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      06-29-2012, 05:38 AM   #1
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Light interior?

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Hello good people!

I'm new to the board. It has fast become a second home to me. Not yet a BMW owner, but I intend to get a M5 within a year, due to the fact, that I have a stick shift car today, that I need my daughter to practice on.

I love the light interiors: Silverstone and Platinum, but for little over a year ago, I was with a friend in Prague to look at a better used BMW 650. It had from what I remeber a light interior close to Champange but it looked so dirty. Now, the car was three years old, but hadn't gone very far. So my questions are these:

1. You who selected a light interior and had you car for a while - How does the seats look today? (Age on car, amout of usage and pictures are much appreciated)

2. If you post me pictures of perfectly maintained seats - How do you maintain them so clean, who much work do you put in maintaining them so clean and what kind of clothes are you wearing?

Thank you in advance from Sweden..
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      06-29-2012, 09:33 AM   #2
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My 335 has Oyster leather interior and still looks good after 3 years and 85,000 km. I use leather conditioner about once a year and wipe the seats if they get something spilled on them. I'll grab a few photos when I'm in the car next, but I'll say that there is a bit of darkening around the 'grains' of the leather surface. It doesn't bother me, but it could be considered 'dirty'.
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      06-29-2012, 12:02 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GTR-Dad View Post
My 335 has Oyster leather interior and still looks good after 3 years and 85,000 km. I use leather conditioner about once a year and wipe the seats if they get something spilled on them. I'll grab a few photos when I'm in the car next, but I'll say that there is a bit of darkening around the 'grains' of the leather surface. It doesn't bother me, but it could be considered 'dirty'.
Thank you for sharing your experiance.

Well, when I say dirty, I mean there was really heavy grey shade in the center of the seats. More so on the driver seat, but also noticable on the passenger seat.

Looking forward to see those pictures..
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      06-29-2012, 12:42 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GTR-Dad View Post
My 335 has Oyster leather interior and still looks good after 3 years and 85,000 km. I use leather conditioner about once a year and wipe the seats if they get something spilled on them. I'll grab a few photos when I'm in the car next, but I'll say that there is a bit of darkening around the 'grains' of the leather surface. It doesn't bother me, but it could be considered 'dirty'.
The M5 has a smooth grain surface as opposed to a grainy surface like the Dakota or Novillo leathers in the 3 series.

It is much easier to stay clean. I have light leathers in all my cars and they all look like new.

My leather maintenance routine is that my detailer conditions my leather every 3-4 weeks, and he cleans the leather (i.e. wipes it with a leather cleaning spray) once a quarter.

It's really not very hard as long as you are clean. So for instance if I go out for a burger I wash my hands before returning to the car. And if that isn't possible I keep small packets of wet wipes in my glove box just in case.

Further I keep a leather cleaning kit from Swissvax in my trunk. If I ever see an oily spot where someone has made a mess, I spray the spot and wipe with a microfiber cloth and that keeps it clean. You don't want to leave stains for several months. As an example, every time I take my car in for an oil change, the BMW tech leaves dark oily fingerprints on the leather. I can eliminate those marks in 2 minutes with my cleaning kit.
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      06-30-2012, 04:31 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stealth.pilot View Post
The M5 has a smooth grain surface as opposed to a grainy surface like the Dakota or Novillo leathers in the 3 series.

It is much easier to stay clean. I have light leathers in all my cars and they all look like new.

My leather maintenance routine is that my detailer conditions my leather every 3-4 weeks, and he cleans the leather (i.e. wipes it with a leather cleaning spray) once a quarter.

It's really not very hard as long as you are clean. So for instance if I go out for a burger I wash my hands before returning to the car. And if that isn't possible I keep small packets of wet wipes in my glove box just in case.

Further I keep a leather cleaning kit from Swissvax in my trunk. If I ever see an oily spot where someone has made a mess, I spray the spot and wipe with a microfiber cloth and that keeps it clean. You don't want to leave stains for several months. As an example, every time I take my car in for an oil change, the BMW tech leaves dark oily fingerprints on the leather. I can eliminate those marks in 2 minutes with my cleaning kit.
That's quite some maintaining.

BMW techs who leaves dark oily fingerprints - what a horrible thought.

Got any fresh pictures of your interiour?

Thank you in advance..
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      06-30-2012, 05:35 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Virr View Post
That's quite some maintaining.

BMW techs who leaves dark oily fingerprints - what a horrible thought.

Got any fresh pictures of your interiour?

Thank you in advance..
It's not that much maintenance. You see, I didn't maintain my black leather at all. And what happened is after about 2 years I saw crease lines in the leather, and after about 4 years I saw cracking on the bolsters. On the other hand my lighter leathers still look new because of the conditioning I provide. I don't condition the leather to keep them clean. I condition them to keep them looking fresh. Heat and UV is terrible for skin,and if you park a car in the sun as sometimes we do in Florida, then it is really bad for the skin. I would therefore do this routine regardless of the color.

My cleaning routine is once every 3 months and I think that is reasonable. I clean my black leather jacket with he same frequency. Remember just because the leather is black, doesn't mean it is clean. And the clean leather feels softer and more supple which so what I want.

The sporadic clean a spot if you see it, like the oil from the BMW tech is just common sense. What is interesting though is that it comes out instantly and that tells me that BMWs smooth Nappa and merino leathers clean very easily.
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      06-30-2012, 05:43 PM   #7
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Some fresh photos. I am showing pictures of my Lexus since my Oyster Nappa 550i is still only 9 months old. This Lexus is 3 years and 1 month old.
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      06-30-2012, 05:45 PM   #8
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And BTW that Lexus leather is a smooth premium semi-aniline leather. Not the vinyl coated crap you get in lower end models or in standard BMWs.
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      06-30-2012, 05:46 PM   #9
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Oh and there is a patch which is a little oily on the right bolster. I will clean that tomorrow.
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      07-01-2012, 02:01 AM   #10
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Not sure how helpful this will be, but, here are some photos of my silverstone interior. It is 4 months since I have had the car, and gets used every day - sometimes 3 or 4 times. Which means a fair bit of getting in and out of the car. The leather is pristine. The only precautions I take are to sit on a towel when I am wearing jeans. Other than that nothing. I am pleasantly surprised by how well it is wearing so far. I have focussed on the high wear areas - around the side bolsters.
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      07-01-2012, 02:55 AM   #11
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I keep wanting to clean my Silverstone seats because I'm paranoid they will get scruffy, but they just stay clean. My jeans are pretty faded - maybe that helps.
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      07-01-2012, 09:36 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mhh View Post
I keep wanting to clean my Silverstone seats because I'm paranoid they will get scruffy, but they just stay clean. My jeans are pretty faded - maybe that helps.
Yes probably - I had a light interior that my jeans marked but a good wipe down with leather conditioner fixes it nicely!
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      07-04-2012, 04:46 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stealth.pilot View Post
Oh and there is a patch which is a little oily on the right bolster. I will clean that tomorrow.
Thank you for the pictures, although I couldn't find the patch you were talking about. The seats, although in a Lexus, look nice indeed.
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      07-04-2012, 04:49 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Aussie F10M View Post
Not sure how helpful this will be, but, here are some photos of my silverstone interior. It is 4 months since I have had the car, and gets used every day - sometimes 3 or 4 times. Which means a fair bit of getting in and out of the car. The leather is pristine. The only precautions I take are to sit on a towel when I am wearing jeans. Other than that nothing. I am pleasantly surprised by how well it is wearing so far. I have focussed on the high wear areas - around the side bolsters.
Oh, the pictures are helpful indeed, but your M5 isn't very old, so it doesn't tell how the seats will look in the future, but as of today and as you say - properly used, they look perfekt.

Thank you
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      07-04-2012, 04:53 AM   #15
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I keep wanting to clean my Silverstone seats because I'm paranoid they will get scruffy, but they just stay clean. My jeans are pretty faded - maybe that helps.
Well paranoia is a problem of mine aswell, and as I have lived long enough, I now know that I'm sure to make a misstake in the future. Also: I don't want to be the friend who bring the towels to the passenger seats if my friends jeans are to dark. That's a bit annoying imho. Therefor, I think I must go for a dark interior..
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      07-04-2012, 04:58 AM   #16
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Originally Posted by uhn2000 View Post
Yes probably - I had a light interior that my jeans marked but a good wipe down with leather conditioner fixes it nicely!
And the mark went away? Nothing to be seen? Was it a small concentrated mark or a large vague mark where you've been seated?
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      07-04-2012, 12:18 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Virr View Post
Well paranoia is a problem of mine aswell, and as I have lived long enough, I now know that I'm sure to make a misstake in the future. Also: I don't want to be the friend who bring the towels to the passenger seats if my friends jeans are to dark. That's a bit annoying imho. Therefor, I think I must go for a dark interior..
I ordered black interior originally - like all my other cars. But seeing pics, it's obvious that the silverstone interior looks so much better than black with MCB that I changed my order. I'm very glad I did. But I clean my cars frequently and don't regard it as a chore.
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      08-14-2012, 12:04 PM   #18
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What do you guys think of Silvestone II exterior with Piano black and full leather silverstone interior?
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      08-14-2012, 12:51 PM   #19
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The Silverstone I looked at and it has kind of weird bluish tint to it. I did not like it, I went with Singapore Grey.

If you are in the stage of negotiating the deal with BMW Toronto, I can PM you for discount I got @ early July. Let me know if you are interested.
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      08-14-2012, 02:36 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by uhn2000
What do you guys think of Silvestone II exterior with Piano black and full leather silverstone interior?
Interior looks good. Agree with bobblehead though. Singapore Gray would be nicer exterior. So would Space Gray. I find Silverstone looks too plain.
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      08-14-2012, 08:54 PM   #21
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looks good cars
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