[Llarry]

Hey BMW! I get it that you're gradually going animal-free and all. Good for you!

But from leather to plastic (Sensatec) in a relatively expensive car? No -- just no. There's no doubt a place for Sensatec or the like in the interior but if you're going to minimize the leather choices, give us good old-fashioned cloth seats. And not just in black or anthracite, for those of us who like a little color on the inside, too.

Pretty please? Thank you!

[tom @ eas]

Yep, cloth also grips better on the track.

[swagon]

Originally Posted by M2siast

G87 M2 comes with cloth as well, I was surprised and amazed.

Unfortunately, those seats are very sub-par even when clad in Alcantara. I have them and would trade for the M Sport seats immediately.

[swagon]

Originally Posted by Llarry

Hey BMW! I get it that you're gradually going animal-free and all. Good for you!

But from leather to plastic (Sensatec) in a relatively expensive car? No -- just no. There's no doubt a place for Sensatec or the like in the interior but if you're going to minimize the leather choices, give us good old-fashioned cloth seats. And not just in black or anthracite, for those of us who like a little color on the inside, too.

Pretty please? Thank you!

You're right and I agree. And BMW agrees, too, although currently only if you buy the G70 and spend a small fortune on the Individual Cashmere/Wool interior. Absolutely amazing to feel and sit on.



The current iteration of Sensatec in the X1/2er is actually rather nice to touch, similar to Dakota or Vernasca leather. It's being replaced with Veganza.

And even if you've got Vernasca interior in the G2x, outer parts of the seats and headrests are secretly made from faux leather Sensatec.

Quite sad that BMW got rid of the classic Alcantara/fabric interior in their M Sport packages and old M cars. I had it in the E90, now have Dakota/Carbonstructure fabric in the F80 and Sensatec/Alcantara in the G20. The last one is not as nice because my right knee is constantly sweating on the faux leather thigh extender. If it was Alcantara, it would look and feel better.

My favourite besides the E34/E36 M Rain seats was the F10 5er. Even the armrests were in Alcantara.

[Docklin87]

Cloths are great on track!

[Mr Pete]

The cloth seats you could get on the E46 M3 were pretty awesome. I had the anthracite or whatever it’s called on my old F80 and F82, and I loved those seats.

[ShocknAwe]

Can't wait to do some custom leather/cloth recaros in a couple years.

[F32Fleet]

Cloth seats are more difficult to keep looking good during the lease period by the first owner.

[ActiveTourer335]

Agreed, a variety of cloth seat options would be preferrable to Pleather. For me black cloth is fine. I choose the SE model of the Active Tourer LCI just because of the black cloth seats, they had a bit a of a pattern - Grid Anthracite Cloth - they call it but it looked neat and somewhat upmarket, they had a cloth sports seat option seat had "boy-racer" stripes on it which weren't my cup-of-tea but in hind-sight they would've had better upper-body support, still the SE seats were so comfortable to sit-in and don't understand why only the most comfortable seats were only on the base model
Now when i look for cars i preference cloth, but they [BMW] all seem to be a mix of cloth/sensatec or sensatec/alcantara. Another fact about those SE anthracite ones was you were held in place, no sliding like leather, but you could also still micro-adjust your seating position, with the alcantara/mesh ones i tried once you're down your held like velcro - also i experienced more static discharge from them. Even the cloth seats in the X2/X1/F40-1'series are a mix of different cloths stitched together.
Don't get me wrong, leather still looks more premium and the higher-spec leathers feel great, probably why it comes as standard more on beemers so they can justify charging a higher price.
But my other dismay is the stitching, particularly on the base of the seats, that can ruin comfort no matter the material [maybe that deserves a thread of it's own]. I've seen G20s with full sensatec seats with less cross-stitching but do wonder about the feel of the material and how it deals with sweaty backs as my steering wheel is sensatec (earlier models had real leather!) and i find it doesn't deal well with sweaty hands...

Anyway how is fake-leather "sustainable" isn't it usually produced using petroleum products? That's not supposed to be sustainable, right? Is anything, really??

Recently i saw an F30 Sport with cloth seats, looked OK actually;
[Edited] the question is: to choose a base spec F30/31 with cloth seats instead of a well-optioned F30/F31/F36 with leather, are they that more comfortable?

[spielnicht]

My guess is that 90% of buyers have no clue that Sensatec isn't leather. I personally prefer leather - but only when it's Nappa leather (or of similar quality). If not, I'd rather have Sensatec. Cloth and Alcantara are good alternatives, but a PITA to keep clean as a daily.

[Llarry]

Originally Posted by spielnicht

My guess is that 90% of buyers have no clue that Sensatec isn't leather. I personally prefer leather - but only when it's Nappa leather (or of similar quality). If not, I'd rather have Sensatec. Cloth and Alcantara are good alternatives, but a PITA to keep clean as a daily.

Agree -- my perfect interior would be black Nappa/similar leather but with cloth inserts in the central part of the cushion and backrest. And a choice of colors. But then again, mine is not a daily...

[wishbone]

i do miss the ///M hurricane interiors

[the_abe]

Originally Posted by Llarry

Hey BMW! I get it that you're gradually going animal-free and all. Good for you!

But from leather to plastic (Sensatec) in a relatively expensive car? No -- just no. There's no doubt a place for Sensatec or the like in the interior but if you're going to minimize the leather choices, give us good old-fashioned cloth seats. And not just in black or anthracite, for those of us who like a little color on the inside, too.

Pretty please? Thank you!

I get what you're saying but the seats from those first two pics look like they came from a bus.

[Equilibrandt]

It still seems as if the F80 Anthracite Cloth seat option is ironically the rarest and still very highly-sought after for seat swaps on the forums.

I personally wish my black/black F80 had the anthracite cloth seats, maintenance be damned. They looks so good.

[crashoverride]

I sold Mercedes-Benz for several years and the odd thing is their MB-Tex is actually better looking then their real leather offerings. Surprisingly t's actually hard to find a Mercedes-Benz with real leather. Like people would swear up and down they had real leather.

But go look at a used Mercedes-Benz if it has Mb-Tex it looks great on a ten year old car... the leather not so much.

[nunzo]

MB-Tex in 60 year old cars looks fantastic. They did a great job with it.

[Prossx]

Originally Posted by Equilibrandt

It still seems as if the F80 Anthracite Cloth seat option is ironically the rarest and still very highly-sought after for seat swaps on the forums.

I personally wish my black/black F80 had the anthracite cloth seats, maintenance be damned. They looks so good.

There was literally no maintenance on the anthracite carbonstructure cloth part of the seats, at least for the first 8 years of my F80’s life, part of what made them so amazing. The leather parts however felt inexpensive and suffered wear on the driver/door side bolster, to be expected.

Carbonstructure cloth in colors, with nicer leather using the G8x sport seat design would be the ultimate daily driver seat.

[Llarry]

Originally Posted by the_abe

I get what you're saying but the seats from those first two pics look like they came from a bus.

The leather/cloth seats "from a bus" were no longer available when I bought my E36 M3 but I would've gone for them in a nanosecond. We clearly have different tastes; diversity is good!

[GOLFFRR]

I personally am not a fan of cloth seats. To each their own I guess

[keg97]

Originally Posted by crashoverride

I sold Mercedes-Benz for several years and the odd thing is their MB-Tex is actually better looking then their real leather offerings. Surprisingly t's actually hard to find a Mercedes-Benz with real leather. Like people would swear up and down they had real leather.

But go look at a used Mercedes-Benz if it has Mb-Tex it looks great on a ten year old car... the leather not so much.

I've been looking for recent preowned GLE's or GLS' and it's crazy how many are MB-Tex. Many of them are very well optioned and still vinyl. I don't get it!

[Rafichicago]

Originally Posted by keg97

I've been looking for recent preowned GLE's or GLS' and it's crazy how many are MB-Tex. Many of them are very well optioned and still vinyl. I don't get it!

Maybe cause they look good with no major creasing for much longer ?

[M3SQRD]

Originally Posted by GOLFFRR

I personally am not a fan of cloth seats. To each their own I guess

Agreed. I don’t see the fascination with cloth seats. Full leather option for me. I’m fine with manually adjusted seats (had a slick top Imola Red e46 M3 with manually adjustable Imola Red leather interior - miss this car).