Leather vs leatherette
- Thread starter ctm78
- Start date
When I was shopping for mine, the salesman said to look at the back headrests... If they have wrinkles, its real. The leatherette fits better, and doesn't have the wrinkles. Also, real leather is much softer than leatherette. (But BMW has never been known for soft leather, porsche, mb, and others have much software leather)
I tell by feel. It's real subtle, but if your car has leatherette, the steering wheel and shift knob should be real leather and will feel just a touch smoother than the leatherette everywhere else.
But yeah, BMW does a great job of faking it. Unless I point it out, people just assume I have leather cuz they can't tell.
But yeah, BMW does a great job of faking it. Unless I point it out, people just assume I have leather cuz they can't tell.
I just drove a 325i with leatherette for the last couple of weeks. I was disappointed to see that I had leatherette at first. But I can say that after a couple of weeks with the car, I really liked it. It is faked really well and seems tougher than real leather so you don't have to worry about scratching it as much.
I even let my dog ride up from with me. He's about 75-80lbs with huge claws and he didn't put a mark on the seats. I was impressed. Nice little car.
I even let my dog ride up from with me. He's about 75-80lbs with huge claws and he didn't put a mark on the seats. I was impressed. Nice little car.
I just recently purchased my BMW from a private owner, who assumed the car had leather. However, I suspect that I have leatherette. The parking brake, steering wheel, and the rear fold-down arm rest are obviously leather. But, the seating surfaces feel a bit tougher in my opinion.
Is there a way that I can know for certain what I have? I wouldn't be too concerned if it turns out to be leatherette, I just want to know how to care for the interior of the car.
Is there a way that I can know for certain what I have? I wouldn't be too concerned if it turns out to be leatherette, I just want to know how to care for the interior of the car.
if you have a car that is a few years old, you should instantly be able to distinct leather from leatherette. Leather will 'wrinkle' a bit with age (even with the best of care). Silva already made the best suggestion; check the headrests, the leather will gather and wrinkle on the headrests the way it's pulled and put together. leatherette will not wrinkle or gather, it's pulled tight and does not have the leather qualities to cause it to gather (it doesn't stretch like leather).
If you have no wrinkles at all - you have leatherette. I love it, I've seen cars 10 years old with leatherette, most folks would think you replaced the original leather with new leather, because it ages and holds together extremely well. My 4 1/2 yr old leatherette looks the same as the leatherette in a new 2004 car.
Also with leatherette, you don't have to worry about the constant care that leather needs, to stay in good condition. (no leather treatments to keep it from cracking, etc etc). I also notice that leatherette seems to do better on reducing heat - you know what I mean if you've hopped into a hot car in the sun with leather seats (youch!). Leatherette seems to stay cooler (imo), my wife has leather seats (and tint even) on her Jeep, and it's always hotter than my car to jump in and sit down in.
If you have no wrinkles at all - you have leatherette. I love it, I've seen cars 10 years old with leatherette, most folks would think you replaced the original leather with new leather, because it ages and holds together extremely well. My 4 1/2 yr old leatherette looks the same as the leatherette in a new 2004 car.
Also with leatherette, you don't have to worry about the constant care that leather needs, to stay in good condition. (no leather treatments to keep it from cracking, etc etc). I also notice that leatherette seems to do better on reducing heat - you know what I mean if you've hopped into a hot car in the sun with leather seats (youch!). Leatherette seems to stay cooler (imo), my wife has leather seats (and tint even) on her Jeep, and it's always hotter than my car to jump in and sit down in.
![[thumb]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_thumb.gif "Thumbs Up [thumb]"){kind=icon}
I discovered yesterday that I do indeed have leather in my car. In an effort to fix a problem with the seatback storage net on the back of the driver's seat, I removed the fiberglass (?) shell from the back of the seat. Once removed, I could see where the material was attatched to the seat frame. Having access to the backside of the upholstry revealed it's true identity as leather (unless BMW even fakes the unfinished side of their leatherette). ![[:)]](/images/smilies/smile.png "Smile [:)]")
After hearing about the durability of leatherette, I assumed that that is what I had. On this 7+ year old car, I've only noted 3 or 4 small scuff marks. Also, the seating surfaces didn't feel as 'supple' as some of my friends' leather. However, for being 4 years older, their seats are in very poor condition.
After hearing about the durability of leatherette, I assumed that that is what I had. On this 7+ year old car, I've only noted 3 or 4 small scuff marks. Also, the seating surfaces didn't feel as 'supple' as some of my friends' leather. However, for being 4 years older, their seats are in very poor condition.
My 1987 325 has leatherette and it still looks like brand new. Check out the link in my sig and see for yourself. Now compare that to the leather seats in a 325i of the same age. BMW's leatherette definitely holds up very well and is more durable than the real stuff. They even did a good job faking it in my car - I really thought the car had leather when I bought it. It wasn't until a really started to get down and clean the seats hard that I realized it was vinyl.
