I am just curious if anyone has experienced any issues with their Lounge Leather seats or other seating materials. I have the Green LL on my MCS and I have developed a small wear spot on the seat back side bolster of the drivers seat, I suspect from getting in and out of the car. I only have 19K miles on it and like most am in and out about 3-4 times a day. I plan to stop by the dealership and show them this soon, as I think the leather should hold up better than this. Anyone else with similar issues?

 

Leather wears very quickly compared to the other materials. They may tell you it's normal wear and tear for near 20k miles.

 

If its the side you touch getting in and out then that's normal. Try to lift up and over it.

 

My R52 has that problem, to the point where I rubbed a hole in the seat back side bolster. It is scheduled to be repaired before MOTD. I forced myself to wait for this repair until I had developed a habit of always sliding the seat back BEFORE I get out. This should keep the problem from recurring. Now this habit is so well-developed, I find myself doing it even in other cars.

 

I've trained myself to do just that, as I noticed the same wear spot described by the OP, left by the previous owner...

 

it's normal wear. I drive peoples MINIs all day and they all have some wear even with lower milage. This is why I'm glad I got cloth, doesn't really fade as fast and doesn't
turn shinny.

 

one of the problems with having nice leather. you can see it in other luxury vehicles.

 

It also depends on the quality of the leather. My wifes past two cars have been Bmws. One she kept for 15 years and the leather still looked great. MINIs leather seems to be softer, so I could understand some wear issues especially if the person driving the car was on the larger side. I have had no wear issues with my seats with 16,000 miles on the car, but I also have Tuscan Beige which is not lounge leather.

 

The black Lounge Leather in my 2007 MCSm wore like that, and my dealer replaced the seat cover under warranty. I think it was at 24,000 miles. The so-called "leather" was so thin that it appeared to have been sprayed onto a substrate

FWIW, I ordered my 2011 MCSm with Cloth/Leather to get the adjustable lumbar support, and then bought a black cow hide from Ikea to use as seat cover. I placed it in the "hair up" orientation to minimize friction with my big butt. The hide is keeping both the leather and cloth in "new" condition.

 

Thanks for the replies. While it's good to know that I my experience isn't unusual, it is disappointing. We have leather seating in our CX9 and our Titan and both of them are holding up very well. I guess I wouldn't be so disappointed if I hadn't splurged and spent the extra $2K on the Lounge Leather. I think today I'd order the cloth (my son's 09 MCCS with cloth interior is holding up very well) or one of the leather and cloth combo's. It's too bad, because the Lounge Leather look is very classic in the MINI. I think I will talk to the dealership and see if they offer to replace under warranty, and then use the "slide the seat back" method described by another poster to prevent premature wear in future.