[teaston]

Originally Posted by JustChris

Yes absolutely that is what I think.

When did they start offering that? From what I can see all Kia leather is like dakota, hard leather with vinyl coating.

[SantaEugence]

Update -

Spoke to Darryl at Dr.Leather and firstly I can't stress what a helpful and knowledgable chap he is. I think you'd be hard pressed to find someone more qualified or with greater experience in the field of automotive leather - I also didn't realise you could get so many letters after your name specifically relating to leather!
He very kindly spent a lot of time looking at the pictures I sent him and then wrote me a 6 page report (17 with all the pictures) confirming that it looks like the leather in the centre rest was cut from a poorer quality section of hide (not good enough for say seat leather) and then underwent a 'corrected grain process' which ultimately wasn't done correctly/properly. This resulted in reduced amount of coating and integrity as well as poor adhesion on the base coat all of which lead to the vastly premature wear I experienced.
This was also reinforced by the lack of wear to the seats which he expected to exhibit much greater signs of wear much earlier due to their exposure to rubbing and abrasion through every day use.
There was a great deal of technical explanation but the above is a very short summary.

Of course BMW have no obligation to actually do anything for me, but hopefully the fact that I've got a comprehensive report from an expert in the field might persuade them otherwise.
Either way was fascinating chatting to Darryl and I definitely learn a lot about automotive leather in the process.

Edit - here's a close up photo I took as well showing some kind of faded mark or dent almost like a ballpoint pen, it's actually a healed scar surface defect which apparently clearly demonstrates this particular patch was cut from a poorer quality area not suitable for use elsewhere.

[Randy Johnson]

There is something about the off white interior leather. It does not hold up well. I have a '15 435i and the drivers seat looks pretty bad. The leather is worn pretty severely on the drivers door side of the seat bottom and back. I bought the car used with 41k miles and the seats looked good. I conditioned them once a month but they still wore out. Need to get them redyed.

[SantaEugence]

Originally Posted by Randy Johnson

There is something about the off white interior leather. It does not hold up well. I have a '15 435i and the drivers seat looks pretty bad. The leather is worn pretty severely on the drivers door side of the seat bottom and back. I bought the car used with 41k miles and the seats looked good. I conditioned them once a month but they still wore out. Need to get them redyed.

Have you got a picture? I've got the usual bolster wear on the drivers side, and a slight bit on one of the stitching/piping seems but otherwise none at all

[SantaEugence]

Well BMW couldn't care less, because legally they didn't have to and the car was too old.
The car supermarket I bought it from also refused to cover the cost.
Complained to the finance company, they initially asked the dealer to pay, who refused, then they offered to split the cost but they still refused so they declined my complaint.
Went to financial ombudsman who finally decided in my favour and have told the finance company to pay for the cost of repairs/replacements in full plus compensation.

So good result in the end but a lot of effort to get there from something that was pretty clear cut from the beginning, in my opinion.

[scotsman335dxDrive]

Well done that man.