Does Black Leather interior fry your buns?

[JBasham]

I'm thinking of switching from light grey leather to black when I order my new 09 X3 soon.

Does the black get uncomfortably hot when you have to park your car outside at the mall or something in the summer?

TIA.

[Evlengr]

Yup--I am from the DC Metro area and had a black interior.

I went to the tobacco leather interior for my 08.

They have a really nice saddle brown now that is similar.

[dubis]

You betcha, doggone it. You'll find yourself looking for shady places to park and other ways to keep the heat down. My next car won't have black leather.

[dharmadoggie]

Only if you have your pants off. Otherwise it merely roasts them. :)

If you move to Seattle it's not a problem. Sun? What sun? I don't have black in the Beemer but did in an XC 70 and in fact it was rarely a problem out here. But DC, yeah, I would avoid black interior and exterior.

[tlm999]

I had black leather in an '04 530i and now have the gray leather in an '08 535i. I haven't noticed any difference in the temperature. They both get hot in the Texas sun but not noticeably different. I did have black leather in a Volvo and that was HOT. It might all have something to do with the quality and texture of the leather.

[Llando88]

No.

I have a black leather interior in Florida, and I don't believe it gets appreciably hotter than the grey leather / MB Tex did in my old C Class. Both cars were silver.

I think if you want a cool interior you should opt for a white car.

We also have a tobacco brown interior in our 2007 X3 (plat bronze) which also gets pretty hot as well.

YMMV. :p

[jsph952]

I have a X3 alpine white with black interior has not been a problem for me

[mikelahti]

Black leather does get hotter than light colors. The problem with with ordering the other color interiors is that the dash & wheel are always black. Some of us don't like two-tone interiors.

[AzNMpower32]

Stick with the gray leather. Honestly, I don't really like black leather in the X3, unless you are going to pair it up with aluminium trim. And yes, black leather will roast in the summer time, especially if under direct sunlight.

[echelon153]

So besides Gray, Sand Beige, Black and Tobacco, what other color interior are available for 2008. I like the tobacco but have not seen them at the dealerships.

[AzNMpower32]

So besides Gray, Sand Beige, Black and Tobacco, what other color interior are available for 2008. I like the tobacco but have not seen them at the dealerships.
For 2008: Gray, Sand Beige, Sand/Black, and Black leather were available for dealers to order. Tobacco and Terracotta leather were Priority 1 options. There is the usual Black and Sand leatherette.

For 2009: There is Saddle brown, Oyster, Beige, and Black leather along with sand and black leatherette.

[echelon153]

Tobacco and Terracotta leather were Priority 1 options.



What is Priority 1?

[AzNMpower32]

What is Priority 1?
A sold order to a customer. A dealer cannot simply order a P1 option to stock on the lot.

[Terry J. Harris]

I have the tobacco leather in my X3, however my Z3 has black leather and I often leave it in direct sun (at over 6K elevation) and get in it when the leather is quite hot. It cools down pretty quickly. If it were that big of a deal (the color) we'd see all the motorcycles with with beige seats! :D :bigpimp:

[HT417]

A sold order to a customer. A dealer cannot simply order a P1 option to stock on the lot.

I cornered our American BMW Salespeople about that here in Germany a few months back and they stated there's nothing that they're restricted from ordering. That makes sense because the one I bought from stock had aluminum trim.

Things must be different in the States. :dunno:

[UncleJ]

I have always found a black interior (except fabric) to be way hotter than other colors. I had a 7 series that had a very dark grey leather interior that was painful to sit on after being parked in the Tucson sun whilst we visited the daughter at UofA. Her Honda civic with a black patterned fabric seat was never too hot to sit on OTOH. My current X3 has the leatherette/nylon in black and also can get hot, but not as hot as that 7 series. I would never get another black interior in any car. I don't know why I got this one, must have been a moment of weakness.

[JBasham]

Thanks, guys. I like the grey in our 06 x3 and 325xi, except that it shows minor soil pretty easily. The soil cleans off with Lexol, but it's a PITA to stay on top of.

This year they have switched the grey to "Oyster," which looks whiter by a fair bit.

My current beater-bike-beach-camping-lumberstore-neighborhoodloaner car is getting long in the tooth, so the 2009 X3's future is as a long-term-ownership vehicle, to slide into the "beater" slot in four years, and stay there until about 2019 (assuming one of the kids doesn't total it before then). I'm not interested in trying to keep "Oyster" clean through that kind of service life.

I guess I have a future in Saddle Brown. It looks okay with the Poplar trim. I'm not that psyched about it, but if black's not practical, then black's out.

[jviss]

I just bought an '06 X3 with black leather - haven't received it yet. It may be an advantage here in New England for three seasons, but heated seats kind of nullifies that.

I recall years ago a thing that you could clamp in the window that was a solar powered vent fan to keep the interior cool, that wold be a cool option (pun intended).

[archrenov8]

I am quite sure you will grow to love the Saddle. I ordered the Tobacco in my 08, and I love it, and found that it did not get excessively hot on Long Island, where our summers can be pretty bad.

And it is very practical to keep it looking great.

[TheCritic]

I have black leather in Southern California and have yet to have any problem with the seats being too warm. Now maybe I haven't had the right combination of hottest day and shadeless parking for full effect, since I got it after most of summer had passed and park in a garage at home and work, but I can't imagine it could get too bad since I've yet seen no sign of it. Maybe the (factory) privacy tint is good for something after all? If you did have a problem you could always get at least anti-UV tint on all windows, and if I did have to leave it parked in 100 degrees in direct sunlight I'd be sure to put the sunroof in the vent position.

So get what you think looks best! I love the black interior and it's no problem to keep clean.

[WHITEX]

I like the black interior. With the tinted windows(factory option) I have no complaints. All interiors are hot. The a/c cools the inside pretty quickly. I'd buy black leather seats again & again. Also...they always look clean.

[fearless880]

window tint plus sun shades make my interior comfortable down in South Carolina and in Louisiana. My two homes :)

[sterfrydude]

I must agree with the last couple of posts... a good window tint will reduce the interior temp drastically! I had the privacy glass but it was so transparent that it didn't help...

[Vanos4:12PM]

I have black leather in Southern California and have yet to have any problem with the seats being too warm. Now maybe I haven't had the right combination of hottest day and shadeless parking for full effect, since I got it after most of summer had passed and park in a garage at home and work, but I can't imagine it could get too bad since I've yet seen no sign of it. Maybe the (factory) privacy tint is good for something after all? If you did have a problem you could always get at least anti-UV tint on all windows, and if I did have to leave it parked in 100 degrees in direct sunlight I'd be sure to put the sunroof in the vent position.

So get what you think looks best! I love the black interior and it's no problem to keep clean.



how are you a bmwcca member since 10/2009?

[UncleJ]

Probably means UNTIL 10/09.

[TheCritic]

how are you a bmwcca member since 10/2009?

I've traveled back in time to help the '07 transmission gain sentience and destroy the world!

Or I screwed up and will fix it. :rofl: