Interior Peeling??

my steering wheel has a little peeling on it. I was shocked as well.

My '06 330i (beige) had the same peeling as shown in those photos. The driver's side interior door pull would need to be replaced every six months or so. My '08 335i has black plastic interior components and (so far) hasn't had any peeling at all. Maybe the black is more durable than the beige?

No, I literally just picked my car up from having this replaced under warranty and it is an 06' with black interior.

Originally Posted by Jessi328xi

my steering wheel has a little peeling on it. I was shocked as well.

you should be shocked - these cars are expensive and are supposed to be luxury cars, they shouldn't peel within a year, thats ridiculous. This is something thats common in VWs but i thought maybe a bmw that can cost almost twice as much won't have this problem. The engineers/ designers should have tested it in a real world situation with skin products and such to see how the soft touch holds up. At least it seems to have been fixed with different parts in the newer models.

its probably down to miles covered not just year. mine is April 2006, i have none of that in my car and car is more than 3 years old. But of course, doesn't mean it wont' happen - just asying 1 year or 2 years is probably too soon.

if this happens after 7-8 years I guess it's ok and wear and tear and all that..

My steering wheel (2007) just started peeling on the center portion of the wheel near the rim. A place I don't even touch.

Just had my peeling driver's door grab handle replaced under warranty yesterday. They use a solid piece of color-matched plastic instead of plastic coated in soft-touch paint. No questions asked.

Just bought my car, but it is 2 years old.

I have a 2006 330i. Driver's side handle started peeling at about 2 years. Same with the plastic on the gearshift. I haven't asked to have the door handle replaced yet because the interior is black, so it's not very noticeable.

I did have them replace the gearshift because the SA said that people have gotten cuts from it.

I just thought the peeling was due to the heat. I live in Vegas, and it's murder on the interior.

3 years passed and it started to peel for me. FYI.

fackers, and I'm out of warranty. BTW, our winters are like 6months long, and summers are not hot. Myabe 2 hot weeks in a year. So it's definately NOT heat related. Just crap quality.

Originally Posted by 320what?

3 years passed and it started to peel for me. FYI.

fackers, and I'm out of warranty. BTW, our winters are like 6months long, and summers are not hot. Myabe 2 hot weeks in a year. So it's definately NOT heat related. Just crap quality.

See if your dealer will do a "goodwill" repair since it is a known issue.

20 years of owning Honda sedans and never had a problem like this.

Does seem to be restricted to German cars though.

Just looking over these posts, it appears that those who have the problem are located in the southern states. I'm going to hypothesize that the peeling is related to cars being parked in the hot sun on a hot day over and over again.

If I'm right, parking in the shade, using a reflective sun shade, having a garage... all of these things might help some.

Or maybe, perhaps, I'm just projecting... hoping that I won't have this problem because I live up north.

Originally Posted by ProfessorCook

Just looking over these posts, it appears that those who have the problem are located in the southern states. I'm going to hypothesize that the peeling is related to cars being parked in the hot sun on a hot day over and over again.

If I'm right, parking in the shade, using a reflective sun shade, having a garage... all of these things might help some.

Or maybe, perhaps, I'm just projecting... hoping that I won't have this problem because I live up north.

read my post professor. I'm like south coast of alaska lattitude.....

Well, there are always exceptions, 320.

Could be all that Estonian cigarette smoking you're doing in the car too.

(Did I get lucky guessing you smoke?)

Originally Posted by ProfessorCook

Just looking over these posts, it appears that those who have the problem are located in the southern states. I'm going to hypothesize that the peeling is related to cars being parked in the hot sun on a hot day over and over again.

No problems with mine, but I keep it garaged.
However, I am having peeling problems from all the sailing and kayaking I've been doing.

I just took my 2006 325i in for this. Peeling door and center console. Also cracking/peeling leatherette on one seat. Not so impressed with BMW interior quality. Never had this on any other car I have owned (2 Chryslers, a VW, a Honda, an Audi...) The dealer is repairing it under warranty. Still kind of disappointing though.

Originally Posted by bimmernupe

See is this SIB refers to your problem: http://www.bmwtis.com/tsb/bulletins/...p/B511806g.htm

I agree with others that it's likely the heat causes it to happen quicker or more severely. Purchased a new 2006 325i titanium silver, gray leather with aluminum trim, w/sports package, winter package, premium package, navi, and after a year...a very small scratch developed into a huge section tearing off off the interior door pull. Each summer it gets worse. During the winters it slowed down. When it's very very hot....it only takes a fingernail to start a scratch....then it gets worse from there.

It was U.S. spec purchased under a military sales program overseas and I hope a dealer will fix it when I ship the car back to the US (on it's way now). I have about 33K miles and a year left on the warranty...here's to hoping it will not be a problem. :-\

The Service Information Bulletin you provided me much more confidence this will be fixed with a long term remedy provided they don't simply replace it with another "painted surface" part.

THANK YOU for that SIB post!

I'm taking mine in at 48000 miles to replace the interior passenger door handle for peeling. Also a stuck cup holder and a flaking shift knob.

Minor stuff, but hey...

So is this only a warranty-repaired issue? I just came out of warranty and wasn't aware it was as wide spread as it appears to be. I have an '06 and the driver's side is much like one of the posted pictures. Am I out of luck?

i bought 325xi from a private seller. Had door handle redone by an interior tech in his garage, and he painted the console where it curves. i have seen many peel there as well. He also fixed the leather where the seatbelt rubs. Becareful with those it acts like sandpaper. Looks like brand new. $100. i put this on Bimmerfest a few months back and someone said it was under warranty. My bust ..... but I am not sure if it would have been covered or not. Too late now

That happened to my 325 xi 2006. Had it repainted by an interior tech in his garage. He goes around to dealers in albany N.Y to fix these type of things. It is quite common on the 2006 models. So are the dealers really replacing things???? I do not know, mine looks brand new.

...most European car manufacturers used "soft touch" paint on door pulls and radio/climate control buttons to give them a more luxurious feel.

A few years later, they learned that hand lotions, sunscreen, bug repellant and other oily products caused this stuff to peel and slowly replaced it with either color molded or painted surfaces. The problem is indeed greater in warmer climates either because of the additional heat or because more people use sunscreen.

The problem is also worse in the US because many people here still use that ArmorAll crap to "protect" their interior. The only thing that ArmorAll is good for is to peel your soft touch surfaces.

The problem will not reappear if they replace it with the injection molded part - but you may have to cajole the dealership into replacing both sides as the TSB says to replace the damaged side only.

Perhaps you'll want to protect the other side from peeling by using ArmorAll

Originally Posted by ProfessorCook

Well, there are always exceptions, 320.

Could be all that Estonian cigarette smoking you're doing in the car too.

(Did I get lucky guessing you smoke?)

don't smoke, and dont let anyone smoke in my car, heck i'm even unsure i let people eat in inside of it, only water drinks!

Originally Posted by jojojo

How quickly do you see signs of peeling on the soft touch and other surfaces. 1 year, 2 year, never??

I was just curious because that seems like a real turn off to have a nice $50k with a peeling interior

How many of you guys have an interior that isn't peeling at all??

Mine just started at 31k miles and 1.5 years

We have a 2001 330ci and a 2007 5501. Both have peeling issues at soft-touch or matte surfaces. The most obvious is on the steering wheel center hub where your thumb might rest while driving, but other less-used surfaces show wear as well. The 550i was a CPO and had the problem when I bought it at 34,000 miles. Last week I noticed the very same problem in the local dealer's shuttle, and X5, probably a 2010 or 2011. Clearly BMW has a problem. Think of all the consumer products that use soft-touch and/or matte surfaces from smartphones to eyeware that hold up quite well, thank you. I finally spoke to a BMW customer service rep from BMW USA about the issue today, but did not get the impression they were going to jump all over this. And clearly I cannot be the first person they have ever heard from. I am not convinced that they take such stuff very seriously. Too bad, because otherwise I love their cars.