Leatherette

[txhothead]

For those of you with the leatherette interior, are you happy or do you regret not getting the leather?

 

[Detrich]

leather definitely looks & smells nicer when the car is new. and, it's easy to clean. a friend of mine has 98 318i with black leatherette. and, the interior of that car seems to age better- ie the seats show less wrinkles and seem to stay firmer. (i have gray leather in mine.) but, it might just be that my car's on the road & in the sun more, since i have a longer commute everyday. i recall leather being an expensive option back in 98 when i bought my car- around $1k or 1.5k. not sure what it's costing nowadays...

 

[bmw046series]

Well you don't win with either one, Leather is obviously more luxurious and comfortable, however Leatherette or VINYL tends to be tougher and you can clean it with a semi-wet cloth and soap. I have never owned a vinyl trimmed vehicle but I think it lasts longer to a point, leather tends to keep its mass but takes a lot of care, were as vinyl doesn’t keep its mass (when I say mass I mean how thick the actually covering stays). My take if you can’t afford a car loaded with Leather don’t buy it, that is why they offer vinyl.

 

[jrt67ss350]

While I think it is inappropriate that a car doesn't come standard with leather when it costs as much as a new 3er does, leatherette will definitely look nicer much longer than the leather does. And, it basically requires no maintenance. If you spill something on it, there isn't much you can't use to clean it - when I bought my '87, I cleaned it's leatherette with Fantastik and a nylon brush to get off the years of grime. Looks great.

Here's the leatherette interior in my 19.5 year old car. Take a look at any equal age BMW with leather, and their interiors look like total crap.

That being said, I don't think I could spend as much as a new 3er costs and NOT spend a little bit more to get leather.