M0nk3y Detailed: BMW Z4M Interior + Leatherique Write-Up

[M0nk3y]

I'd figure I would post this for some people who always here me raving about leatherique...here is why:

Car was really dusty on the interior, my dad who picked it up had muddy feet apparently, so in addition to doing my seats I cleaned everything up.

Before:

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/1nFeCt1oN/DSC_0012-1.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/1nFeCt1oN/DSC_0013.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/1nFeCt1oN/DSC_0016.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/1nFeCt1oN/DSC_0017-2.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/1nFeCt1oN/DSC_0018.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/1nFeCt1oN/DSC_0023.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/1nFeCt1oN/DSC_0024.jpg

Now the Leatherique:

Seats were in really good shape, but there was some wearing on both sides where you usually would slide your thigh getting in and out.

Before:

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/1nFeCt1oN/DSC_0014-1.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/1nFeCt1oN/DSC_0015.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/1nFeCt1oN/DSC_0021.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/1nFeCt1oN/DSC_0022-1.jpg

Leatherique Suggests you use about 4oz per seat, of Leather Rejuvenator Oil. I followed this on my E46 and I did the same. Some seats will soak more in, some might be less. It's all to your discretion. I love using a foam brush to apply it. You can also use a painters brush to apply as well. Whatever works for you.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/1nFeCt1oN/DSC_0026-1.jpg

Applying the to the seats, you will feel like 4oz is way too much per seat. It isn't. If you think you are applying too much, then keep on going at it. You're doing it the right way:

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/1nFeCt1oN/DSC_0027-1.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/1nFeCt1oN/DSC_0028-1.jpg

When done. I put garage bags over them. It reduces the mess when I work around the seats, and it helps trap heat in.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/1nFeCt1oN/DSC_0029-1.jpg

While waiting, I cleaned the rest of the interior in my OCD fashion. (You usually want the Leatherique on the seats for 8-12 hours in bright sunlight).

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/1nFeCt1oN/DSC_0050.jpg

When that time is up, remove the garage bags. You will see that most of that goop liquid has been absorbed. That's why you need 4oz of Leather Rejuvenator.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/1nFeCt1oN/DSC_0051.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/1nFeCt1oN/DSC_0052.jpg

Now it's time to take your Pristine Clean and attach a sprayer to it. It's the easiest way to do it. You want to spray your seat each section at a time. You need to coat it pretty good as well with this product. You need enough so it starts dripping down the seat. That's a good sign you have enough

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/1nFeCt1oN/DSC_0054.jpg

I use a horse hair brush now to scrub away at the seats. Make sure you get into the stitches. The seat is going to be sticky until you do this step. If you need to, do it over again.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/1nFeCt1oN/DSC_0055.jpg

Take a MF towel then, and wipe away the residue. I usually spray again with Pristine Clean and wipe down to make sure I didn't miss anything.

You're DONE!

Remember those before pictures?

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/1nFeCt1oN/DSC_0056.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/1nFeCt1oN/DSC_0063.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/1nFeCt1oN/DSC_0064.jpg

And general shots of the interior:

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/1nFeCt1oN/DSC_0058.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/1nFeCt1oN/DSC_0066.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/1nFeCt1oN/DSC_0070.jpg

[danewilson77]

M0nk3y.....nicely done. Car is tasty and delicious. I am glad you own this car. It is well deserved my friend. I also appreciate the amount of time it took to write the diy, take pics, etc. You are a geat asset to the site!!! There's only one thing left to say.......






















http://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/af278/nicee46/Other%20cars/DSC_0070-1.jpg

[M0nk3y]

Thanks Dane, that means alot

Lol...I knew that was coming from someone.

It's dust...still. Oh the downsides to owning a DSLR :(

[danewilson77]

Thanks Dane, that means alot

Lol...I knew that was coming from someone.

It's dust...still. Oh the downsides to owning a DSLR :(

Just playin.....:rofl.....nice car/nice camera bro. You're setup about perfect.

[spencers]

Great job! The horse hair brush makes a HUGE difference when using the Prestine Clean!

[Whitexi]

That is by far one of the best products I use on my car, I do the same but never tried a brush. I usually massage it in and then cover it like you did and then shut the doors lol.

Car looks great! I can't wait for a nice 90 plus degree day to treat my seats now.

[kayger12]

Great writeup, Kyle. Love the pics.

[jjcools]

Thanks, I ordered some the other day, looking forward to it.

[gr330zhp]

Soooo awesome Kyle!! The interior is the perfect euro setup, black leather/aluminum trim! The pics came out really good too

The Leatherique products work amazingly well! I wish I had a car with leather again to use them :(

[johnrando]

Great write up! Do you recommend this for seats that are in good shape or is it mainly for seats that have been "worn". John

[danewilson77]

Tried this on my alcantara.....it didn't work out so well..

M0nk3y.....please read your PM inbox...thanks

[spencers]

Tried this on my alcantara.....it didn't work out so well..

You used a leather product on fabric???

[az3579]

It's dust...still. Oh the downsides to owning a DSLR :(


But now you can learn from this experience; next time you could clean an area, take a pic with a DSLR and see if you did a decent enough job. If you still see dust, you have more work to do. :rofl

[mimalmo]

Glad to see I'm not the only OCD person that saw all that dust and dirt under the e-brake handle.

:)


Those seats turned out great.

[danewilson77]

You used a leather product on fabric???

Playing...

[M0nk3y]

But now you can learn from this experience; next time you could clean an area, take a pic with a DSLR and see if you did a decent enough job. If you still see dust, you have more work to do. :rofl

It'll actually come in handy for swirl removal. Flash + Halogens will get some good sun-like shots

[jvr826]

It's a car, not an operating room. Nice job Kyle.

Leatherique FTMFW! Big fan here!

[nike001]

M0nk3y, To do this I would need to get the Rejuvenator Oil bottle..as well as the Pristine Clean bottle, correct?

[M0nk3y]

M0nk3y, To do this I would need to get the Rejuvenator Oil bottle..as well as the Pristine Clean bottle, correct?

Correct.

When you use the Oil, it will leave a sticky residue after use...You need to Pristine Clean in order to wipe it down correctly and remove all of the dirt and grime.

[nike001]

Correct.

When you use the Oil, it will leave a sticky residue after use...You need to Pristine Clean in order to wipe it down correctly and remove all of the dirt and grime.

Very nice, Thanks for you help!

[apridge]

Question, where did you guys purchase your Leatherique?

If you bought it directly from the product website... did you have any issues receiving the order?

I placed an order on September 17th, and am still waiting... I have tried emailing and calling the vendor but only get voicemail, and have yet to hear back. Its a little off-putting especially after paying a $19 "shipping and handling fee." At a rate like that, I expected to see it within a couple days.

Am I the only one having technical difficulties with this company?

[jreyes19]

wow love the write up and your car
:drool

[nike001]

Question, where did you guys purchase your Leatherique?

If you bought it directly from the product website... did you have any issues receiving the order?

I placed an order on September 17th, and am still waiting... I have tried emailing and calling the vendor but only get voicemail, and have yet to hear back. Its a little off-putting especially after paying a $19 "shipping and handling fee." At a rate like that, I expected to see it within a couple days.

Am I the only one having technical difficulties with this company?

I get my stuff from detailedimage.com & they always have super-fast shipping.

[M0nk3y]

Question, where did you guys purchase your Leatherique?

If you bought it directly from the product website... did you have any issues receiving the order?

I placed an order on September 17th, and am still waiting... I have tried emailing and calling the vendor but only get voicemail, and have yet to hear back. Its a little off-putting especially after paying a $19 "shipping and handling fee." At a rate like that, I expected to see it within a couple days.

Am I the only one having technical difficulties with this company?

I've never heard of that much trouble directly. I personally never dealt with them. Sorry for having such a tough time. I always go through detailedimage.com and autogeek.net


wow love the write up and your car
:drool

Thanks!

[apridge]

I completed the leatherique process today! I am extremely pleased with the outcome. My iPhone camera and poor garage lighting don't show the quality.

My leather was in great shape to begin with, but now it looks like it just came from the factory.

Highly recommended, thanks for the suggestion!


23152316

[M0nk3y]

Glad you had positive results. You're certainly welcome!

[Rustyh]

Very nice pics, writeup and results with the leatherique.

But I'm curious. When you say you're always talking about the benefits of using this product, how often do you use it? On different cars or the same?

Reason I ask is that from a lot of leather experts I've seen talk on the subject for years, as well as my own experience (seats, motorcycle boots/jackets, etc), you have to be careful about how often you use these cleaners and conditioners, particularly the latter. Because if you use it too often they will begin to block the natural pores of the leather so that it doesn't breathe well and over the long haul, the result will be the leather cracking prematurely.

I'm not familiar with the leatherique product itself. Is it for leatherette or real leather?

Also, I noticed the Sewell logo. You in the D/FW area? If so, you should join us some day on a day run out to some twisties we drive out around PK, or on one of our Spring Hill Country trips.

Btw, love the ///M! I sold the ZHP a few months ago and picked up a similar ride. But I finally decided against the ///M this time around and just went with the standard Z4 3.0si Coupe. I'd had an ///M before the ZHP and quite honestly, nice car but the power was lost on me. Plus, reviews and owners I knew generally agreed the standard model was just better as an around town car, which is pretty much the only way I use it anymore (not sure I'll ever see a track again). So far, I'm happy. But yea, those quad pipes were hard to pass up on. Never cared for the Z4 roadster at all, but in coupe form the car is utterly transformed IMHO.

Nice ride.
Rusty

[M0nk3y]

Very nice pics, writeup and results with the leatherique.

But I'm curious. When you say you're always talking about the benefits of using this product, how often do you use it? On different cars or the same?

Reason I ask is that from a lot of leather experts I've seen talk on the subject for years, as well as my own experience (seats, motorcycle boots/jackets, etc), you have to be careful about how often you use these cleaners and conditioners, particularly the latter. Because if you use it too often they will begin to block the natural pores of the leather so that it doesn't breathe well and over the long haul, the result will be the leather cracking prematurely.

I'm not familiar with the leatherique product itself. Is it for leatherette or real leather?

Also, I noticed the Sewell logo. You in the D/FW area? If so, you should join us some day on a day run out to some twisties we drive out around PK, or on one of our Spring Hill Country trips.

Btw, love the ///M! I sold the ZHP a few months ago and picked up a similar ride. But I finally decided against the ///M this time around and just went with the standard Z4 3.0si Coupe. I'd had an ///M before the ZHP and quite honestly, nice car but the power was lost on me. Plus, reviews and owners I knew generally agreed the standard model was just better as an around town car, which is pretty much the only way I use it anymore (not sure I'll ever see a track again). So far, I'm happy. But yea, those quad pipes were hard to pass up on. Never cared for the Z4 roadster at all, but in coupe form the car is utterly transformed IMHO.

Nice ride.
Rusty

Thank you first off for the compliments.

For the benefits, I'm only using this once a year. Since I don't touch the car in the winter, it may even be twice a year...who knows. I do use the pristine clean from time to time for general up-keep...but that's only about twice a year at most.

I've been reading around a lot lately as well and I'm trying to get a defined answer on if Leatherique can end up being dangerous. Some sources say yes, others say no. I feel the people that have had negative effects use it too much and over saturate the leather with these products. For my E46 I used it for 4 years with nothing but good results.

Leatherique is for real leather. I don't know if you can use it for leatherette or not.

I bought my car from Sewell and had it shipped to Ohio, where I currently live. There is an interesting thread on zpost right now that is comparing the 3.0si engine to the S54...and it has some interesting results. The 3.0si isn't something to play around with, it's a machine.

I have the same feeling on the Roadster, it's never really hit me the same as the coupes.

[Rustyh]

Thank you first off for the compliments.

For the benefits, I'm only using this once a year. ......

.........I've been reading around a lot lately as well and I'm trying to get a defined answer on if Leatherique can end up being dangerous. Some sources say yes, others say no. I feel the people that have had negative effects use it too much and over saturate the leather with these products.

....................There is an interesting thread on zpost right now that is comparing the 3.0si engine to the S54...and it has some interesting results. The 3.0si isn't something to play around with, it's a machine.



You're fine with that kind of cleaning schedule. And to clarify, I've heard of the Leatherique product before, just never used it myself nor do I really recall hearing or reading too much about it.

But you're right, too many people use some of this stuff way too often. For the most part, a good cleaner can't be overused if used correctly. But the conditioners certainly can. I'd say for the typical car, one used as a primary or often used secondary car, conditioner shouldn't be used more than 2-3 times a year max, with nothing but a damp rag necessary between treatments.

A lot of people over-wax their cars too of course. If done properly, and with a good wax, seems like all the experts (paint shops, concourse people, etc) say a good waxing shouldn't be required more than a couple of times a year. But I know some that seem to wax just about every other time they wash the car. Of cousre, some people pop the wheels off and clean them too every other wash!! lol Personally, I'm glad once or twice a year is supposed to suffice because I'm too damned lazy to do it more often than that.

Thanks for the heads up on the zpost discussion. I'll have to check that out. I'd be interested to hear from some experts about what kind of potential I have sitting the garage. I can tell the car seems to have incredible torque, and it seems like I recall a Roundel comparison between the two engines saying there is purportedly only like a .02 - .03 second difference in a 0-60 but personally I kind of find that hard to believe as I had an S54 ///M roadster and that car would literally get up and fly, which at times could be a little daunting in a droptop. I don't feel quite that kind of power underneath me in the 3.0si, but then again comparing this car to the roadster is like comparing the proverbial apple to the orange.

Later,
Rusty

[Marcus-SanDiego]

Rusty, I'm one of those guys who has the car waxed once every 4-6 months. Twice a year on average; three times if we get crazy weather and conditions that warrant a little more.

[M0nk3y]

Rusty, I'm one of those guys who has the car waxed once every 4-6 months. Twice a year on average; three times if we get crazy weather and conditions that warrant a little more.

I wax my car every 2 weeks. I strip the wax and re-do it. Call me crazy

[Marcus-SanDiego]

I won't call you crazy. I'm guessing that you find the exercise therapeutic? Or is there some other reason?

[Rustyh]

Rusty, I'm one of those guys who has the car waxed once every 4-6 months. Twice a year on average; three times if we get crazy weather and conditions that warrant a little more.

LOL, I knew I was going to step in it with that comment, the only thing I was waiting to hear was how many people had a different opinion. :)

As I understand it, waxing too often is more from the perspective of it just not being necessary rather than it causing any kind of problem. It's a bonding experience for a lot of folks. But I've generally always felt bonded enough with bikes and cars to figure a good regular wash is sufficient to keep the relationship strong. :)

Rusty

[M0nk3y]

I won't call you crazy. I'm guessing that you find the exercise therapeutic? Or is there some other reason?

I do enjoy doing it, and it is relaxing...yes, that is true.

But the main reason is that the beading starts to break down ever-so slightly, I can notice when it does it and I love tight beading...so I just strip and throw on a new layer. Especially during the summer when the car was outside 24/7, I found this important as every 2-3 weeks the wax would start to break down

[Marcus-SanDiego]

LOL, I knew I was going to step in it with that comment, the only thing I was waiting to hear was how many people had a different opinion. :)

As I understand it, waxing too often is more from the perspective of it just not being necessary rather than it causing any kind of problem. It's a bonding experience for a lot of folks. But I've generally always felt bonded enough with bikes and cars to figure a good regular wash is sufficient to keep the relationship strong. :)

Rusty

Haha. I don't even wax my own cars, so I don't get a chance to bond. :biggrin I also typically have someone else wash my cars, too. If my cars ever wanted to break up, I'd understand.

Kyle, that works for me. Wax on, brother.

[danewilson77]

Haha. I don't even wax my own cars, so I don't get a chance to bond. :biggrin I also typically have someone else wash my cars, too. If my cars ever wanted to break up, I'd understand.

Kyle, that works for me. Wax on, wax off brother.

Fixed

[Marcus-SanDiego]

:like

[GT172I]

Gorgeous car and great write-up. I've got the Pristine Clean but still need the Rejuvenator Oil. Also need to get on this before it's to cold to get the most out of it. Thanks for the trash bag and horse hair brush tips too, have beautiful fresh seats in my future!