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So today I decided to tackle the sagging headliner in my R53 as its been getting worse as the weather is warming up. I had already gotten ideas on what I was going to use to cover the headliner in. I bought the fabric and 2 cans of headliner spray from Joann. I then followed the guide that is posted here on the forums to get the headliner out.
That's after pulling it out the cloth pretty much just fell away. I cleaned it up with a scrub brush from the dollar store. Having come this far I decided that I was going to match all the pillars by wrapping them. So it came time to start pulling things apart.
B pillars came out without issue, while the A and C pillars have their retaining clips. A pillars were twisted enough to unscrew the straps from the cover. The cover was removed. Then the clips were worked out of the body and reattached to the covers. C pillars were another story as one side came free after working on it for 30 minutes. Otherside took me another 2 hours to get out due to the clip not wanting to come free. I finally got it free without breaking it and off the covers went to get cleaned up. Now it was time for me to layout the headliner and get it prepped for covering. No pictures of the covering process as glue and cell phones don't work well. I did make use of binder clips that another poster had used for the edges. Again another dollar store item. Fabric was wrapped around the edges and glued down.
Overall it looks good, but there are spots that are still not lined up the way I wanted it, maybe something for next time. Due to the sunroof it took me 2 hours to glue, wrap, cut and tirm to get to this point. I didn't cut the holes for the mirrors and handles as I was going to cut them to fit and leave the extra as padding. I cleaned up my space were I was working so that I could do the reinstall. All the sunroof drains were checked and cleaned out. Attached zip ties to the upper part of the rubber for the front drains. Headliner went back in without too much bending as the sunroof liner is weak down the center. Not having the pillar covers installed made holding the liner up difficult at first untill I secured the back of the liner with it's plastic clip and used binder clips to futher hold it up. Front visor clips were installed first to hold everything up. All the interior hardware was left the factory color to set it apart.
The ultrasonic detector cover has been covered in the matching look. I screwed up matching the pattern on the cover to the back section so I will probably pull the fabric off later and take another go at it. Pillars haven't been wrapped yet, but will be done tomorrow. If all goes back together without too many issues then I should be done by mid day.
Pillars have been wrapped. I'm not happy with how the B and one of the A pillars turned out. I'll probably end up rewrapping them to get them looking better. The A pillar that I will be rewrapping is the last picture. If you notice the lines are going in the wrong direction.
Awesome repair job! I know the headliner is a pain to remove and install, but you make it look easy. This is one job that continues to linger on my list cosmetic repairs, I'm contemplating how to possibly do the job without completely removing the roof panel.
Awesome work!!! Did 2 r53 headliners w/ sunroof, tedious indeed. Don't plan to do any more. Haha
I have a R53 S w/sunroof that will need this procedure in the coming months. Did you use 1/8" or 3/16" materiel. I have read that 1/8" is advised if you have the sunroof.
Seems as though there many more options with the 3/16 thickness.
Thx Jonny- I knew there must be a reason to use 1/8" I was looking at Headliner Magic and Your auto trim but I see they are both 3/16" I need a match to the Horizon grey.
best bet if possible is to pop the alarm cover off and bring it to a fabric store or upholstery shop. long as it’s close, you’re fine, it’s a stand alone match that doesn’t have to be exact to go with the rest of the trim. I have spoken extensively with this outfit, he has decades of experience with mini coopers and has cataloged the match for horizon gray. https://headlinerexpress.com/product...iner-material/
