# Leather or Leatherette? Long Term!



## TrevLong (Jan 22, 2002)

Okay Folks,

I know this topic has probably been beaten to death, but I need to know the following:

(1) Exactly how close does leatherette resemble Montana Leather? I'm asking this because my last five or six cars have had leather, and I dont want to end up with the "plastic" look.

I have been to my dealer, all they had were Montana Leather interiors.

(2) How has Leatherette survived the duration? One, Two, Three Years out. How does it wear? Does it continue to look new, or does it become shiney. I know that real leather will wrinkle and eventually buff to shine, but that's leather.

(3) Over say a five year period, what looks better?


Thanks in advance!


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## ayn (Dec 19, 2001)

The non-M leather is crap, definitely not worth the money. and in 5 years the 'ette will definitely look better, heck, in probably a year the leather is gonna not look as good. even when I clean and condition it at least once a month with Lexol.

Get the leatherette!

--Andrew


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## Edge/330ci (Dec 22, 2001)

What color do you want? 'ette only comes in tan and black. If you want grey or brown, you'll have to go with leather.

I wanted grey interior so I couldn't get 'ette anyway, but my last car had crappy leather (Mitsu Eclipse), so don't really know what I'm missing. I'll just keep it conditioned well with Lexol and hope for the best.


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## ict330xi (Dec 23, 2001)

I have had 4 luxury automobiles over the past 5 years. All with leather. Lexus, Saab, BMW, Acura. BMW leather has held up as well as the others. IMHO this is not a BMW problem but a leather problem. The Lexus held up the worse, the Saab was hands down the best and the Bimmer a very close second. My 2002 leather seems as good if not better than the 1998. Time will tell, but I like the leather. They just don't make cows like they used to! It's probably all the steriods in the feed. (tongue in cheeck)These leather issue on the boards always seems to me like its bimmer bashing which in my experience is unfair. Light em up... (flames)


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## fuselier (Dec 23, 2001)

My black ette is about a year and a half old. Looks as feels just like it did when I drove her off the lot. Not a scuff, scratch, nothing.

Only the lack of "leather aroma" gives it away as not being leather.

I had a loaner car a few days ago, and I couldn't decide if it was cow or vinyl, until I thorught about the smell.

There are minor differences in the look and feel, but you really wouldn't notice them unless comparing side-by-side.


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## JPinTO (Dec 20, 2001)

For longevity, 'ette is the way to go. I'll tell you why. 

4 years ago I bought a 1988 300E off my father that he had from new. The interior was grungy and nasty from 10 years of minimal to no interior cleaning. 

It had "MB-Tex" , Benz-speak for plastic. My wife and I steel brushed the interior for a couple of hours, and the grunge peeled away exposing a pristine surface.... the interior looked brand new. We couldn't believe the transformation. 

The only down side of plastic is that it is cold during the winter. Get those bun warmers and keep your lady friend(s) happy! 

I would pay for leatherette, if they charged for it. Leather is too sensitive of a surface for the harshness of vehicle use, IMO. Leatherette is absolutely stress free--- you don't care what happens, because you can always hose it down.... literally!

Over any given period (1, 2, 3, 5, 10) leatherette will look closer to new than leather will. It's plastic! 

For more opinions, make sure you post this question on bimmer.org! :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: 

- JP


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## TD330ci (Dec 29, 2001)

*Re: Re: Leather or Leatherette? Long Term!*



ayn said:


> *The non-M leather is crap, definitely not worth the money. and in 5 years the 'ette will definitely look better, heck, in probably a year the leather is gonna not look as good. even when I clean and condition it at least once a month with Lexol.
> 
> Get the leatherette!
> 
> --Andrew *


Very much agree!! If I ordered over again, I would get 'ette and put the saved money into mods. Montana leather IS crap. I too lexol my leather once every other wash or every two weeks. They continue to crease more and more.


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## steve (Jan 7, 2002)

I have black 'ette in my 2001 325i with Sport Seats. After one year, they still look great after 40,000km, two kids in the back. A friend of mine rented a 330d with leather -- and it was virtually impossible to tell the difference. However, with time, leather, I think won't hold up as well. I had an '86 MB190E, with MBTex, and after 13 years, it still looked virtually new. 

The only downside with the bolster in the sport seats is the premature wear on the bolster when entering. At first I thought it was the seat belt rubbing, but it's more when I slide into the seat, over the bolster, it's worn the area where the piping is.

I'd save the money that I'd have to pay for leather, and buy two couches....


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## bol (Dec 24, 2001)

I have been very impressed with the leatherette in my car.

I mountainbike and paintball a lot, and as much as I would prefer, both are dirty sports and a lot of dirt gets tracked into the car.

Once my seats were very dirty, but a damp cloth took it all off.

If you are doing ANYTHING that could get the seats dirty, leatherette is the way to go and it is EXTREMELY durable as well.

Not to mention that everything thinks it's leather.


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## Dan (Dec 27, 2001)

I considered saving the money that leather costs by going for 'ette, but I wanted to first conduct my own side-by-side comparison of tan leather and 'ette. I went down to my local dealer and compared the interiors of two new 325i models that were sitting on the showroom floor. One had tan leather, the other, tan leatherette. IMHO, the appearance of the tan leatherette was substantially worse than the leather car. It just looked too shiny for my tastes, and it was simple to figure out instantly which one had the leather and which one was vinyl. The tan 'ette does not resemble leather at all. I have never seen black 'ette, so I can't comment on its appearance. 

As far as durability goes, I'm sure that the leatherette will wear better than the leather, especially if you park your car in the sun, have kids or pets, do not regularly clean and maintain your interior, eat or drink in the car, or have a very active lifestyle.

My 1970 MGB has its original black 'ette interior, and other than a small tear in the driver's seat, it still looks great, after 32 years!


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## Josh (PA) (Jan 21, 2002)

We have Tan Leather in our 325i, but if I had to do it over again, I would pass on the leather and put the money towards the NAV system. Our leather has held up fine for the year we have had it, but the driver's seat (sport) does show some light creasing from climbing over the bolster to get in and out. My father has an xi with tan ette, and if I didn't know better I would assume it was the real thing.


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## JPinTO (Dec 20, 2001)

Dan said:


> *The tan 'ette does not resemble leather at all. I have never seen black 'ette, so I can't comment on its appearance.
> 
> *


You are right! Tan ette does not look good. Black looks incredible. The way to tell black leather from ette, is the leather one is the one that looks wrinkly.


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## 10chi (Jan 11, 2002)

who cares about looks. Most of us will have bought a new car by the time leather starts to look old. And besides....the only one that cares about leather or leatherette is my ass. And my ass says leather is softer while leatherette feels like vinyl.


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## ayn (Dec 19, 2001)

btw, if I were to order again (since most of you said stuff like this), it would be an E46 M3 with CLOTH INSERTS! more grip for the track, more than $1k cheaper, and I won't have to worry about my leather getting wet when I have to open all my windows on the track during the rain...

--Andrew


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## LeucX3 (Dec 26, 2001)

*no mad cow*

When a friend was looking into ordering an MB C230 Sports Coupe, he was told that leather seats were being delayed because of mad cow disease.  But this was just specific to the C230 SC, no other Benz. Kinda makes you wonder about the overall quality of that car if they're skimping on the seats. That was reason enough for him not to buy one.

I know you asked about BMW leather and -ette, but after driving my car with black leather, i sat in my brother's 01 Passat with leather. What a huge difference. The VW leather felt like plastic. I never noticed that in my 96 Jetta GLX. Oh well, BMW leather may not be the best, but it's very very close. (Just how good is Jag Connoly leather anyway?)


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## Mr. E (Dec 19, 2001)

TrevLong said:


> *(1) Exactly how close does leatherette resemble Montana Leather? I'm asking this because my last five or six cars have had leather, and I dont want to end up with the "plastic" look.*


My 2002 325ci with black leatherette has only been hauling me around for about 5 weeks, so I can't speak to the longevity of the material. I can tell you, however, that at least half of the people who have sat in my car said "the leather looks great!" I do not miss the leather one bit, and am glad to have saved the $1,600 for more important things (like the sport package + HK! :thumb: )


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## TrevLong (Jan 22, 2002)

Thanks for all your replies!

I'm starting to lean towards the Leatherette. Upholstery will be Black. I'm thinking about keeping this car long term (6-8 years) so your information has been very helpful.

Regards,

Trevor Long


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## geomax (Dec 22, 2001)

If they made gray leatherette, I may have gone with that. But I love leather - I love the feel and smell. 

Thing is, the only way you can get a gray interior (which I badly wanted) was to go with leather. It is very expensive, I will grant that. But compared to some of the other cars I've owned, there is A LOT of it in the car. I downside to gray is that it needs to be kept clean. Already it's showing some dirt. I always had black leather before and I could always get away with not cleaning it for awhile.


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## ism409 (Dec 22, 2001)

I think I would go with the leatherette I have grey interior so I had to get leather.. My car is almost 3 years old now and I condition it regularly with lexol. There is wear on the drivers seat's left side. Can you fix this??  
I guess this is from gettting in and out of it so much..
Next time I will go with the ette..


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## bmw325 (Dec 19, 2001)

*couldn't resist...*


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