you can also get a shop to recover the seat with leather of your choice. it should run $700 or so installed which is probably cheaper than buying used seats that are costly to ship and usually worn anyways
The thing about used leather is that you never know how it's been (or not been) treated. Leather seats should be treated every six months. I doubt there's more than a handful of E46 seats that have been treated twice per year since new. I would opt for the recovering, if good quality leather is your goal. If it's not that important (it's not to me), then buy some good used sport seats and you can wait a while before deciding what to do with them. Leather seats can be made to look good even when they are not. Six months use usually shows the actual condition of the leather.
This might sound crazy but I like the way leatherette looks in a convertible. It holds up much better than leather in the summer sun. I wonder if BMW made sport seats in leatherette. That is something I would consider.
Yep, I remember briefly looking at the 323 when I stopped at the dealer back in '02. So many things, including leather, were optional, that the 330 seemed like a much better deal. And, of course, it had a lot more power.
Unless the leatherette is perforated, like in my son's Jetta, it's like sitting on those old-fashioned plastic sofa covers. You'll sweat your ass off since the water coming off your skin has nowhere to go.
Not only does leather look a little better (usually not so shiny), but it smells better - especially when the top is up, and breathes much better. Well worth the expense, if you have the money.
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