--Okay I know my seats are cuz I paid for that. I know the stearing wheel is but not the center part. I think the boot on the shifter is, but is the **** on the shifter on the Auto MCS leather?

--pyratio

 

MCS gets wheel and lower part of the shift **** I think, but the shifter boot (gaiter?) is pleather as well as the boot on the e-brake. The aftermarket real leather kits look really nice IMHO. Sorry, but I haven't a clue about the MCSa shifter lever, but I bet that it's the same deal as the MCS.

 

As above, I'm pretty sure that the shift boot and e-brake boot are vinyl. I'm not much impressed with their look and feel and I've passed my preferenece for a RedLineGoods.com replacement to my wife... just in case she needs a gift and doesn't know what to get me.

 

Smart man. Sure beats getting socks and underwear!

 

Ok, sad confession time... I don't know if I have leather or not.

I bought a used MINI and am not sure if I have leather, or the ol' leatherette. How do I tell?

 

It's leatherette. You'd know leather.

 

You'd be surprised.

I was telling my girlfriend just yesterday that I found a local store that sells Lexol, and I purchased a bottle to give to a friend who's been looking to pick up a bottle of it for the last 1.5 years. When I said that I'd let my friend try out the Lexol before I switched from the Griot's leather conditioner I had been using, my girlfriend of over a year exclaimed, "You mean these seats are real leather?!? All this time I thought they were pleather!"

My girlfriend has quite the eye for designer bags and such, and she'd never realized that the stuff Mini tries to pass off as leather seats is genuine.

 

I think that maybe Wagnbat gives me too much credit ...

I had assumed that the seats were leatherette, but I've had a few people react, "whoa! leather seats!"

The original owner got a lot of the packages, so he might have gotten the leather.

Perhaps, Wagnbat, you were implying that the MINI leather is so nice I would not be able to miss it?

 

"Perhaps, Wagnbat, you were implying that the MINI leather is so nice I would not be able to miss it?"

Probably not.

MINI leather isn't the best stuff. It got better with the 05 and '06 models, but even that isn't great.

My best suggestion would be to feel the shift boot and then feel the seat (a side that doesn't see much wear and tear). If they feel the same, it's probably vinyl. If you have any tan 'leather' it's definately leather.

If it's wearing very poorly, pulling at the stiches, wrinkling and cracking, it's probably leather. If it looks like new, it's probably vinly.

I love tan interiors, so I had to get the tan leather. I condition it monthly to try and get the longest life out of it. If they had it, I would have gotten the vinyl. The vinyl that MINI uses is good quality, easy to clean and very durable.