White Leather Concerns???

[Vintage]

Okay - we are picking up our Z4 35i soon; we ordered the white leather because it looks great. We are worried about how it will hold up - so, for you owners out there with the white leather, how is the cleaning/dirt issue so far?

[BlueZ4AZ]

Originally Posted by VintageBMW

Okay - we are picking up our Z4 35i soon; we ordered the white leather because it looks great. We are worried about how it will hold up - so, for you owners out there with the white leather, how is the cleaning/dirt issue so far?

For many of us it may be too soon to tell. I've had the car 2+ weeks, driven with the top down for 500 miles and no signs of dirt showing yet on the white leather.

The fact this is a smooth leather compared to the Kansas leather, which is grainy and my trap more dirt, might offset the fact it is a lighter color. I hope.

[teagueAMX]

It will be more work than a darker color such as red or black. On the other hand, I have a light colored leather in my car and it's not a big issue.

[BlueZ4AZ]

Originally Posted by teagueAMX

It will be more work than a darker color such as red or black. On the other hand, I have a light colored leather in my car and it's not a big issue.

I might have some issues cleaning mine, since I stuck the car up....... Ohh wait, that's the other forum.

[teagueAMX]

Originally Posted by BlueZ4AZ

I might have some issues cleaning mine, since I stuck the car up....... Ohh wait, that's the other forum.

Blue's at it again.

Hey, wait a second; I thought I read in a major publication that a group of top German surgeons managed to pull your 2009 Z4 out of Heir Director's caboose. Are you telling me it’s still up there?

[BlueZ4AZ]

Originally Posted by teagueAMX

Blue's at it again.

Hey, wait a second; I thought I read in a major publication that a group of top German surgeons managed to pull your 2009 Z4 out of Heir Director's caboose. Are you telling me it’s still up there?

[aheinz_71]

Originally Posted by VintageBMW

Okay - we are picking up our Z4 35i soon; we ordered the white leather because it looks great. We are worried about how it will hold up - so, for you owners out there with the white leather, how is the cleaning/dirt issue so far?

I think it's too early to judge considering the time the car has been released AND the fact that most people don't use the E89 as a main car (which means they drive it less than a normal sedan or station wagon).

I once owned an E36 sedan with light gray leather which looked awful after about 3 years. I would never again order a light leather color.

Just my two cents.

[BlueZ4AZ]

I had gray/silver interior leather on my last 2 cars ('07 Corvette and '05 350ZR) and found that as long as I cleaned and conditioned the leather frequently, say once every 2 months, the leather looked great right to the very end when I sold the car. Had the Corvette 3 years too.

Could be the type of leather that affects how it ages.

[WMLAW03]

I put over 7K miles on my Z4 with white leather interior - 5k of those miles within the last 2 weeks

I carry some cleaning wipes in the car, and wipe any dirt from the seats after each day of use. The only issue I have is that the black seat belts leave a dark mark on the suede-like material on the outside of the upper seat back. I need to clean this area after each use, and so far it still looks like new after cleaning. However, I am concerned about how that material will stand up to repeated cleanings.

Has anybody else encountered this problem? I am considering visiting an upholstery shop to see if they can suggest something to protect this area.

[Vintage]

sounds like I am in for a lot of leather cleaning

[BlueZ4AZ]

Originally Posted by WMLAW03

I put over 7K miles on my Z4 with white leather interior - 5k of those miles within the last 2 weeks

I carry some cleaning wipes in the car, and wipe any dirt from the seats after each day of use. The only issue I have is that the black seat belts leave a dark mark on the suede-like material on the outside of the upper seat back. I need to clean this area after each use, and so far it still looks like new after cleaning. However, I am concerned about how that material will stand up to repeated cleanings.

Has anybody else encountered this problem? I am considering visiting an upholstery shop to see if they can suggest something to protect this area.

I sprayed all the suade (or whatever material it is) with Scotchguard right after I got the car. There are no seatbelt marks to this point.

Might also try this stuff: Leather Master™ Nubuck Protection (Nubuck, Alcantara®, Suede, etc)
Helps to protect suede and Nubuck leather against stains from drinks and food, it also makes the leather easier to clean.

[richard in NC]

I now have a seat belt mark on the lower portion of the side bolster. Most came off with light cleaning but a large mark is still visibible. It does come out but I'm afraid to clean too hard.

[ewps]

yeah... a lot of work:

if you drive top down the white leather will show and dirt/dust immediately

vacuum, wipe, clean and condition the leather on a regular basis

I hope the suede like material is not suede, water,rain moisture will be the end of it.

it's a nice color combination but if I had to do it again: black/grey + red/black interior.

[teagueAMX]

Originally Posted by richard in NC

I now have a seat belt mark on the lower portion of the side bolster. Most came off with light cleaning but a large mark is still visibible. It does come out but I'm afraid to clean too hard.

Are you talking about the part of the seat within the red box?

The reason I ask is because I've looked at a lot of photos and can't figure out where the Anthracite is on the seat. The photos show new and old BMW seats and there doesn't seems to be the mark your're talking about. Not doubting you just curious is it's a leather issue or something chartestic of synthetic materials. Does BMW use a synthetic material on the side of the seat or is all leather?

[yabbanoname]

Well, I had this weekend a bird shitting on my right seat while driving, I was worried but it all came off.
I've however nodoubt that this interior won't stay as new (it's my main car, and I drive this car 50% with top down.
At least I'll have an excuse to buy a new one ....

[JeF4y]

LOL.. Seatbelt mark on passenger side here too... It really depends on how the seat is adjusted, but it's kind of frustrating.

I also have a faint line on the headliner where it looks like it touched the metal bar in the trunk.

I'm dropping it off at the dealer tomorrow to find out why my BMW SEARCH function isn't working, and mentioned the 2 marks to see if they will do anything about them (or at least note it for BMW engineering)

[richard in NC]

Originally Posted by teagueAMX

Are you talking about the part of the seat within the red box?

The reason I ask is because I've looked at a lot of photos and can't figure out where the Anthracite is on the seat. The photos show new and old BMW seats and there doesn't seems to be the mark your're talking about. Not doubting you just curious is it's a leather issue or something chartestic of synthetic materials. Does BMW use a synthetic material on the side of the seat or is all leather?

Above is the beige non sport seats. The ivory sport seats are below. The material in the red squares is actually a fake suede called Alcantara. Anthracite is actually a charcoal color BMW uses on the Alcantara M5 headliners so its easy to confuse the two names.

My seat belt mark is on the Nappa leather area in the blue square.

[teagueAMX]

Thanks for the very informative post.

I'm sure BMW's use of Alcantara is to save costs thinking that it might seem like a nice touch. It's interesting to see the places they cut costs on a car of this cost/stature. On a lot of US cars with leather, only the front surface of the seat is leather and the sides, back etc., are a synthetic material that looks and feels very much like leather. I wouldn't have thought that BMW would use the same techniques. The interesting thing is the leather seats in my 2000 model year US don't have a single mark. All I've done is apply a little Meguiar's Cleaner/Conditioner. It clear to me that it's really good to know the specification of each option.

Does BMW use Alcantara on the Extended Leather option? I really like light colored upholstery but don't want the Alcantara getting marked up and looking bad in a couple of years. Sounds like I may be forced to order black seats.

[sinnet112]

Originally Posted by teagueAMX

Thanks for the very informative post.

I'm sure BMW's use of Alcantara is to save costs thinking that it might seem like a nice touch. It's interesting to see the places they cut costs on a car of this cost/stature. On a lot of US cars with leather, only the front surface of the seat is leather and the sides, back etc., are a synthetic material that looks and feels very much like leather. I wouldn't have thought that BMW would use the same techniques. The interesting thing is the leather seats in my 2000 model year US don't have a single mark. All I've done is apply a little Meguiar's Cleaner/Conditioner. It clear to me that it's really good to know the specification of each option.

Does BMW use Alcantara on the Extended Leather option? I really like light colored upholstery but don't want the Alcantara getting marked up and looking bad in a couple of years. Sounds like I may be forced to order black seats.

BMW has used Alcantara for years, it's a pretty common material for more sports oriented cars. For example:



Porsche uses the material too. Haven't had any marks here thus far, approaching 1K miles, but will update as time progresses.

[BlueZ4AZ]

Originally Posted by teagueAMX

Thanks for the very informative post.

I'm sure BMW's use of Alcantara is to save costs thinking that it might seem like a nice touch. It's interesting to see the places they cut costs on a car of this cost/stature. On a lot of US cars with leather, only the front surface of the seat is leather and the sides, back etc., are a synthetic material that looks and feels very much like leather. I wouldn't have thought that BMW would use the same techniques. The interesting thing is the leather seats in my 2000 model year US don't have a single mark. All I've done is apply a little Meguiar's Cleaner/Conditioner. It clear to me that it's really good to know the specification of each option.

Does BMW use Alcantara on the Extended Leather option? I really like light colored upholstery but don't want the Alcantara getting marked up and looking bad in a couple of years. Sounds like I may be forced to order black seats.

The entire seat (not just the "seating surface", which is a sophisticated way of saying where your a$$ goes) is Nappa leather, except for the small Alcantara sections. No pleather or fake leather on the Nappa seats, anywhere.

[teagueAMX]

Originally Posted by sinnet112

BMW has used Alcantara for years, it's a pretty common material for more sports oriented cars. For example:



Porsche uses the material too. Haven't had any marks here thus far, approaching 1K miles, but will update as time progresses.

Yeah, I've seen that photo before. Didn't know it is the material we're talking about. It looks like nice stuff and would have to be durable to hold up on a steering wheel of all places that would see the most contact.

Thanks. That helps.

[teagueAMX]

Originally Posted by BlueZ4AZ

The entire seat (not just the "seating surface", which is a sophisticated way of saying where your a$$ goes) is Nappa leather, except for the small Alcantara sections. No pleather or fake leather on the Nappa seats, anywhere.

Excellent, Blue. That helps a lot!