I am a little "crunchy granola" as a friend would put it, and thus concerned about toxicity of everyday products I use, so I sent an email to Mini regarding the toxicity of the materials they use in their cars.

This is the response I got, which I think is great. No way the car is going to not have any VOCs but the least the better.

I may actually go with the leatherette now, which in any case I noticed has a very different feel from the leatherette in the R53.

"Thanks for writing MINI. We appreciate your concern with the materials we use in our MINIs.

The leatherette seats are actually simply made out of leatherette. While this is not vinyl, it is a synthetic material. The cloth seats are also a synthetic material, but they are not treated to prevent stains or anything of that nature.

Please note that the use of synthetic materials does not necessarily mean that they are toxic. BMW Group, who owns MINI, is very environmentally aware of the chemicals in new cars. In fact, we use low solvent paints to eliminate harmful vapors. If you get into one of our cars, the familiar "new car smell" is greatly reduced compared to cars in the past. This is because glues, plastics and other materials that have noxious throw offs have been eliminated. "

 

Very interesting and good to know.

I read sometime ago that one of the less 'toxic"new car smells in the market was from Volvos.

I personally enjoy the new car fumes because these go away pretty quickly, specially if you drive with the windows open all the time.

But my question to you is..... Is the R56 still Intoxicating?

 

I grew up with my head in a virtual vat of chemicals (farming) and it hasn't had any.....

What is this? Who are you? Where am I? Why are my pants wet?

Sorry - sometimes I get a little confused. Gotta go eat a Big Mac now.

 

Yes, definitely very intoxicating.... a pure mini-high

I'd rather have it from the ride though not the interior...

 

Just a point of order;

They said the leatherette on the seats wasn't vinyl - not that there wasn't vinyl used elsewhere in the car. Be very weary of corporations' "green" PR, as most of it is B.S.

 

The generic term 'vinyl' covers a whole category of polymers which have different characteristics.

To be called 'vinyl', all a polymer needs is CH2=CH2 to be included as part of the molecular structure.

Styrene's, for example, are not part of the 'vinyl' family.

 

I found this sentence amusing: "The leatherette seats are actually simply made out of leatherette." What the sam hill IS leatherette, anyway?

 

Here's what I got from Wikipedia when I googled leatherette:

Leatherette is an imitation leather, especially one that is made with paper and cloth, or from plastic. Leatherette bound books and cameras are good examples of leatherette. Leatherette clothing of various kinds (including lingeries) also exists.

A disadvantage of plastic "leatherette" is that it is not porous and does not allow air to pass through it, thus sweat can accumulate if it is used for clothing, car seat coverings, etc.

 

true, I know... but I found other sources that state that BMW is one of the best in this sense.
here's the link to a report if anyone is interested

http://www.cleancarcampaign.org/rele...oxiccars.shtml

also, I can choose to have or not to have vinyl in my seats but the other components unfortunately I have to live with...

 

update... I spoke to Mini and asked the same question again and now I was told it IS vinyl...

maybe I will get the cloth after all...

 

I guess I'm "crunchy granola" too!!

VOC's = Volatile Organic Compounds (for all you non-crunchies out there )

Here is some non-MINI info y'all might be interested in......

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006...food_cooki.php