I was cleaning my car the other day and noticed that the drivers seat leather has a scuff on it along the bolster. I was so pissed I could scream. I cannot figure how it happened?? I don't have any type of snaps,buttons etc on any of my shorts and it looks like crap. All I think about is this now. I guess I will need to visit a leather shop for some repairs. Has this happened to anyone else??

 

Mine was doing the same thing when I noticed my cell phone was on my left hip. Looks like the phone holster was rubbing the seat bolster the entire time. Took that off right away! I'm going to contact the dealer to see if they will cover under warranty though. I can at least try.

 

Hey let me know how you make out. I am going to try the same thing. The leather in IMO is way to soft and should not scuff that easy.

 

my front seats (lapis) scuffed horribly on the outsides. We can only think that the wear was from rivets on Levis. I took them to the dealership (Ralph Schomp). The car was only three weeks old, RS was very good about looking at them. They made some calls and were able to warranty them out as "abnormal fading", and it was true they were wearing horribly, wrinking and discoloring.The BMW rep would not do anything for "scratching". He said that was not normal usage. Several dealerships have had problems and have warrantied out Lapis leather. I know for a fact it has been done at:

Ralph Schomp Denver
Mini Motion Houston? (Steve is the service manager)
Mini of Long Island (that may not be the right name for this dealer ship.)

I think that we will see wear related issues on the Lapis leather as time wears on and the seats do not.

 

FWIW, I have a friend with a 330ci who needed to have one his leather seats replaced after 8,000 miles. Wasn't a simple process either (dealer politics I mean). Could be a family problem.

How is the leather in the Mini? Is it Acura quality or Jaguar quality/

I went with the space cloth. My current two cars with have leather and I didn't think it was worth it unless I was getting top quality leather. Ever stick your head in a ten year old 911? Now that's leather.

Tom

 

>>I was cleaning my car the other day and noticed that the drivers seat leather has a scuff on it along the bolster. I was so pissed I could scream. I cannot figure how it happened?? I don't have any type of snaps,buttons etc on any of my shorts and it looks like crap. All I think about is this now. I guess I will need to visit a leather shop for some repairs. Has this happened to anyone else??

I don't have the lapis blue, but I do have leather seats, and only the bolster on the drivers side (the one closest to the door) is scuffed. I'm very careful with my seats and use the leather wipes pretty often. Is the leather on our seats poor quality??

 

I have the black leather and it hasn't shown any signs of abnormal wear after 10k miles. Although I did get a crease in the bottom of the driver's seat that didn't seem normal, so I inquired about it when I brought my car to Westchester MINI for service, and they will be replacing the lower seat cover under warranty.

 

it took me 3 visits to 2 different dealers and a total of 30+ days in the shop to get my lapis blue leather replaced.

 

>>Hey let me know how you make out. I am going to try the same thing. The leather in IMO is way to soft and should not scuff that easy.

Nobull60,

Just had my MCS in the shop yesterday for the cold start issue and they looked at the seat while it was there. They didn't replace the seat but they did re-dye the left bolster. Turned out pretty good actually. My service advisor did mention that the stock dye was minimal and wasn't suprised to see the scuff marks. I am very pleased with what they did and it is very hard to see where the scuff was. Best of all it was free!

Jason

 

Very interesting to read the comments regarding the leather scuffing on the seats. I noticed the left side bolster leather (drivers side) wearing a bit and I just barely have 5m on my 2002 MCS. The quality of the leather is not what you will find in a Mercedes or Lexus that's for sure, but I am a bit disappointed about the fact its wearing the way it is in such a short period of time.
I am glad to hear the dealer has a fix though, I hope that re-dye approach works out okay for you, looks like I am headed down the same road (no pun intended).
The good news is this could be a justification to get the JCW upgrade seats!

 

I also have the lapis blue leather and the outside driver's bolster is scuffed. I showed this to the dealer the other day and was told they "have a guy" who repairs these things. Assurred me that it will be undetectable when completed. To be honest, I have my doubts, but will let them try. If the repair isn't adequate I'll begin the process of trying to get the seat replaced. The up side is that by bringing in their leather guy to try to fix it at no cost to me, they are acknowledging that the leather is wearing abnormally fast.

Has anyone had any experience with a "leather guy" at a dealership?