White leather holding up + care

[sjeupie]

Hi all,

I'm absolutely in love with my light interior and would like to keep it that way for many years to come. I live high in the Alps and drive 90% of the time with the top down, so UV is a factor for me. And my work brings me often on construction sites....
I bought my z4 second hand with 40k km on the clock, with Kansas beige leather interior and sport seats. It is all leather a part from one alcantara side on the console side of the raised hip support.

The leather seems generally ok, a part from some usage marks which was to be expected from a 6 year old car, such as:
- a general slightly darker colour on the driver side if you're very anal like me. I hope this can be resolved with a good cleaner.
- a couple of scratches from the seatbelt. This is something I cannot fix myself for sure.
- a couple of areas (mainly on the raised sides on the door sides) of discolouration. It seems as if the beige simply wears off.
- the leather on the driver seat feels smoother, especially on the raised supports, compared tomthe passenger side.

I have read some topics about leather care but they were all from people with basically brand new cars in 2010. Could younguys give me some more insight now that the e89 has been on the road for a while?

[ManiacGT]

I'm not sure what you're looking to learn but the key is keeping it clean. Dirt on leather becomes abrasive and will help wear leather quicker.

A good leather foam cleaner is best and agitated with a soft brush before single pass/direction wipe with a microfibre cloth.

I've had the Nappa leather white design to look after in my e89 and while it's a touch shinier than I'd like it still looks very good for a 7 year old car.

I also have the liquid leather paint which I use to touch up marks and scratches I cannot remove. I've use it on the bolster a couple of times which has worn due to getting in and out of the car and that also looks in very good condition still albeit I've had to put some of the paint on the white stitching due to it getting very soiled and I couldn't clean that up well enough, something only I would notice as its a very small area.

[kosd]

A couple of tips. When you vacuum the interior, always pull the leather seams apart a little and vacuum them as the dirt that builds there becomes like sandpaper as it gets trapped in those areas.

Many professional detailers use a 1 to 10 bottle of woolite mixed with water. Use a very soft interior brush to agitate then wipe down with a microfiber cloth. This works way better than most of the leather cleaners I have wasted money on. Always use a damp microfiber cloth to wipe down after this method to ensure no soap is left behind. You can follow up with any conditioners you want to use.

Finally, if you have scuffs such as from something rubber that dragged across the leather that won't come off during cleaning, use a mr clean magic eraser with just water to very gently take off the scuff. The foam is a very mild abrasive and I find it works better to take off scuffs from leather and the exterior paint than any cleaners I have tried.

Hope this helps...

[Zyal8r]

Although these posts make good sense, this is a source of frustration. I have googled and You tubed the topic. There are different kinds of leather and different tanning processes. I have used products from our Auto parts stores like McGuires and Mothers and wasn't very happy. They all scare me. UV is a big problem for convertibles and wear on the bolsters is so hard to avoid. I recently bought a bottle of leather care from the dealer. I am hoping it is at least compatible with the leather used by BMW. It does look better, but I wish I had used it from the start. i can't even tell what is leather and what is vinyl. I don't think the dash is leather and not much of the doors and only part of the seats. Wish I could help.

[ljkiter]

leatherique! i've used it on my e85 and its the best restorer. Its pricey but ain't nobody got time for autozones leather cleaners lol

[Lurcher]

Originally Posted by ljkiter

leatherique! i've used it on my e85 and its the best restorer. Its pricey but ain't nobody got time for autozones leather cleaners lol

Guys on another e38 forum on the web can attest to this stuff. We used to redo complete seats with their products....

[teezee]

For the alcantara

http://www.sonaxusa.com/blog/product...antara-cleaner

[sjeupie]

Thnx for all the replies.
Like someone said before, it is scary to just try things out and there are sooo many products to choose from. So it is nice to hear the experience from fellow BMW owners with products and methods. I, for example, never heard of the retouch paint for the leather and

[Lazyboy2010]

Zaino also makes an excellent leather cleaner and a leather restorer with real leather oil. The only problem is there is so much leather oil in it that your car will smell like a leather shop for a few days.

I have the Ivory white extended leather package and it still looks like new after 6 years. Even after Lazygirl sat in it with new blue jeans and the dye came off on the seats. She had already done the same thing in another car with beige leather. "I didn't know it would happen again"

Even the all leather covered dash in the 7 that sits out in the sun all day (Z4 and 79 280ZX get the garage) looks like new