Leather seat care - advice needed

[leeson660]

Hi guys

After a fair bit of research I'm fairly happy that I'm doing the right things now to keep my M3's exterior mint. I've also been sucked in and bought all the Autoglym kit for the windows, plastics etc and religiously clean the car every weekend.

However after a month of ownership I haven't even touched the leather interior yet. The car has had the BMW 'seal and protect' treatment about 7 months ago and the leather is tight and in immaculate condition. I just wondered if anyone had any advice on keeping the leather in this condition? It's got the electric rear blind which should protect the top of the rear seats in the summer or I assume that's what it's for

I've read this article: http://www.best-auto-detailing-tips.com/cleaning-l...

Just not sure how this fits in with the seal and protect coating?

I also have a strange problem with the rear seat. There are two small lumps what feel like small springs that are poking up into the leather. They have only appeared over the past two weeks I think. I just wonder if anyone knows how the M3 rear seats are constructed, what these lumps might be and more importantly how do I fix it! Just worried stretching and damaging the leather.

I've attached a couple of photos to try and show what I'm talking about.

Car is an e46 M3 CS.

Any help on any of the above would be very much appreciated.

Cheers

James

[falkster]

I can't help with the lumps but as far as looking after your leather you need to get the 2 stage gliotone set. The cleaner and conditioner are both awesome. I've had shabby old leather come up like almost new but also new leather kept looking plump and matt.

[Pig Skill]

yep gliptone all the way.

As for the lumps, you need to remove the seat bottom and have a look from the underside. If you are worried then take the seat to an auto upholsterers and get them to remove the leather and have a look for you.

[leeson660]

Thanks for the info guys.

I take it Gliptone is a step up from the Autoglym cleaner and conditioner? If so I think I will take your advice and go for the Gliptone cleaner and conditioner along with the leather cleaner brush. How often do you recommend cleaning / conditioning the interior?

My apologies if this is a really stupid question but do you think BMW may look at the rear seat issue for me under the AUC warranty?

[FredBasset]

The Gliptone stuff is amazing, I've used it as part of the restoration of the interior of a 1985 Esprit and a 91 Excel.

For general cleaning you don't need to use this stuff often. For the most part I'd just clean the seats with a dry duster and perhaps the Gliptone two stage once a year or perhaps twice if really clean.

Don't use single stage leather cleaners, you can't remove dirt and condition at the same time.

Regards
Gary

[jontysafe]

Johnsons baby wipes work well as an everyday clean inbetween deep cleans and conditioning treatments. I had blue denim transfer onto champagne nappa and it cleaned up nicely.

[E30M3SE]

Re the lunps the rear seat bench just lifts up, requires a good tug on each side, lift it up and check to see the cause, alternatively if the car is under warranty let a dealer have a look at it.

Thought Gliptone two stage treatment was pretty pointless on modern 'sealed' leather seats.

[leeson660]

E30M3SE said:

Re the lunps the rear seat bench just lifts up, requires a good tug on each side, lift it up and check to see the cause, alternatively if the car is under warranty let a dealer have a look at it.

Thought Gliptone two stage treatment was pretty pointless on modern 'sealed' leather seats.

No problem I may need to drop her into Ocean Falmouth to have something else checked so will ask them to kindly have a look.

Yes I did read that modern leather is sealed so conditioner actually has no effect? Just a weekly wipe down with a damp cloth then a thorough clean with gliptone cleaner every so often seems to be the general consensus.

Thanks for your help

[leeson660]

Quick update: I removed the rear seat but unfortunately there's no way to get to the problem area.

So took Pig Skill's advice and booked it in on Wednesday with a local auto upholsterers in Exeter called 'Trim'll Fix It'! Although the name doesn't inspire confidence the website looked very professional http://www.trimllfixit.co.uk/ and when I spoke to them they sounded very knowledgeable and professional. He seemed to know the construction of the M3 rear seat and said with a couple of hours work it should be able to be fixed, est £50.

Fingers crossed - I'll take some photos when its being repaired just in case anyone is interested on what is causing these strange lumps. Surely I cant be the only one lol

Cheers

[leeson660]

All sorted!

Despite Trim'll Fix It customer service being more like 'Trim'll Fix It now fk off' they did do a cracking job. The problem was attributed to incorrectly position hog rings apparently. All sorted for £60 which took them about 45 minutes. In my opinion is great value for quality specialist work.

Headed back from Exeter and took a detour across Dartmoor which was fantastic. Took it easy on the straights because of the animals but when you can see the road is clear some of the flowing corners up there are incredible and the CS absolutely comes alive.





The CS in its natural habitat

[Ocarru]

Habitat? More like stomping ground! Good job there and quite a bit cheaper than I thought it would be.

How did u leave the cleaning? Damp rag and occasional Gliptone cleaner, as above, or are you using a conditioner?

Thanks.

[leeson660]

Ocarru said:

Habitat? More like stomping ground! Good job there and quite a bit cheaper than I thought it would be.

How did u leave the cleaning? Damp rag and occasional Gliptone cleaner, as above, or are you using a conditioner?

Thanks.

Cheers mate

Ref the cleaning I'm going for the damp cloth wipe over on a regular basis then I'm going to go for http://www.lttsolutions.co.uk/index.php/auto/auto-... which was highly recommended on new leather interiors over the Gliptone which seems to be designed for older leather that isn't sealed.

There seems to be quite a bit of confusion and conflicting views which is surprising considering it must be a very common question.

I've found the whole car cleaning to be fairly confusing as there's so many products and conflicting advice. Autoglym alone must have 50 different products for your car. Just going to find the products that work and stick to them and try not to be too OCD about it

[belleair302]

The whole detailing business can get very confusing. After some time most people have a variety of products they stick to and just vary waxes, glass cleaners and exterior finishing products as and when. Shampoos, tools, wheel cleaners, clays, quick detailers and interior cleaners are all pretty straight forward. Don't go mad, d some studying and ask.....the knowledge is out there. Wise choice re LTT for the leather.

[NickXX]

Are those power sockets in the rear standard on the CS? Never seen those before on an e46.

[leeson660]

NickXX said:

Are those power sockets in the rear standard on the CS? Never seen those before on an e46.

I think the car was one of the first CS's ever made (dec 2004) and was a show car for bmw so had every single optional extra fitted. I checked the spec print out and I think these are part of the 'smokers package'.

I've even got the electric rear blind and the 'through-loading ski bag'

[MattOz]

NickXX said:

Are those power sockets in the rear standard on the CS? Never seen those before on an e46.

My CS has them, but they're definitely not a common option.