done.

Well, the irony here is the tint supposed to protect against UV rays and the heat, but the shop sure messed it up.

OP should definitely make the shop pay to replace door panels. Don’t even know how expensive that would be. Maybe some shifts can fix it pretty well, no clue. Either way, they should pay for it the cost.

[Znomorph4theWin]

I have the full Fiona and full tint all the way around. I have NO swelling or staining of the door panels even the day after it was done.

That looks like leather water damage to me. They should pay for it.

[GTS Daddy]

That should fix itself after a week or so.

[Patsfan1997]

Originally Posted by kjx

The driver seat base is the hardest to keep clean (from jean dye staining). Color lock helps but it’s a 2-3 month repeat chore to keep it perfect.

All extra leather is laughably easy to maintain and in some cases is easier to keep dust off because of smoothness (like the dashboard). It’s not a valid reason to not get full leather. And it would take an ultrashort person deliberate effort to kick the dash base - if someone rides regularly with malicious people or intellectually challenged folk sitting in the front, sure.

Most people here have tints and nobody has reported what OP has - he’s just used a place that did a sloppy job applying the tint.

First, love the "intellectually challenged folk" reference lol! I ordered full leather, but in the silverstone colour, so I'm sure I will have to do a little extra work to keep it clean. But agree, not a reason to not get full leather. It really gives the interior a more upscale feel.

[vetteflier]

Poor job, no way around that. They should protect the leather, not flood it. Full leather and XDrive--and probably the parking thing, will be on my next M4 Comp--if still ICE.

[Shaneartistry]

Originally Posted by vetteflier

Poor job, no way around that. They should protect the leather, not flood it. Full leather and XDrive—and probably the parking thing, will be on my next M4 Comp—if still ICE.

Yeah no doubt it was a poor job. The question is will the leather resolve itself or is it permanately damaged. Hard to say quite yet.

[skyline408]

There was a guy in the F95 forum who had the exact same problem after his tint job. His full leather door panels were warped like the OP's. The tint shop had to pay to replace the door cards $$$

[Shaneartistry]

An update — The areas are still noticeable. However, it does seem the areas aren’t raised as much when running finger over the area. Hopefully over the next week the water will dry and the areas won’t be stained.

I used Colourlock cleanser on it yesterday and it didn’t help at all. I don’t think it’s a soap stain. If it is, then I don’t think it’s coming off.

I spoke with the shop owner this morning. He’s been defensive. He said, “I’ve done thousands of cars since 1980’s and have never seen that happen…just be patient man, the water needs time to dry out..”