[glennwa]

Hi folks. I am on a mission to replace my manual, heated leatherette seats with leather, power, heated sports ones. I find the vinyl uncomfortable, it sticks to me.

I did an online search and found a salvage yard with two leather sport seats that are powered. I bought them today, and I swear, the more I look at them, the more they look like vinyl to me.

I got what I consider a great deal on them, and I may even be able to return them, otherwise could sell them and recoup my money. But how can I know for sure?

The car they came off of was "2008 or 2009", an Xi... I didn't ask 328 or 335. But I did look at the carcass and notice a few things:
1. The car had paddle shifters
2. The seats are definitely Sport seats - adjustable bolsters, sliding thigh rests, etc
3. The car had dash switches for heated seats (score!)
4. The car had DVD nav and iDrive (found the head unit, and it had TWO slots for CD/DVD disks?!?!)
5. The seats are black so unfortunately the color is not an indicator

So given the equipment level is it fair to assume the car had the premium package, and therefore leather?

Are ALL sport/heated seats leather, or was it possible to get sport/heated in leatherette?

To me I'd expect to see ripples or "gathered" parts on the seats. There are none here. It really does look just like my vinyl seats. Ironically even if vinyl, I just may keep them - they are beautiful seats. But this is a lot of expense and time (i.e. re-wiring) that I will need to go through to NOT get what I wanted from the start.

How can I tell from the seats themselves if they are really leather?

Thanks
-Glenn

[timmahh]

I think all of the options you mentioned are stand alone; not really indicative of the premium package.

If it had auto dimming mirrors, homelink, and bluetooth I would say they are the dakota leather.


Edit, from the 2008 Sedan Brochure:

8-way power front seats with 2-way manual headrests and driver memory for exterior mirror and seat positions
4-way adjustable power lumbar support for front seats Leather upholstery
Interior and power-adjustable folding exterior mirrors with automatic-dimming function; digital compass
Integrated 3-button Universal garage-door opener
BMW AssistTM with Bluetooth® wireless technology for hands-free calling (with Bluetooth- enabled mobile phone), phonebook downloading and speech recognition capabilities



Do the seats you purchased have the round lumbar support controls? If so, it should be Dakota Leather as part of the P/P

[glennwa]

Now that you mention it - it definitely had homelink. I was considering buying the mirror, to get the homelink. Not sure though if that would "just work", so I passed.

I don't know about auto-dimming and Bluetooth though. What I found of the head unit was the two DVD sockets, not the main display part. No way to tell if it had Bluetooth.

[timmahh]

Originally Posted by glennwa

Now that you mention it - it definitely had homelink. I was considering buying the mirror, to get the homelink. Not sure though if that would "just work", so I passed.

I don't know about auto-dimming and Bluetooth though. What I found of the head unit was the two DVD sockets, not the main display part. No way to tell if it had Bluetooth.

Bluetooth would be based on the FZD; aka the roof mounted console that has the lights/sunroof controller. You would have seen a BMW assist button, the sunroof control, and another one next to it with cut outs in it for the mic.

I think homelink would mean premium package.. I don't see it listed as a stand alone option. FWIW I believe it's one of the easier retrofits.

[glennwa]

Hmm. I should have taken pictures. Dang.

By memory, though, the overhead console with sunroof buttons looked just like mine, which was WITHOUT Bluetooth... but I may have missed the extra button, as I was not looking specifically for it.

Premium package DEFINITELY means leather, right?

When you say round lumbar seat controls.... you mean the button closest to the front of the seat, basically on the corner, by the knees? It's not round on these seats - it's long and thin, with left/right buttons. To the rear of that button is a four-way directional controller.

trying to find a picture of it online but can't find an example of it. Definitely not round though.

Thanks
-Glenn

[glennwa]

Aha! Here is a diagram of the switches that my new seats have.

It's the second diagram down, the one with memory depicted in it. I have, moving from front of seat to rear: the long left/right rocker, the round 4-way, the seat height/recline, and memory controls.

http://tis.spaghetticoder.org/s/view.pl?1/10/47/92

Thanks
-Glenn

[timmahh]

Premium package includes leather; so if the car had premium it definitely has leather seats.




Item #9 is part of the sport package; it's the bolster/side adjustment
Item #8 is part of the prem. package; it's the lumbar adjustment (inflate/deflate, move up/down)

My car has Sport & Premium, the adjustments from the front of the seat to the back are as follows:

Bolster Adjustment | Lumbar Adjustment | Std. Power Seat Adjustments | Memory; like so:

[Borisimo]

Leather seats have that extra seam on the back rest closest to the head rest, like in the picture above.

[glennwa]

Hmm. No extra seam on my seats. It's on the bolsters but not the backrest.

[335BBS]

Originally Posted by glennwa

Hmm. No extra seam on my seats. It's on the bolsters but not the backrest.

looks like leather to me. See how it is creased? Push your finger into a cushion. If it wrinkles around your finger it is leather.

[glennwa]

Most of the leather I've had in my cars has been softer than this. But then again, this car was parked as a wreck in a salvage yard. I think the doors were open and it was open to the air, so I would expect the leather to be a bit dry.

There are no signs of water damage, no stains of any kind, so I bought the seats... it would suck if the motors were not working, I took the chance, $400 for the pair. We'll see how it goes.

Maybe I'll treat the leather with some Lexol and see if it softens. If it doesn't maybe it's vinyl then :-)

Thanks
-Glenn

[pimp4cheddar]

Originally Posted by glennwa

Most of the leather I've had in my cars has been softer than this. But then again, this car was parked as a wreck in a salvage yard. I think the doors were open and it was open to the air, so I would expect the leather to be a bit dry.

There are no signs of water damage, no stains of any kind, so I bought the seats... it would suck if the motors were not working, I took the chance, $400 for the pair. We'll see how it goes.

Maybe I'll treat the leather with some Lexol and see if it softens. If it doesn't maybe it's vinyl then :-)

Thanks
-Glenn

The leather isn't soft at all...it's quite dry. Comparing this leather to the leather in an Audi (especially the upgraded Napa Leather) is night and day...

$400 is a steal for those seats!


Any info on the junkyard you can pass my way...I'm curious to see if I can snatch up an item.

[glennwa]

It's http://www.miccicheauto.com/. The car is picked pretty clean though... the dash is completely gone (but the gauges were floating around where the back seat was). Most parts were just laying around, in various states of disrepair. Some were, as you can see from the photo, sitting on the front seats, which made some impressions which I believe will come out over time.

The mirror looked good though. I am still thinking of getting it for the Homelink.

[PSEE]

if the back surface of the seat covering material is suede, then it's leather - if
it's some sort of woven material, then the 'cow' lived on a diet of vinyl...

[glennwa]

Sure - but how can you get to the back of the material? The seat is pretty well closed up.

Thanks
-Glenn

[Thp4]

If I recall, cars with leather have an extra seam on back rest and the door panels will have a seam running horizontal.

[glennwa]

Hi. As stated above - no extra seam. And the door panels were gone from the donor car.

[Michael Schott]

Originally Posted by glennwa

Hmm. No extra seam on my seats. It's on the bolsters but not the backrest.

That seat has power lumbar. It's leather.

[glennwa]

Originally Posted by Michael Schott

That seat has power lumbar. It's leather.

Thanks all. Appreciate your input on this!

[pimp4cheddar]

Originally Posted by glennwa

Thanks all. Appreciate your input on this!

Yea dude...it's leather.

I DO NOT believe you can get Sports Seats without them being leather...


Plus...they have the bolster support which comes with the Prem Pack (which also includes leather)...so you're good...

[timmahh]

Originally Posted by pimp4cheddar

Yea dude...it's leather.

I DO NOT believe you can get Sports Seats without them being leather...


Plus...they have the bolster support which comes with the Prem Pack (which also includes leather)...so you're good...

I think you CAN get a sports package w/o premium; so there would be no leather.

[sy2767]

They are definitely leather, get some quality leather cleaner and conditioner on them and they will look-feel much softer....