Leather seat wear on a car

[beanbag]

I drive a 2.5 year old BMW G30 (520d), with the Dakota cream leather seats and I'm shocked at the wear and tear they already have after owning the car for just under a year.

Granted I do a lot of mileage (32,000km in since buying the car in March), but at this rate of wear I'll be through the seat covers before I know it! I plan to keep the car until I reach 300k km's and I reckon I'll be sitting on springs by the end of the life of the car!

I clean the leather gently on a monthly basis using Autoglym leather cleaner and cream to keep the leather oiled and supple, but it's not made any difference.



Firstly, the car is still under warranty (3 years from manufacturer and a further extended year from the BMW dealership), so would this kind of rapid wear be covered?

Is this kind of wear and tear expected from leather seats in general and what can I do to mitigate it, and avoid it altogether if I get the leather covers replaced?

I've taken to wearing a microfibre cloth down the back of my trousers fearing it could be a combination of my belt / jeans causing this but that's also seems ridiculous! I never had these issues with my last BMW F31 with cloth / alcatara seats. They looked as good as new after 200,000km without any sign of wear....

[C.A.R.]

Probably should have gone with a black leather if signs of wear bother you.

Seems pretty reasonable to me - it's already 2.5 years old, how many miles has it done in total? 30k (even in km) is pretty high usage.

[f1nn]

That’s crap.

I’ve had 10 year old BMW’s with cream Dakota leather which looked almost perfect, which were cleaned just as often as my cars with dark leather.

The marking in your picture looks in an odd position, are you wearing anything out of the ordinary?

[grudas]

that looks more like a colour transfer from jeans etc..

I'd say you need something better to clean the leather, also keep in mind that new automotive leather doesn't behave the same way older leather does.

try something better, like gyeon leather cleaner etc to clean your leather. AG stuff is very mild at best..

[Blanchimont]

Is that wear, or jean transfer? I would look at getting some better leather cleaner (AG isn't great) and a leather brush and trying again.

[Alex_225]

Try a different leather cleaner OP. Have a look at Dr Leather cleaner and you could then follow it up with the Dye Block that they do. Alternatively try the Gliptone Leather Care kit, the cleaner is very good.

I can't tell entirely from that picture if it's definitely wear or if it's dye transfer from maybe jeans worn when driving? Cream leather will always show up more marks and dirt but I'd expect it to last without wearing through at least.

Keep in mind that leather is essentially coated so any of the balms and supposed moisturisers will have little effect unless the leather actually cracks. The likelihood is that it's a faux leather of some sort.

[Chamon_Lee]

It does look more like dye transfer. I suspect you using all the care product is in fact locking the dye colour in. Before leather protect your meant to use a good cleaner.

Also are you sure it’s leather and not the man made stuff at which point u can use a harsher chemical if need be.

[anonymous-user]

As a shedist I personally hate leather seats, they always look worn out and tatty on an older car. Personally I prefer cloth seats, quick going over with a carpet shampooer and they look like new again.

Also on most cars there isn't actually much leather involved at all, it is 90% vinyl (or "man made leather" if it is a Mercedes A class)

beanbag said:

I clean the leather gently on a monthly basis using Autoglym leather cleaner and cream to keep the leather oiled and supple, but it's not made any difference.

Isn't leather painted anyway, so the idea of feeding it and keeping it supple a myth?

Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 10th December 09:41

[Jasandjules]

Looks like the same dye transfer as I get in my car... Good quality leather cleaner and elbow grease should shift that. I use the foaming stuff..

[Dannbodge]

Get rid of the Autoglym stuff and stop conditioning the leather.
It doesn't need it.

[xjay1337]

Looks like dye transfer, try cleaning it with a product like gliptone or dodojuice supernatural leather.

[Ninja59]

Dakota is leather, but pigment coated leather, you are cleaning a plastic clearcoat. In fact many cars leather is now coated (either fully or partially (semi aniline), there is very few fully aniline leathers in cars now.

Dump the Autoglym Conditioner in the bin, if anything it is likely to be atttracting more dirt as it simply sits on the surface unable to get through the clearcoat (unless it has cracked). Find a better cleaner and most cruicially a protection product, it looks like dye transfer.

Dr Leather is my go to as mentioned above cleaner and dye block.

[PorkInsider]

Yep - got to be dye transfer, surely.

And agree regarding the leather 'conditioner'. There's a coating on the leather already so anything you apply isn't going into the leather itself, only the non-leather surface coating.

Try Dr. leather as mentioned, or LTT.

I have LTT cleaners and dye blockers and my opal white (properly white, not cream) BMW leather comes up pristine with it, including after wearing brand new dark coloured denim.

https://www.lttleathercare.com/product-category/au...

[archie456]

I get the same on a cream sofa at home, there's no need for fancy potions, regular baby or hand wipes will shift it in short order.

[Hoofy]

I found this Gliptone stuff good for cleaning leather. https://amzn.to/2qD3ZtH

It might make the rest of the seat look grubby, though.

I'm going with dye transfer, too, because you can see the leather "grain".

[cmvtec]

I get a similar build up of dye in my X-Type - in a similar place, it's from one of my belts.

The car is high mileage so I spent a day cleaning the leather with a very mild abrasive paste, before completely washing down and putting a leather cream on. Brought it up lovely, has had 145k of arse on this seat in the last decade.

[PSRG]

I had an M235 convertible with oyster dakota seats. It looked OK after 42 months / 40k miles, but I did have one leather belt with a matt or untreated finish that left terrible marks on the leather which were a pain to remove in a similar pace to those markings. The seats themselves weren't worn though

[beanbag]

Hi all...thanks for the feedback and input. The marks are definitely discolouration of the leather and not colour transfer. I know this as when I scrubbed slightly harder, it got worse, so I backed off right away. I wear dark

I will in the meantime try Dr Leather. I should be able to pick this up next week when I'm over in the UK for Christmas.

Regarding what I wear; Blue jeans and belt. I've stopped wearing my belt, or I wear a microfibre cloth tucked down my back, but again it just seems bonkers that I have to do this.

[Court_S]

Looks like dye transfer to me too.

My lemon Dakota seats in my E90 still looked mint when I sold it at 96k.

Gliptone cleaner always bought them up a treat.

[Chubbyross]

That’s definitely colour transfer from either a belt or trousers. Colourlock leather cleaner is fantastic stuff (check out the forensic detailing channel on YouTube for demos). It’ll shift colour transfer on leather easily. They also sell a good leather barrier product which should make things easier in future.