Hi im about to get my order ready.
I have hot chocolate lounge leather in my Clubman now, but in the next Mini i want the more sporty look so my thoughts was to go for the punch leather option. But now im afraid that is gonna get saggy and not holding up as godd as the hardly stitched lounge does.

The price difference between lounge and punch is only 300€
what ya all think? or should i go for the standard half leather option?

opinions from punch owners?

 

Some have bad luck and get a lot of flaking leather. Itll be covered under warranty, but its a known problem.Cant say the same for the lounge...probably more reliable than Punch, but there have been similar issues.

Ive heard with heated seats the cloth is the way to go, though I did just see the thread recently where the leather bolsters are cracking like the Punch sometimes does.

And for reliability and long lasting, Leatherette will not dissappoint. From what i can tell in 39K miles, it hasnt aged a day in mine, and I suspect itll always look new.

 

My mini is 3 years old and has Lounge Leather. no issues so far and work 300 pounds more.

 

I have Punch Carbon Leather. Can't say how quickly it wears out since I've only had it for under a month now, but I love it! If it's anything like the BMW 335i's leather I had, I know it'll eventually wear down over the year, I'll live with it though...

 

It really depends... are you in and out of your car a lot? The more often you get in, sit down, stop the car, get out... the harder you are on your seats-- especially leather.

I love the look of the cloth/leather combo but I think it would be annoying to clean because you have to use two different products.

I (personally) would go for leatherette OR checkered cloth. I chose checkered cloth for my MCS. I REALLY like it. I think it is a very interesting material... easy to clean with a damp cloth and some mild detergent.

Leatherette wears VERY well... but I think VW uses a nicer leatherette than MINI. I don't care for the feel of the MINI leatherette (I'm a teacher, and it reminds me waaaay too much of Bus seats!) but I do love leatherette for the longevity.

Keeping your car four years? Cloth. Keeping it longer? Leatherette. Want luxury? Lounge leather-- but it will almost certainly wear faster than the other options.

 

Oh-- I forgot to add though... if lumbar support is important to you then you need to get leather or leather/cloth combo.

Leatherette seats and cloth seats don't have lumbar support. I'm 28 and hoping I won't need lumbar support for at least 5 more years...

 

I would get cloth/leather on my next MINI. The leatherette does look good and wear extremely well though. Too bad there's no lumbar support in them though.

 

Can't emphasize this enough. Your Lounge Leather has adjustable lumbar support. Without either Lounge or Punch leather, r55/6 seats have NO lumbar support.....there is basically a hole where the lumbar support should be....at least that's what it feels like to me, but I've had back problems. OEM lumbar support can be added by you for about $200 per seat in parts...there are threads on this.

I have Punch leather in my '09 r56 with 33k on it - no issues, and no stretching.

 

I have the black cloth seats. They have held up very well. Didn't like the look of the Punch Leather, nor the white piping on the black Lounge Leather. Didn't think the Redwood Lounge Leather would go well with Pure Silver.

I added lumbar support to my seats. Wasn't difficult.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...orts-seat.html

 

Leatherette is not an option here in europe. Whe only have cloth, half leather, and full leather to choose from.
What is leatherette?

 

It is the hide of the Nauga.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naugahyde

 

There is a thread in Stock Problems about the punch leather not lasting so well. It LOOKS awesome, but when it first came out I thought back to a handbag I had owned in perforated leather...looked fabulous, didn't wear so well. There are also threads regarding the long-term wear of the regular leather and it doesn't seem to be doing so well either.

Leatherette really is the best of both worlds, especially if you're willing to do the DIY lumbar support install.

But since you can't do leatherette, I would go cloth for durability.

 

I like my leatherette but I love the lounge leather and Tuscan Leather. I for one do not like the cloth/leather combination at all and find it sort of cheap looking or just rather ugly but this is just my opinion. You have to be in the car everyday so it's important that you make yourself happy.

 

There's a recent thread about the punch leather not wearing well. In it is a post from a person who's in the leather business that was interesting. Search for that thread and read his post. From what I remember, it's mostly about the thickness, and the punch is thinner than other leathers in the Mini. My Tuscan has worn very well for 3 years btw.

 

The Tuscan leather does seem to wear better than the rest...BMW leather in general is pretty thin and cheap in quality, but for some reason the Tuscan leather is more durable.

 

I ended up with leatherette and am glad I did. To me all the leathers look "saggy" compared with my Audi. For a $2k less the plastic looks better and still feels pretty good.

 

Get the punched leather. Had punched leather for 40k and no problems with wear. Lumbar is great and much cooler in warm weather then leatherette.