Any excess leather?

[pany]

Hi,

Has anybody who's taken their car apart, spotted any excess leather?

I'm asking as my girlfriend's Z4 has got some really bad scuffs on the seat from the seatbelt and sliding into the car.

To repair it, I'm going to use Gliptone ScuffMaster, but they don't seem to have any Canberra Beige Kansas leather to colour match against. As such, I need to send a sample in, but wondered if anybody had found any good sites in the car to get a 1cm x 1 cm section.

Any help gratefully received.
Andy

[ManiacGT]

I'd be interested to know as I have the pure white design leather interior and gliptone also told me to supply a leather piece. I suppose a good look under the seats might turn something up. I want some paint only for the drivers side bolster thats worn a little.

[Roadstergal]

I have the pure white design interior and I had some blue dye from a pair of brand new jeans on the drivers side bolster. I think I was too aggresive in attempting to remove it, that I wore off some of the leather.

I had to take my car in for a routine service check and I asked my SA what could be done to fix it. It was very small, but still noticeable to me. He said that it was premature wear and they would order me a leather seat cover for the entire top of the seat. I was expecting a simple fix and was prepared to pay for it, but they covered it under the warranty and replaced it. It looks great and I learned my lesson as far as wearing brand new jeans. It was only the side bolster that got the jean dye from sliding into the seat.

If your car is still under warranty, your dealer would probably do the same for you.

[pany]

Thanks guys.
Trip to the dealer tomorrow.

[E89Tardis]

Roadstergal - sounds like a pretty good dealer/service group. I'd be interested in knowing who they are. Most BMW dealerships make me feel like I'm in enemy territory when I'm in for anything. No "major" bad experiences but never without some pidely dissappointment that always makes me feel lucky it wasn't worse. I'm in the northeast as well and wourdn't mind driving some to have the peace of mind. I try my best not to complain but that's not always easy. Your dealership sounds great. I'd like to go there.

My Rule of Thumb - Never piss off the people that serve your food, fix your computer or service your car.

[ManiacGT]

I have a great dealer but they considered it normal wear and would not replace it under warranty...

[Dr Stig 2]

Sadly, I dont think the dealers have swatches of leather as a sample.

They just seem to have printed cardboard with a message warning that the real leather may look different.

Pity really. They go to the trouble of painting bent pieces of steel for the body colour - but wont send out leather samples....

One thought - what do they do with the seats that get replaced?

I had one seat replaced when the dealer scratched it with a screwdriver that was left in a back pocket. (D'OH!)
I dont know what they did with it. Do they bin it or keep it as spare or to prove to BMW that the job needed doing?

Perhaps there is a way you can put out a request to the dealer network for a damaged piece of leather from another car?
Surely they are replacing one of yoru colour somewhere in your country reasonably regularly.

[Roadstergal]

Originally Posted by E89Tardis

Roadstergal - sounds like a pretty good dealer/service group. I'd be interested in knowing who they are. Most BMW dealerships make me feel like I'm in enemy territory when I'm in for anything. No "major" bad experiences but never without some pidely dissappointment that always makes me feel lucky it wasn't worse. I'm in the northeast as well and wourdn't mind driving some to have the peace of mind. I try my best not to complain but that's not always easy. Your dealership sounds great. I'd like to go there.

My Rule of Thumb - Never piss off the people that serve your food, fix your computer or service your car.

Inskip - Warwick, RI I have been buying and having my cars serviced there for years and I have always been treated fairly. As I stated, I asked what could be done to remedy the small line of wear, expecting to pay and without any hesitation, they said they would order me the entire upper leather seat and considered it premature wear.

I also had problems with my battery due to the fact that I did not drive it the winter before last due to a bad winter here in the Northeast. I also did not put the battery on a trickle charger and was getting a message on my idrive that the battery was draining even while stopped. I had read about a few posters that were having similar problems and their dealers were stating that they would not replace the battery under warranty. Inskip did not hesitate to replace the battery.

[pany]

Originally Posted by ManiacGT

I have a great dealer but they considered it normal wear and would not replace it under warranty...

Hi Maniac,

The dealer has agreed to sort it out under warranty, maybe because the main area of damage is from seat belt rub.
Which dealer did you use? I didn't hold out much hope, as this is the local dealer and not the supplier of the car.
I'll let you know how they gets on with sorting it, if its replacement or painted. If they replace the upper seat leather, it might be worth a trip to south yorkshire.

[ManiacGT]

Interesting.. perhaps I'll give my dealer (Williams in Manchester, UK) another shot then. The car is nearly 3 years old now and I know bolsters age/rub so its a long shot. Happy to just repaint it personally as they've done lots of other stuff for me.