E9X Jap interiors

[Driftit 2078]

Does anyone know why nearly all the Jap imported E9X BMW's have the cloth seats?  The dealers like to call this the "Motorsport" interior.

The only exposure to the E9X series I have are the US models.  Which are nearly always leather.  I don't think I have ever seen a cloth interior here on a year 2000+ BMW other than the ZHP alcantara E46.

I look at the interiors on cars with 50,000kms and they already look worn and dirty.  Is this a problem with them?

 

I actually wondered if all the E9X's flooding into NZ at the moment are all ex rentals.  Many have around the same KM's and spec.

 

Example

[BM WORLD 1283]

japs , prefer comfort velour seats over leather 

msport refers to the sport front seats which have more side bolsters and adjustabe pad under your knees

[qube 3570]

Standard fabric (ugh..)

standard leather (non msport sedans)

msport alcantara/fabric (most common for E90/E91 msport sedans in NZ)

sports leather (common on the Msport E92 coupes in NZ)

you can easily tell by the under thigh part that can be pulled out further with a little tab and by the more padded side bolsters.

[balancerider 758]

Another reason for spec'ing the cheaper alcantara instead of leather is because the (F3x at least) japanese cars often have other expensive spec choices as standard (xenon lights, frequently adaptive cruise, big screen nav) so presumably some measure of cost saving involved. I have read that in general the japanese don't like leather seats, to the point where the JDM limo's (e.g Toyota Crown) come with wool or velour interior instead.

[E30 325i Rag-Top 2956]

1 hour ago, BM WORLD said:

msport refers to the sport front seats which have more side bolsters and adjustabe pad under your knees

Not really the case, the sport front seats (option 481) are available on non-sport cars. This alcantara / cloth combination upholstery is ONLY available in cars with 337 M-Sport package (or proper M-Sport cars) and is the factory standard upholstery for M-Sport cars, which is why it is called the Motorsport upholstery in Japan.

NZ New cars are generally up-specced to leather as standard, and the Motorsport versions are accordingly upspecced to the leather as well over the factory standard version shown. It's a shame there isn't often an equivalent leather and alcantara version as that would be quite nice imho.

As for them being ex-rental, they are probably over specced for that market tbh. They will all come through at roughly the same age / kms, due to the stricter equivalent of the WoF test that comes in after a certain age of the vehicle, it is hard to pass and is quite often the trigger for cars to be sold and export out of Japan as they are worth so little in their market. Lots of cars for Japan are "built to stock" rather than to individual customer requirements so they would order some large batches of cars with the same spec level (ie chosen options) and only different paint colours and or interior colours.

[E30 325i Rag-Top 2956]

1 hour ago, Driftit said:

I don't think I have ever seen a cloth interior here on a year 2000+ BMW other than the ZHP alcantara E46.

I look at the interiors on cars with 50,000kms and they already look worn and dirty.  Is this a problem with them?

Quite a lot of the Uk M-Sport cars also have the cloth / alcantara - quite a few E46s on TardMe have that version of the interior as well.

It is a little bit harder to keep in good condition than a leather material - particularly on the side bolsters which are in the alcantara (trade name for synthetic suede material) and do get a bit of a shiny worn look to them that needs some careful cleaning to get it looking good again, and it does tend to wear through eventually. Not really a fault as such, just needs a bit more care and attention.

[BM WORLD 1283]

then theres car like mine ,. 

nz new , non msport package but fitted with msport leather seats .

 

[Driftit 2078]

Ah cheers for that. I shall stop calling it poverty cloth.

I'm not sold on it though.

It makes sense now that there are so many similar cars. I thought they would have a bit more freedom with the spec sheet. 

[KwS 2425]

Love the half alcantara "cloth" trim on the motorsport seats. BMW has been using it since at least E46/E39 and I much prefer it to the leather.

[Eagle 1662]

Not so much BMW's but ive been exposed too far many rank cars with fabric seats, i dont even want to know what they would of absorbed over the years.

[GorGasm 563]

Strange, almost every e9x I have seen is leather.   Hardly seen any cloth.

[Driftit 2078]

5 hours ago, GorGasm said:

Strange, almost every e9x I have seen is leather.   Hardly seen any cloth.

Have a look on TM now.  Nearly all the Motorsports are cloth.

[GorGasm 563]

What model, all the 335s seem to be leather?

[qube 3570]

^almost all 335i coupes are leather. 

almost all other msport E9x are the alcantara fabric sports seats, 320i/325i

almost all diesels are non msport hence non sports seats.

[Driftit 2078]

On 4/23/2019 at 3:31 PM, GorGasm said:

What model, all the 335s seem to be leather?

Oh should have said.  Not looking at 335's.  No interest in them until the F series.  So just the 330's and 325's.

Edited April 24, 2019 by Driftit

[NakiTouring 54]

My 335i e91 M-sport is leather, heated in the front.