Leatherette is fantastic. It looks and feels MUCH better than my real leather. My lifestyle couldn't handle the stains that would come if I had cloth seats.

 

If you're using your Mini correctly, you're going to SWEAT no matter what material you're sitting on.
I'm a guy that sweats easily...too many years of distance running, overactive sweat glands ala Hunter S. Thompson (study his history with his doctor, etc ). The leatherette wipes down/cleans up nicely. IF I had cloth, it would just be absorbing my sweat.
Anybody try the old trick of putting a good thick t-shirt over the seat top? I know, airbags...How bout a SLIT in that area? Anyone try this?
Final answer: LEATHERETTE.

 

Leatherette !!

Looks more upscale.

Doesn't absorb liquids or odors.

Wears better than real leather and hard to tell the difference.

Chicks dig it.

 

Neither...love the loung leather seats. Easy to clean and it breaths

 

Yep, it's nice.

But for the price increase, it *should* be.

Get 10 people to sit on leatherette and I would bet 9 of them would tell you it's leather.

 

+1

 

I have the lounge leather as well and adore it. With the cream color line and piano black trim especially they create a VERY upscale interior. Although I highly doubt the OP is going to even consider $1900 LL when he's debating between two $0 options.

Also, not to nitpick, but while I do agree that the leatherette is very nice I can clearly tell the difference between it and leather. The leatherette felt especially taut, had kind of a plasticky look to it, and you don't get that awesome (to me at least) leather smell. Granted the average driver/passenger may not recognize these differences but you have to go with what will make you happy.

Sports seats are standard on the MCS but the OP specified that he's planning to purchase an MC. I haven't sat in non-sport seats and therefore can't comment on them, but the sports are definitely quite comfortable and keep you pretty planted while cornering. That would be another reason to go for the cloth seats. You'll slide around a lot less than you would with leatherette. This is especially something to consider if you're not going to get the sport seats with their improved bolstering or plan to track your MINI at all.

It's hard for me to recommend one or the other as I'm honestly not a fan of either. The cloth is nice but I don't like the checkers and it will hold stains/dust/sweat/odor like crazy. And I've already established that the leatherette simply isn't for me.

If you can swing it I'd actually go for one of the cloth/leather combos. They're a decent middle ground price wise ($1000) between the free options and overly expensive lounge leather, not to mention look VERY sharp. Also you get solid black cloth and the leather is only in places that won't negatively affect your sliding around. Unfortunate that they're only offered in pacific blue or rooster red (my favorite). However, if either of those would fit your color scheme and you can afford it, I'd say to go for it.

Best of luck! You're buying a MINI so you honestly can't go too wrong regardless.

 

When I first saw the cloth seats i thought they really looked cheap. The leatherette seats are the best looking vinyl seat I have ever seen. I got the cloth sport heated seats and have really grown to love the feel of the seats. I don't know if I could put up with hot vinyl in the summer.

 

for me the sport seats are a must. I have an MC so they were not standard. I bought a used 2100 miles 07 MC driven by MINI USA-never titled. I bought the car with a very substantial discount. Came with Tuscan beige leather. I love it. If I were to order and pay the freight I was going to go cloth. I thought I would go leather etttttte until I saw it, touched it, and sat in it. I thought that is had a very industrial look and feel--kind of like Diner genuine Sears naugahyde. I also did not like the feel on my delicate buttocks. The cloth seats are thankfully not mouse fur or shiny polyester. So, there

 

I won't pick apart your book... I mean your post , but...

Plasticy ?? My dad's 1972 Pinto had "plasticky" seats. My 2006 MINI Cooper with leatherette is anything but plasticky.

I have a MINI with cloth/leather. I have a MINI with leather. I have a MINI with leatherette.

So... I know of what I speak. Leatherette, even without considering the price, is my favorite of the three.

 

My MCS is my first car with leatherette, all my other cars have leather. I first sat in my friends 2004 BMW 330ci with leatherette seats and I was very impressed with the quality of the seats. And the perforated side bolsters make it look sporty too. And the best part, they are free. I was gonna get leather too, but in the end I took the $2000 i saved and put that in for other options.

As for the Hot seats in summer comment, leather gets hot in the summer too, I suggest putting tinted windows to cool the car down. I had a 1992 black on black 325is with leather seats and that thing was hot in the summer, no matter if i had the A/C full blast, after the tinted windows got installed, what a difference that made.

 

Yea, I clearly had a lot to vent about MINI seating surfaces.

While I obviously don't own a MINI with all 3 seating surfaces I spent a lot of time examining each before making my decision. Perhaps plasticy wasn't the right word but rather cheap or industrial. They simply just did not feel, smell or look the least bit high quality to me. Granted luxury is not what everyone is going for when they buy a MINI.

I do agree that they'll last the longest as they're clearly the most durable of all options, but that would simply be a compromise for me. It's almost as if exactly what makes them durable simultaneously makes them so low budget. No offense of course to anyone who has the leatherette seats. Like I said, they're just not at all for me. As far as leatherette seats go they are among the best but given that we are dealing with vinyl here, that doesn't say a lot to me. However they are free and you can't beat that!

Just trying to help out the OP - he asked for honest opinions and that's what I gave. I know many NAM'ers have the leatherette, love it and that's awesome. As I said, to each their own.

 

You should have stopped while you were behind.

I'm not sure which is more offensive... "plasticky" or "cheap".

You're entitled to your opinion, of course. But I couldn't disagree with your opinion more.

My CR Cooper's interior feels every bit as luxurious as my '05 MCS with leather. And, the leather gets a grayish tone to it and it is already showing signs of wear even though the car only has 29,000 miles on it. Meanwhile, my leatherette looks as good as the day it was delivered and that car has 23,000 miles on it.

 

Sorry about that - I thought the word cheap may cause some issues, I just don't know how else to explain it. But if you honestly feel that your leatherette is as luxurious as leather than that's what matters most.
Btw, what type of leather do you have in your MINI?

 

Cow.

 

I was a cloth configurator guy and then i saw the cloth and leatherette and LL in person. The cloth has a weird sheen like a wetsuit. The leatherette looked great and sporty and felt very good to me. The LL looked tacky with the piping and is my least favourite of all the seating surfaces.
I like the punch leather but after seeing how the leather has held up in my leased Audi, I don't want it in my purchased MINI.
1 Vote for the leatherette.

 

I mean is it lounge or punched leather. Not sure if the options were different for the R53. Also I'm assuming it's black/carbon?

 

Gotta keep that sense of humor, it's essential !

Yeah, the R53 leather options were different. It's neither lounge nor punched. It's good ol' fashioned 100% authentic black leather.

 

But of course!

That makes sense. If I was choosing between leatherette and standard elather my decision may not be quite as easy. But choosing between leatherette and lounge leather for me is simply a no-brainer. Yes, $1900 is absolutely ridiculous but the quality and look of it is just on an entirely different level from the other options. Yes for that price it should be and IMHO it is. I'm not denying the fact that it won't wear nearly as well as leatherette, but for the time being at least it's simply gorgeous. I only have 2,000 miles on my MINI so there's no comparison at all, but the leather is just as gorgeous as the day I purchased it. Again, apples to oranges, but that's a lot more than I can say about my Mom's Lincoln Navigator.

 

I don't think someone's completely silly for picking the leather, but when I checked out the leatherette vs. leather in person, I didn't see a big enough difference to spring for the leather myself. I'm not sure which one would hold up better over the long haul (from what I remember reading on NAV, I think I've seen more points off of the actual leather stretching and needing more attention than the 'ette, but I may be mistaken) if that is a point that sways anyone's decision.

I will say that the Tuscan Beige Leather is the only light-color option, and it looks really sharp. Oh, and if someone wants the lumbar support, then they'd need to select leather.

~Neal

 

I got the leatherette. I have had leather interiors in virtually all of my cars except a Minivan that had a suede-like cloth. That car showed stains like crazy!

I personally would have chosen leather IF there had been a choice that I liked. Keep in mind that I ordered in mid-December, when there was virtually no information about the interiors besides the tiny pictures on the configurator. I never saw any cloth interior information, but I wouldn't have picked it anyway.

FWIW, Houston is about as hot and sticky as any place in the U.S., and I did have a lot of concern about the seats since they don't "breathe." I went through the entire summer without problem, though. Today we have a cold snap--up 'till now it's still been unusually warm and sticky, so that's about 6 months of summer!

 

I liked the cloth seats better. The leatherette reminds me of school bus seats.

 

I got an idea from this thread. For those who love the smell of leather, why not sell a Mild leather fragrance for car air freshner?

 

Thanks to all who replied to my post. It looks like the leatherette supporters held the majority. Well, you should know I completed my order and ended up getting the sport seats with leatherette. I couldnt rationalize cheaping out on the sport seats... After all what is a few hundred dollars when we're talking about over 100,000 miles of comfort ?

 

Yes. And leatherette is not slippery at all. It is as grippy as ... a... a.... cell phone pad on the dashboard / 2.5.