DonJuan45i

true, I too owend a 328i and one of the package it had was the premium package, which came with real leather, and while the leather was nice and very well taken care for, same year and even older in leatherette looked better. It looked like "mint" leather, versus my leather, no matter how much you take care of it leather starts getting "shiny" and starts to show its age eventually.

Not to mention leatherette is very versatile, dont really have to care for it, and it resists the elements better, not to mention spills etc. Like leather for it not to dry out, you have to condition it properly which most people do not do, jeans can stain them with time, and crack and loose structure after a while, hence leatherette is a very smart option.

and it is true most people go the whole ownership not even knowing. It is very high quality pleather lol. Only thing that I think it doesnt have that leather does is well that its leather. I wouldnt mind leatherette if I were to get back in a 3 series.

newr

There is leather from the Kia to one from the Bentley. Not all leather is made equally. The leatherette from the 3 is actually look and feel better than some of the so called "real" leather out there that would crack and fade in a few years.

tuan92129

BMW Leatherette actually feels really good Leatherette is stronger than leather, but it will still fade/crack/harden with time. I actually prefer 'German' leather over lexus leather which i think is too thin and show 'wrinkles' too much/ has no texture.

GFerg

Ehhh....give me the real stuff. No leatherette for me.

GRAND_LS 4

iTrader: (2)

If conditioned, and maintained well, the real stuff is much better.

CK6Speed

iTrader: (1)

As everyone already said, this is such old news. The only BMW owners that are fooled by leatherette are second hand owners who were either lied to or were simply just not told. Anyone buying a new BMW can read right on the options list if they have leatherette or real leather. This is just another example of someone trying to make a big deal out of nothing.

Big Andy

I would never buy a car with leatherette - why not call it its proper name - plastic? It was cheap substitute for leather developed in the 50s/60s and replaced by fabric in the 70s. It doesn't feel like leather or breathe like leather. I didn't realise that BMW were still fitting it to US cars.

phatboyc

I believe we also have leatherette in the IS350 lux package. A leather guy tried to fix two cuts in the back of the front seat. He says usually he can melt the leather to repair it. With this one he couldn't. The leather was impossible to melt. I ended up replacing the whole back panel.

So I think the back panels are actually not real leather to save cost. Similar to what most leather couch for the living room are.

picus

Based on what? Maybe for you; but for the average person that added durability of leatherette is probably more useful than a slightly more pliable surface which requires regular maintenance and wears much more quickly (regardless of maintenance). Oh, and re: the plastic thing - just fyi but almost all leather in cars is treated and covered with with plastic, so your leather doesn't "breathe like leather" either.

PhilipMSPT

iTrader: (5)

It's the opposite.

You can't melt leather. Ever. Ever seen a cow melt?

However, you can melt "plastic leatherette"...

Och

iTrader: (3)

Yeah, but Lexus leather with no texture doesn't get dirty. German leather with textures is terrible, its gets dirty right away and almost impossible to clean.

LexFather

We are defending leatherette in luxury cars. Waiting for the fake-wood coalition to appear and make its case....

picus

I don't get what is so hard to understand about this. It has nothing to do with defending the "luxuriousness" of leatherette; it isn't as luxurious as leather, no question - the same as fake wood isn't as luxurious as real wood, and plastic aluminum isn't as nice as real aluminum; the difference is durability and wear. Leatherette is sufficiently "real" enough that most people seem to think it is a reasonable trade off to get much better durability out of it at the cost of some luxury. If you have and love leather that's killer; enjoy it. Some people, like me, chose leatherette not because of cost but because of necessity.

So which part doesn't make sense?

LexFather

Quite simple. If you have a luxury car, why get "fake leather" much like why get "fake wood"??? And yes fake aluminum sucks too. However fake leather, is a crime, IMO.
Makes no sense to me at all but it feeds into people's ego's that its not cloth and people won't notice that they are sitting on plastic.

Clearly all companies use leatherette on the sides, backs of seats etc. Outside $100k plus cars, there is fake leather used in cars.

Fake leather on the actual seat my bottom touches.....I might as well wear fake leather coats and instead of Via Spiga's wear some payless shoes that are made from the same plastic garbage bags are made of b/c it looks the same and oh, it doesn't smell like leather and it doesn't cost $200 bucks and I don't have to maintain it.

phatboyc

No I haven't. But since leather is just thick skin. Skin will melt if the heat is great enough. I'm not talking about sun here. I think the leather guy uses a heat gun.