Is this normal wear of the interior leather?

I had some free time today so I decided to clean up my Five Series' interior, which is venetian beige. My Five Series has been on the road since October 2010 (about one year and three months). During the cleaning process, I discovered something that made me unhappy. It appears that the seat belt has worn away the finish on my driver's side leather seat. I have been driving for about 30 years and, to the best of my recollection, this has never happened in any other vehicle that I have owned/leased. I am attaching a photograph (the pic is sideways) of the damaged area of the seat. Is this normal? If not, would the remedy be to request the dealer to repair the seat under warranty?

No. That should not be the case on a 1 year old car. I would not expect to see that for at least 10 years.

Originally Posted by Stealth.Pilot

No. That should not be the case on a 1 year old car. I would not expect to see that for at least 10 years.

My thoughts exactly, but I wanted to hear it from somebody else first. What is the remedy?

Originally Posted by GHOST PROTOCOL

My thoughts exactly, but I wanted to hear it from somebody else first. What is the remedy?

Three things:
1) Figure out what I causing it. Is something rubbing on this spot regularly? If so stop the rubbing first.

2) If something caused the wear to happen then just repair the damage using this technique.
http://www.teamspeed.com/forums/deta...-solution.html

3) If there is no particular cause for the wear in this spot, the maybe the leather was poorly coated in the first place. In this event ask them to replace the leather seat coverings. They will need to replace both seats to ensure match.

Replace seat cover.

Originally Posted by Stealth.Pilot

Three things:
1) Figure out what I causing it. Is something rubbing on this spot regularly? If so stop the rubbing first.

Originally, I thought it was the seatbelt. But, now I think it was caused by entering/exiting the vehicle and rubbing up against the side of the seat (probably while I wearing a brown leather coat). IMO, the dakota leather should not be showing this type of wear on a vehicle that was delivered in October 2010. If I have the seat repaired or the leather replaced, won't the same thing happen again? If it does, I will be towards the end of my lease, but I was considering buying my vehicle at the end of the lease term.

Originally Posted by GHOST PROTOCOL

Originally, I thought it was the seatbelt. But, now I think it was caused by entering/exiting the vehicle and rubbing up against the side of the seat (probably while I wearing a brown leather coat). IMO, the dakota leather should not be showing this type of wear on a vehicle that was delivered in October 2010. If I have the seat repaired or the leather replaced, won't the same thing happen again? If it does, I will be towards the end of my lease, but I was considering buying my vehicle at the end of the lease term.

That is odd. I wouldnt expect a leather coat to do this unless it is rough.

I suggest you have it replaced/repaired per earlier post and keep an eye on it. The repair process I linked above may be more durable because it dyes the leather whereas the new leather is coated (the coating is what is wearing off).

This is why I prefer natural uncoated leathers like Nappa and Merino. Actually to be precise, Nappa is coated but it is coated in a clear coat protective finish (like a scotch guard) to prevent stains. The color you see in Nappa is dyed leather. With Dakota the color is in the coating, which is why the vinyl coating on Dakota wears off, revealing a different color of raw leather underneath which is what you are seeing. This wouldn't occur on Nappa or Merino, because the leather is dyed, and the protective finish is thin and clear.

Originally Posted by Stealth.Pilot

That is odd. I wouldnt expect a leather coat to do this unless it is rough.

I suggest you have it replaced/repaired per earlier post and keep an eye on it. The repair process I linked above may be more durable because it dyes the leather whereas the new leather is coated (the coating is what is wearing off).

This is why I prefer natural uncoated leathers like Nappa and Merino. Actually to be precise, Nappa is coated but it is coated in a clear coat protective finish (like a scotch guard) to prevent stains. The color you see in Nappa is dyed leather. With Dakota the color is in the coating, which is why the vinyl coating on Dakota wears off, revealing a different color of raw leather underneath which is what you are seeing. This wouldn't occur on Nappa or Merino, because the leather is dyed, and the protective finish is thin and clear.

Thank you for your help. I could not have my Alpine White F10 looking less than perfect when I give it a new home in S.E. Florida.

Originally Posted by Stealth.Pilot

This is why I prefer natural uncoated leathers like Nappa and Merino. Actually to be precise, Nappa is coated but it is coated in a clear coat protective finish (like a scotch guard) to prevent stains.

It can't be coated and not coated at the same time. The only non-coated leather is full-aniline, which is the nicest "real" leather available, though susceptible to surface scratching.

Originally Posted by Needsdecaf

Replace seat cover.

I allowed my dealer to repair the seat under warranty, rather than replace the entire seat cover. From what I can see so far, it looks as good as new.

Originally Posted by GHOST PROTOCOL

I had some free time today so I decided to clean up my Five Series' interior, which is venetian beige. My Five Series has been on the road since October 2010 (about one year and three months). During the cleaning process, I discovered something that made me unhappy. It appears that the seat belt has worn away the finish on my driver's side leather seat. I have been driving for about 30 years and, to the best of my recollection, this has never happened in any other vehicle that I have owned/leased. I am attaching a photograph (the pic is sideways) of the damaged area of the seat. Is this normal? If not, would the remedy be to request the dealer to repair the seat under warranty?

UMMMMM..thats a big no:
can u say dealer tomorrow!

I think u should be all good. Just let them know its not normal wear and tear.
Remember ur the boss
Good Luck!

Originally Posted by GHOST PROTOCOL

I allowed my dealer to repair the seat under warranty, rather than replace the entire seat cover. From what I can see so far, it looks as good as new.

Great news. Do you know what they did to fix it?

Originally Posted by Stealth.Pilot

Great news. Do you know what they did to fix it?

I do not know. The dealer repaired the seat, painted my calipers, and gave my ride the complete spa treatment. It looks great! I wanted to take some pictures, but unfortunately I had to go back to my office to deal with some cases that are scheduled for Court tomorrow.

Originally Posted by GHOST PROTOCOL

I do not know. The dealer repaired the seat, painted my calipers, and gave my ride the complete spa treatment. It looks great! I wanted to take some pictures, but unfortunately I had to go back to my office to deal with some cases that are scheduled for Court tomorrow.

Not acceptable.....get a flash light,grab ur camera and snap a pick. It's still early on the west coast for us
Be a trooper...do it

Originally Posted by GHOST PROTOCOL

I do not know. The dealer repaired the seat, painted my calipers, and gave my ride the complete spa treatment. It looks great! I wanted to take some pictures, but unfortunately I had to go back to my office to deal with some cases that are scheduled for Court tomorrow.

I want to see those painted calipers! What color did you have them painted?

Originally Posted by GHOST PROTOCOL

I do not know. The dealer repaired the seat, painted my calipers, and gave my ride the complete spa treatment. It looks great! I wanted to take some pictures, but unfortunately I had to go back to my office to deal with some cases that are scheduled for Court tomorrow.

Ouch...that means they had joe bag o' leather repair come in and paint to match. That's a band aid my friend. It will fail again.

Originally Posted by chelseafc

Ouch...that means they had joe bag o' leather repair come in and paint to match. That's a band aid my friend. It will fail again.

If it does happen again, I will bring my vehicle back for further repair. It is that simple.

Originally Posted by GHOST PROTOCOL

If it does happen again, I will bring my vehicle back for further repair. It is that simple.

Ok...were over the leather and on to the calipers....get us a pic

Originally Posted by GHOST PROTOCOL

If it does happen again, I will bring my vehicle back for further repair. It is that simple.

annoying - because you'll have to eventually go back and because they didn't fix it the right way but its your car. they had big smiles as soon as you agreed to get it patched up.

Originally Posted by chelseafc

annoying - because you'll have to eventually go back and because they didn't fix it the right way but its your car. they had big smiles as soon as you agreed to get it patched up.

Not really.

It was fixed the right way given the nature and extent of the damage. The damage did not warrant replacing the skin, which would then require the passenger seat be changed as well. Getting unnecessarily involved with that would have been annoying. Also, I have been driving premium vehicles for over 20 years. I have never had this type of repair fail in the past. If it does, I will simply bring the vehicle back in for additional repair. Given the relationship that I have with my dealer, I am not worried about this at all.

Look at it this way. My BMW has been on the road since October 2010 and has sustained multiple chips to the paint. I am not going to re-paint the entire front end because that is not warranted at this time. Instead, I had my dealer bring in their sub who preps cars for resale. They did a wonderful job repairing the chips and the vehicle looks great.

It seems that a lot of people on this forum have had alleged bad experiences with BMW dealers, which I find surprising. I have dealt with two BMW dealers in NJ and one in FL. Both have and continue to treat me top notch.

Originally Posted by chelseafc

Ouch...that means they had joe bag o' leather repair come in and paint to match. That's a band aid my friend. It will fail again.

Yep..you are right. I had this problem on my M3 vert with nappa leather seats. It needed to be repaired every 8-12 months because the repair is really a repaint of the affected area and it eventually wears off and has to be redone. I have since found a new way to mount the beast so that I do not cause side bolster wear (open door, sit in car with legs hanging out of the door, then swing legs into car and shut the door....a pain but I no longer have seats wearing out as I did in the past).