I recently purchased a BMW and am going to detail the vehicle. It appears the leather is coated with vinyl or something similar. I typically use Lexol Leather Cleaner and Conditioner with a brush or terry cloth to cleanse and protect leather surfaces; however, I'm not sure if these products and procedures are appropriate for a coated leather surface. I know many of you own or have detailed BMWs and was looking for a bit of advice. Does anyone know if the leather is in fact sealed beneath a protectant? What products/procedures are safe and effective on these surfaces?
I believe that every car (to my knowledge) has some kind of coating on the leather. These products don't actually feed the leather, but the coating on top. For restoration, look for Leatherique. If just maintence, you are fine with Lexol.
Ah yes the never ending question about leather and if leather conditioners really do make a difference. Well to be hoenst I don't have the answer but I've used Lexol on a few vehicles some of them being BMW's and it works just fine. I've never tried Leatherique my self but I've heard great things about the product but I have used Lexol and it works great. Lately I've been quite pleased with Zymol leather cleaner and Treat...bu that's just me. Hope this helps.
Most BMW's have coated leather seats. In fact most car manufactures use a plastic type coating over the leather. Like others here, I have used Lexol on Bimmers with no problems. Enjoy your new Bimmer! Matt
While vinyl-coated leather is care free by virtue of its protective plastic surface, it is also inaccessible for purposes of maintenance. Meaning, of course, there is absolutely no point to using leather conditioners on plastic coated leather
Recently someone had a thread where they showed their leather seats that had been treated with Lexol for 10 years. They looked close to new.
I appreciate every individual input. I've cleaned one of the seats with the Lexol Leather Cleaner and it worked very well. However, the conditioner did not leave behind the matte sheen characteristic of this product. I suspect the conditioner is unable to permeate the protective film. Now that I'm 99% confident the vehicles leather surfaces are covered under protectant, I will probably try a vinyl product which is formulated to provide a matte sheen. If anyone recommends against this, please let me know. Thanks guys, Brandon
You'll be fine using Lexol. I used it for while until I got tired of the smell. I still use the cleaner though if the seats get too dirty, works well for me. Now I have 1Z leather cleaner and conditioner, supposed to be made specifically for finished leather. Smells better but I'm thinking it still might be unnecessary. I have 1Z CP and Sonus total eclipse and I wonder if that would work just as good.
Bmw leather seems harder to clean to me for some reason. I strongly recommend chemical guys leather cleaner+ followed by the zaino leather conditioner. Of course any and all leather master products will work well. The leatherique products seems very interesting. Its possible your bmw has the leathette seats which are slightly different I tend to use aerospace 303 on those. Same goes for mustangs the front seats are leather and the rears are leatherette. This applys to v6 mustang all the way to the gt500.
Aye, if it has a fold in the thigh area of the seat then it should be leatherette. Like most newer vehicles, the leather is coated and all you need is a vinyl protectant. I'd use OPP.
