'Man made leather'?
Discussion
jkh112 said:
Ari said:
But jolly well done on crowbarring in that you own a Merc AND a Porsche, I'm sure that must have helped make you feel better about it all, and if it helps, my Merc is too old to have the fake stuff. 
MB tex has been around since at least the eighties, is your Merc older than that?Ari said:
rockin said:
I have man-made seat coverings in both my Merc and my Porsche. It's fashionable on PH to sneer at such things and pretty clear that many people on here enjoy looking down their noses at inferior mortals who drive such cars....
Next question?
Just... Wow. Next question?
It was just something that amused me, I'm sorry if it made you feel a bit inferior, that wasn't the intention at all.
But jolly well done on crowbarring in that you own a Merc AND a Porsche, I'm sure that must have helped make you feel better about it all, and if it helps, my Merc is too old to have the fake stuff.
"Plastic" is surely taxi spec. that Merc seem to specialise in so you can wipe them down.
Not sure why Porsche do man-made, but then they do like to charge for extras.I’d be cynical but when I worked at Lotus there was an Evora trimmed up in artificial leather as an investigation into doing a basic model at a lower price as even the non extended leather was nearly a grand per car on the bill of materials.... it actually looked nicer than the real leather!
Even when they upgraded the leather quality for one of the model year changes the vinyl still looked pretty good alongside it!
Not sure why we never made it!
Even when they upgraded the leather quality for one of the model year changes the vinyl still looked pretty good alongside it!
Not sure why we never made it!
rayyan171 said:
BMW leather is unusual, but all do contain some cow in them.
Dakota is the basic leather, probably what you get as the first option up from cloth seats in the 1 and 3 series. It is partially man made but has mainly a leather element to it. It's OK, a bit tough and grainy but looks and feels like leather, which is what all want.
Then there is Nevada leather (in our car). Much smoother, much softer, smells more like leather as well. Quite nice actually.
There is then Nappa leather, which is a smoother, still slightly grainy leather that is much softer still than Nevada.
Finally, there is Merino leather, which is as soft as can be, but you would expect that when the option is £3k+!
Mercedes are very guilty for it, makes people in their A-Class feel they have 'luxury' when there is some vinyl on the seats.
I have the Merino Leather in my E90.Dakota is the basic leather, probably what you get as the first option up from cloth seats in the 1 and 3 series. It is partially man made but has mainly a leather element to it. It's OK, a bit tough and grainy but looks and feels like leather, which is what all want.
Then there is Nevada leather (in our car). Much smoother, much softer, smells more like leather as well. Quite nice actually.
There is then Nappa leather, which is a smoother, still slightly grainy leather that is much softer still than Nevada.
Finally, there is Merino leather, which is as soft as can be, but you would expect that when the option is £3k+!
Mercedes are very guilty for it, makes people in their A-Class feel they have 'luxury' when there is some vinyl on the seats.
It's beautifully soft and supple but wears so badly. I had a friend sit in the back seat and nearly rip a hole in it with a button on their jeans.
rayyan171 said:
BMW leather is unusual, but all do contain some cow in them.
Dakota is the basic leather, probably what you get as the first option up from cloth seats in the 1 and 3 series. It is partially man made but has mainly a leather element to it. It's OK, a bit tough and grainy but looks and feels like leather, which is what all want.
Then there is Nevada leather (in our car). Much smoother, much softer, smells more like leather as well. Quite nice actually.
There is then Nappa leather, which is a smoother, still slightly grainy leather that is much softer still than Nevada.
Finally, there is Merino leather, which is as soft as can be, but you would expect that when the option is £3k+!
Mercedes are very guilty for it, makes people in their A-Class feel they have 'luxury' when there is some vinyl on the seats.
In the US BMW do a vinyl man made below Dakota the name escapes me though. Same level really as Mercedes Artico.Dakota is the basic leather, probably what you get as the first option up from cloth seats in the 1 and 3 series. It is partially man made but has mainly a leather element to it. It's OK, a bit tough and grainy but looks and feels like leather, which is what all want.
Then there is Nevada leather (in our car). Much smoother, much softer, smells more like leather as well. Quite nice actually.
There is then Nappa leather, which is a smoother, still slightly grainy leather that is much softer still than Nevada.
Finally, there is Merino leather, which is as soft as can be, but you would expect that when the option is £3k+!
Mercedes are very guilty for it, makes people in their A-Class feel they have 'luxury' when there is some vinyl on the seats.
Dakota is fairly standard as a starting point excluding M and the 7 from memory. My 640 has Dakota and for the type of miles I do as wel las having my niece and nephews in the car it is perfect.
Nevada as far as I am aware is now very limited if not available at all.
Nappa is the first of the semi aniline leathers, slightly more fragile, but has a softer and slightly nicer feeling. Downside it requires more treatment to be kept clean.
Merino is again semi aniline, but is from sheep. It is even more soft, but requires even more care.
Very few cars are actually not top coated, and in those cases only require regular cleaning and hydration (not conditioning). From what I have heard there is very few using aniline leather (probably only RR now).
Plate spinner said:
The leather I had in a Jaguar XJ Sovereign was a different class to the leather I've had in BMW, Audi and Mercedes.
Thats because its real ,leather. Can you imagine the uproar of jaguar started doing fake leather? I mean, the German canrs can get away with it, but jaguar...Dannbodge said:
I have the Merino Leather in my E90.
It's beautifully soft and supple but wears so badly. I had a friend sit in the back seat and nearly rip a hole in it with a button on their jeans.
I had Nappa in my X5/Z4M/M3 and I agree it just doesn't wear well, it looks and feels very nice but it's not that practical. It's beautifully soft and supple but wears so badly. I had a friend sit in the back seat and nearly rip a hole in it with a button on their jeans.
I had Dakota in my 330i/330d/520d/640d, it looks and feels absolutely s
t but it's much more practical to live with. williamp said:
Plate spinner said:
The leather I had in a Jaguar XJ Sovereign was a different class to the leather I've had in BMW, Audi and Mercedes.
Thats because its real ,leather. Can you imagine the uproar of jaguar started doing fake leather? I mean, the German canrs can get away with it, but jaguar...Jaguar have been using Bondgrain leather on theirs cars for years, keeping the Softgrain leather for the higher trim levels.
I have a 2003 Merc and it's got Artico seats, to be fair with 120k on the clock, they look great and you'd be hard pushed to tell they weren't genuinely leather. Also, the amount of processing genuine leather goes through, followed by being coloured and then protected it's not that 'natural' anyway really.
My CLS63 has what I assume is genuine leather but the door cars and dashboard are wrapped in 'leather' too so not sure what's more natural and what's not anyway.
My CLS63 has what I assume is genuine leather but the door cars and dashboard are wrapped in 'leather' too so not sure what's more natural and what's not anyway.
Alcantara has long been regarded as an up-market alternative to leather for many cars. Wonder where it comes from? 
unWikipedia - "Alcantaras are kept in herds that graze on the level heights of the Andes of southern Peru, western Bolivia, Ecuador, and northern Chile at an altitude above 11,500 ft, throughout the year. Alcantaras are considerably smaller than llamas, and unlike llamas, they were not bred to be beasts of burden, but were bred specifically for their fibre. In the textile industry, "Alcantara" primarily refers to the hair of Peruvian alcantaras. More broadly it refers to a style of fabric made from alcantara hair and used principally in the automotive industry."
unWikipedia - "Alcantaras are kept in herds that graze on the level heights of the Andes of southern Peru, western Bolivia, Ecuador, and northern Chile at an altitude above 11,500 ft, throughout the year. Alcantaras are considerably smaller than llamas, and unlike llamas, they were not bred to be beasts of burden, but were bred specifically for their fibre. In the textile industry, "Alcantara" primarily refers to the hair of Peruvian alcantaras. More broadly it refers to a style of fabric made from alcantara hair and used principally in the automotive industry."
saaby93 said:
Was this thread too full?
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Shouldn't you have posted this question in this forum? https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/forum.asp?h=0&...
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff