BMW Leather seats, are they soft ??

[dibblecorse]

Guys, and girls ...

A new question, having had my answers about Z4's I've been to look at a few but even the low mileage ones seem to have seats that id expect to see in cars with much higher mileages judging by the way the cushions have sunk, which is far worse than any car with leather i've ever owned at a similar mileage, I've attached a pic of a Z4 seat in a 29,000 mile car, just looks wrong, but seen a few like this.

Thoughts ????

[Deva Link]

Probably driven by a girl with a very bony arse.

[northwest monkey]

The side bolsters are terrible as well. I had a 330 convertible & after 50k miles they looked dreadful.

[Ment-Al]

Side bolsters are terrible with proper sports seats but IMO, Z4 seats are OK, no wear on mine after 50k miles - BUT fitting my bluetooth kit today, i did put a nice knee mark on the seat!

That Z4 looks ok to me really.

[JLJ]

I've had an assortment of cars with leather, including two BM's a Merc and 911. The BMW leather was the worst by a long way, best build quality (even better than the Porsche), but the leather ages rather quickly.

[welwynnick]

I don't think the seatrs are soft - far from it. I think the problem is that the leatehr stretches. Other manufacturers seems to be able to cope with it better, and BMW leather seats generally look older, quicker.

I had a fairly high mileage 7 series with saggy seats. I tried fitting a new cushion (not quick!), but that hardly made any difference. I also got an upholsterer to do a bit of a nip-and-tuck to take up some of the saggy bits, and that made much more of a difference.

Nick

[drivin_me_nuts]

The heritage leather on the E39 is as tough but the side bolsters are rubbish and fade very badly, within the first 50k (certainly from the ones I have seen).

I think(?) that Liquid Leather do some kind of paint to cover this up - I am sure that the learned folk of this forum will advise accordingly

[drivin_me_nuts]

The heritage leather on the E39 is as tough but the side bolsters are rubbish and fade very badly, within the first 50k (certainly from the ones I have seen).

I think(?) that Liquid Leather do some kind of paint to cover this up - I am sure that the learned folk of this forum will advise accordingly

[sparks_E39]

After 110,000 miles my E39 is only showing a tiny amount of wear in the drivers side, hardly noticeable as when I'm in the car I'm actually sat on it

[BMW-SPORT]

Any leather will wear out really quick if you don't clean and feed it, it also suffers on the bolster if you slide across it when you get into the car.

[SJobson]

Normal E39 leather is like elephant hide - very practical and hard wearing but not particularly luxurious. Is the dakota leather in E60s much nicer?

[Neil.D]

BMW-SPORT said:

Any leather will wear out really quick if you don't clean and feed it, it also suffers on the bolster if you slide across it when you get into the car.

Exactly, look after it and it will stay looking new.
It is dead skin that requires cleaning and feeding.
Have you ever seen a well moisturised Egyptian mummy?

[Roger645]

Neil.D said:

BMW-SPORT said:

Any leather will wear out really quick if you don't clean and feed it, it also suffers on the bolster if you slide across it when you get into the car.

Exactly, look after it and it will stay looking new.
It is dead skin that requires cleaning and feeding.
Have you ever seen a well moisturised Egyptian mummy?

Well I did a search on it and

[Sticks2]

I've read elsewhere of Z4 bolsters wearing unexpectedly soon. My 04 has started to show signs of wear at 14k.

TT sets have an issue re rippling of the base of leather seats.

[Dr Jekyll]

On my E46 my right leg is on the bolster whenever my foot is on the accelerator, I don't know whether this applies to other models.

[dibblecorse]

Guys, thanks for the replies, although I think a few of you have got the wrong end of the stick, I was asking more about BMW seats, than the leather, the leather looks fine but the seat seems to have sagged an awful lot more and the leather stretched than any other leather car seat i've seen or owned at that kind of age and mileage, they look like real high mileage seats with the stretched leather and indentations, my Merc seats didnt lokanything like that after 70-80k, nor did my Alfa or even my Vauxhall (Calibra) ....

So the general opinion is that for a BMW with 30k on the clock those seats don't appear odd in any way ??