Is it possible to have the hard plastic door panels covered in a soft material...

[Cobra Jet]

My current 2018 EB Prem w/PP, the upper portion of the door panel is soft touch material, spongy.

My prior 2016 EB Prem w/PP, the same area was hard plastic.

Go figure...

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[spectremotorsports]

Top of 17 Prem door trim is hard plastic, on 18 Prem it's soft touch as is the top of the console. Lower part of both is hard plastic.

Wait is this true? I haven't touched the inside of an 18+ but I thought the premium interior only got softer center console and the doors were the same.

 

[Dave2013M3]

Wait is this true? I haven't touched the inside of an 18+ but I thought the premium interior only got softer center console and the doors were the same.

Yes it is..

 

[DRB]

Wait is this true? I haven't touched the inside of an 18+ but I thought the premium interior only got softer center console and the doors were the same.

Yeah. I didn't even know it until I took delivery of my 2020.

 

[spectremotorsports]

Yeah. I didn't even know it until I took delivery of my 2020.

Well this is interesting, guess I need to go find some 2018+ door panels to go with the center console for my 17

 

[DRB]

There's a cut line on the door panels - just below the upper speaker - that evidently makes it easy to add things like the soft panels to the upper part of the door.

 

[spectremotorsports]

There's a cut line on the door panels - just below the upper speaker - that evidently makes it easy to add things like the soft panels to the upper part of the door.

Hmmm, now I just need to hunt down the part numbers for the newer door panels and make sure they fit.

 

[DRB]

I have the PP1 - I've read that the panels on all the GT Premium doors are the same, but I don't know.

According to a 2015 Motor Trend interview with the designers I found few minutes ago, adding this was something they'd had in mind from the get-go.

 

[GT 550]

IMHO the best way to a good outcome, considering cost and finish, is to swap in some genuine 18+ trims but if buying new be prepared for some wallet pain. There's a thread about someone swapping out a GT350 console (?) for a new oem part and the price was surprisingly steep.

A custom job can obviously be done but there's some risk of it turning out a bit DIY looking so it'd be worth finding a good upholsterer who's familiar with the Mustang trim. Strongly recommend not trying this at home unless you're very skilled, and brave. Even after you disassemble the door trim (easy but fiddly) some portions can be surprisingly difficult to cover properly due to contours, vent openings etc and maintaining upholstery thickness so the door trim goes back together correctly while avoiding stretching or pulling in the material. And it also needs to sit back on the door casing properly with all bolt holes etc lining up again so think time/$.

As an example the recess for the handbrake handle is challenging - albeit not impossible with t/$ - as most material won't stretch enough to do the whole console in one piece and even if it does get stuck down there's a chance it'll pull back up and you'll get a bubble. The recess is sometimes done as a separate piece for this reason but then you end up with stitching which is fine if it's perfect ie Bentley quality but most hand stitching leaves a lot to be desired. One of the reasons the trims look so good in the 18+ is that the foam and vinyl composition/thickness are perfect for their intended purpose and machine stitched, so the shop would need to source something that works and has the right texture etc, which can be a mission in itself.

Apologies if you know this stuff already and also not trying to put you off the custom option, just pointing out some things to look out for in getting a really nice job. If you decide to go custom it'd be great to see the finished product. I've got the original 17 PP trims/console, another set from an 18, and a spare set for the 17 because the temptation to go custom is always there.

 

[Dave2013M3]

IMHO the best way to a good outcome, considering cost and finish, is to swap in some genuine 18+ trims but if buying new be prepared for some wallet pain. There's a thread about someone swapping out a GT350 console (?) for a new oem part and the price was surprisingly steep.

A custom job can obviously be done but there's some risk of it turning out a bit DIY looking so it'd be worth finding a good upholsterer who's familiar with the Mustang trim. Strongly recommend not trying this at home unless you're very skilled, and brave. Even after you disassemble the door trim (easy but fiddly) some portions can be surprisingly difficult to cover properly due to contours, vent openings etc and maintaining upholstery thickness so the door trim goes back together correctly while avoiding stretching or pulling in the material. And it also needs to sit back on the door casing properly with all bolt holes etc lining up again so think time/$.

As an example the recess for the handbrake handle is challenging - albeit not impossible with t/$ - as most material won't stretch enough to do the whole console in one piece and even if it does get stuck down there's a chance it'll pull back up and you'll get a bubble. The recess is sometimes done as a separate piece for this reason but then you end up with stitching which is fine if it's perfect ie Bentley quality but most hand stitching leaves a lot to be desired. One of the reasons the trims look so good in the 18+ is that the foam and vinyl composition/thickness are perfect for their intended purpose and machine stitched, so the shop would need to source something that works and has the right texture etc, which can be a mission in itself.

Apologies if you know this stuff already and also not trying to put you off the custom option, just pointing out some things to look out for in getting a really nice job. If you decide to go custom it'd be great to see the finished product. I've got the original 17 PP trims/console, another set from an 18, and a spare set for the 17 because the temptation to go custom is always there.

Agreed...just priced out a 2018+ premium door card and its over $500 each.

 

[Greg94]

You could try eBay or the salvage yard. My 2015 premium has soft touch door panels.

 

[StangTime]

I would like to upgrade my door panels to the soft touch and leather inserts with stitching. But the ones you find used look... well used. Not about to put in scratched up door panels on my car. The soft uppers are also prone to getting dented. All my searches online have found only damaged ones. My OCD would tell me to buy new but the cost is just too prohibitive. DIY is out of the question due to how the soft touch upper is applied in the factory. The door is made in two pieces with the upper section being attached after the soft touch surface is fused to the plastic and is held together with melted plastic pins.

 

[RIBS]

There is a bit of confusion...mine is a 15.. it’s a GT Premium. But to get the soft touch door panels and real stitched dash, I ordered the PREMIER leather upgrade. Different seat leather, real cover and stitching on upper dash panels, soft touch upper door panels....

 

[Spork3245]

There’s a lot of confusion going on in this thread.
On 18+ GTs, if you get a 401a packaged car, you get soft touch upper door trim. Anything lower than 401a, and it’s hard plastic.
With 15-17 GTs, you needed a GT Premium and also needed to select the “Premier Trim” option to get the soft touch upper door trim, OR, on a 15 GT, it was also included with the 50th anniversary package.

 

[Idaho2018GTPremium]

There’s a lot of confusion going on in this thread.
On 18+ GTs, if you get a 401a packaged car, you get soft touch upper door trim. Anything lower than 401a, and it’s hard plastic.
With 15-17 GTs, you needed a GT Premium and also needed to select the “Premier Trim” option to get the soft touch upper door trim, OR, on a 15 GT, it was also included with the 50th anniversary package.

This is incorrect for the 2018. I have a 2018 GT Premium without 401a, and it has soft touch door rollover panels and the premium door trim. The 2018 GT Premium brochure says exactly "Premium door trim including soft rollover". 2018 Ecoboost Premium non 201a also has premium door trim w/ soft rollover.

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