HOW TO tell if its real leather. PIX

I removed my back seat to clean out the crumbs and jolly ranchers and found a build sheet. The sheet was a placed underneath the rear seat bottom straps at the factory and specified the interior color and materials...leather in my case. You would have to remove the rear seat and turn it upside down to find it....unless this seat order/build sheet was just a fluke in my case.

If gray certifies sure leather deal,does that mean opting for this color has one & only price tag while the tan & black interior have two depending on if it's leather or leatherette?

I have a 2006 M3 fitted with the Competition Package and from what I can tell from your directions, it seems that my "baseball glove" (dark tan),
has leather in the front seats, but leatherette in the back with the exception of the back fold down divider. Is that possible?

or you can pm me the last 7 digits of your vin number and i can look it up in your options and tell you for sure.

Way to tell if you have leather:

1. Touch it. If you can't tell the difference, you don't deserve to know

How I found out my seats aren't leather on my 318i? My daughter was playing the seat belt on the back seat and a fold of the leatherette came out from the pocket where the seat belt buckle will normally rest. And that's how. I always thought it was leather since I bought it a few months back. I even felt good about it knowing my friend's E90 320i have only cloth seats. Damn it..

here you go e-rock. appears that you have real leather


VIN long *******************

Type code AV53

Type 330I (USA)

Dev. series E46 (4)

Line 3

Body type LIM

Steering LL

Door count 4

Engine M54

Cubical capacity 3.00

Power 170

Transmision ALLR

Gearbox AUT

Colour TITANSILBER METALLIC (354)

Upholstery STANDARDLEDER/SCHWARZ (N6SW)

Prod. date 2001-01-23


Order options
No. Description
203 ALL-WHEEL-DRIVE SYSTEM

205 AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION

210 DYNAMIC STABILITY CONTROL (DSC)

249 MULTI-FUNCTION FOR STEERING WHEEL

255 SPORTS LEATHER STEERING WHEEL

403 GLAS ROOF, ELECTRIC

431 INTERIOR RR VW MIRROR W AUT ANTI-DAZZLE

438 WOOD TRIM

441 SMOKERS PACKAGE

459 SEAT ADJUSTM., ELECTR. W. MEMORY

465 THROUGH-LOAD SYSTEM

481 SPORT SEATS F DRIVER/FRONT PASSENGER

488 LUMBAR SUPPORT DRIVER/FRONT PASSENGER

494 SEAT HEATING F DRIVER/FRONT PASSENGER

502 HEADLIGHT WASHER SYSTEM

520 FOGLIGHTS

521 RAIN SENSOR

522 XENON LIGHT

534 AUTOMATIC AIR CONDITIONING

640 CAR TELEPHONE PREPARATION

662 RADIO BMW BUSINESS CD

674 HIFI LOUDSPEAKER SYSTEM HARMAN KARDON

692 CD CHANGER I-BUS PREPARATION

715 M AERODYNAMICS PACKAGE

818 MAIN BATTERY SWITCH

925 SHIPPING PROTECTION PACKAGE

926 SPARE WHEEL


Series options
No. Description
354 GREEN STRIPE WINDSCREEN

375 LT/ALY WHEELS/DOUBLE SPOKE 79

411 WINDOW LIFTS, ELECTRIC

470 CHILD SEAT ISOFIX ATTACHMENT

473 ARMREST, FRONT

550 ON-BOARD COMPUTER

823 HOT CLIMATE VERSION

832 BATTERY IN LUGGAGE COMPARTMENT

845 ACOUSTIC BELT WARNING

853 LANGUAGE VERSION ENGLISH

876 RADIO FREQUENCY 315 MHZ

992 NUMBER PLATE ATTACHEMENT MANAGEMENT

Dang...my car's birthday is three days before mine. So close! Thanks for the info, I'll be sure to save it for my records.

Originally Posted by xylene

I removed my back seat to clean out the crumbs and jolly ranchers and found a build sheet. The sheet was a placed underneath the rear seat bottom straps at the factory and specified the interior color and materials...leather in my case. You would have to remove the rear seat and turn it upside down to find it....unless this seat order/build sheet was just a fluke in my case.

There was no sheet in my car lol

Originally Posted by Hartman

Way to tell if you have leather:

1. Touch it. If you can't tell the difference, you don't deserve to know

According to my VIN decode and by comparing my seats to the pics, my car has real leather.... I cant even tell because it feels like hardened plastic.... aka crap.

Leatherette FTW, you don't slide around on sharp turns, you don't have to condition it, it doesn't dry up and crack. Plus the leather seats are rock hard.

I knew it wasnt leather, too hard and tough, leatherette it is. Any good cleaners for this?

Originally Posted by ///M=Power

Leatherette FTW, you don't slide around on sharp turns, you don't have to condition it, it doesn't dry up and crack. Plus the leather seats are rock hard.

Leatherette makes the car feel cheap. And if you have the sports seats then you won't slide around.

Originally Posted by RockLee

Leatherette makes the car feel cheap. And if you have the sports seats then you won't slide around.

Any non ///M feels cheap as it is. So it really doesn't matter. It's easy maintenance lol.

wow, yeah, i just came home a lil drunk and read this, had to run back outside at 1230am and look @ my back seats... u scared me haha, i have the stitch/fold in the back seats, i have the sports package as well as the premium, in a 2002 325i... black leather interior.. yeah way to make me run to my car like DAMNIT!!! phwew!

Originally Posted by ///M=Power

Leatherette FTW, you don't slide around on sharp turns, you don't have to condition it, it doesn't dry up and crack. Plus the leather seats are rock hard.

leatherette does crack, it's vinyl

Originally Posted by RockLee

Leatherette makes the car feel cheap. And if you have the sports seats then you won't slide around.

true, sport seats you don't slide around as much, but cloth is the answer for best non-sliding

Originally Posted by ///M=Power

Any non ///M feels cheap as it is. So it really doesn't matter. It's easy maintenance lol.

don't agree, sport package feels plenty good. you're coming from the most stripped down version of any E46 ever to make it to the USA...the 323 sedan. Sport Pacakge with leather is great. Nothing like new leather interior...but agree a thrashed leather interior looks lame.

Originally Posted by ///M=Power

Any non ///M feels cheap as it is. So it really doesn't matter. It's easy maintenance lol.

If you're comparing a base 320i with manual windows and a worn cloth seat then maybe, but the quality difference of an M3 interior compared to the average non-M E46 is not that drastic, at all.

*poke* why don't the pics work on the OP anymore...

Originally Posted by trive2

*poke* why don't the pics work on the OP anymore...

Because it was probably hosted somewhere and within the last 6 years, it's gone.

Bump. Someone with pics?

double stitching = leather
single stitching = leatherette