Worn drivers seat

[Nutsucow]

Hi guys,

I'm due to pick up my i3 this Saturday from the dealers, i went over to view the car today for the first time after initially giving a deposit the other week as it came from bmw hq and had to be delivered down to the dealers for it to be prepped and so forth..
The salesman who's been very professional and helpful in the process has been top shelf.
He said this particular vehicle ( October 2013) had been used for exhibitions hence the low miles of 1977..
But what I noticed and pointed out to him just before I left from there was the drivers seat bolster was well and truly worn down!? Where your bum sits the leather grain effect was not visable in certain places, it's the grey and brown trim model,not sure what it's called but it's the one below the top spec.

The salesman said he would speak to the powers above to see if they would do something on the price for me but I said at some point the seat would wear through probably within a year or so and that it would need to be replaced..

I have to wait now until Thursday when the salesman is back in to see what they will or won't do about this seat.
Is this something bmw are going to fix? Or they going to tell me to do one..

 

[Pentacat]

This is the Giga world trim here in the US and I believe it's known as Lodge in the UK.

I have this interior on my BEV i3 and I suspect that the olive tanned leather is not as resilient to some things as the typical BMW leather. Mine picks up a lot of discoloration from blue jeans especially on the leather at the front edge of the seats. Fortunately, this discoloration cleans off of the leather easily using a good leather cleaner/conditioner.

I haven't noted any wear to the grain of the leather itself and I have almost 8000 miles on my i3. I have been using leather conditioner/protector since day one so maybe that helps to explain the condition of my seats.

BTW....I use Griot's Garage leather care, it has a smell that most people don't like (I like it) but it's the best leather care product I have ever used.

 

[Nutsucow]

Yes your right!

mine is the lodge trim one..

I had the salesman call me today regarding what action was to be taken and i can confirm that they are going to order a new seat cover which no surprise is on back order and will take 3-4 weeks to arrive.
so another trip back to the dealers when it arrives..Oh well at least hopefully by then if any other problems arise i have a few weeks to get it sorted

Non the less its still a little worrying that the seat should wear out so quickly be it a leatherette finish.

i generally use autoglm products on my cars but seeing the i3 I'm getting is leatherette ill probably just use interior cleaner,or is there a product out there which is specifically for this type of finish?

 

[user 1096]

I have posted elsewhere about picking up my first wool cloth stain (little spot from an ice cream bar drip). I have NOT gotten any cleaning advice from BMW. Any experience?

Also, those SURFACE-DYED JEANS :!: are deadly on this upholstery...so bad, I warned my dealership about their demo with that Giga cloth--very attractive, but prone to pick up color from over-dyed jeans via contact body heat and humidity. I have set aside my deepest, heaviest dyed jeans from wear when I am going in the car. Check those laundry labels, and if they warn you about upholstery transfer or to wash inside-out, be CAREFUL of long trips.

 

[spinball]

Is only the full leather interior "safe" from dark blue jeans?

Come to think of it, my wife's Honda Accord doesn't seem to have any problems with blue jeans on it's gray cloth seats...

 

[stumbledotcom]

mine is the lodge trim one…i generally use autoglm products on my cars but seeing the i3 I'm getting is leatherette ill probably just use interior cleaner,or is there a product out there which is specifically for this type of finish?

The Lodge/Giga trim uses leather, not leatherette (a.k.a. vinyl), for the brown trim on the seats, door panels, and arm rests along with the light grey on the steering wheel rim and dashboard. I've used standard leather cleaner conditioner for the past year with no issues.

The saddle brown leather seats in my E90, essentially the same shade as the i3 Lodge/Giga, also show dye transfer from dark denim. But it's only on the surface and comes off easily with leather cleaner.

 

[alohart]

Non the less its still a little worrying that the seat should wear out so quickly be it a leatherette finish.

Your car was used for exhibitions since October 2013. Frequently, such exhibitions allow attendees to sit in the driver's seat to get a feel of the car. So your car has probably had far more driver seat entries and exits than the normal privately-owned car over that time period. Still, visible wear would seem to be premature, so I will use extra care when entering and exiting my i3 with the same Lodge/Giga trim. Or maybe I'll do what I've done with all recent cars: install seat covers. However, I hate to cover our very nice seats with covers that won't look as nice. Maybe I'll wait on that until our seats start to show wear or stains that can't be removed.

 

[Nutsucow]

Picked the car up yesterday from the dealers and did ask the genius salesman again about the interior,he did say the surrounding dash is leather but the seats are of leatherette?

Again is thus something that differs from here to over the pond?

Can anyone from UK shed any light on this topic?

 

[stumbledotcom]

The interiors go by different names in North America but the materials are the same. The global site bmw.com describes the Lodge/Giga as, "High-quality details such as the leather-covered instrument panel are combined with sustainable elements such as the exclusive climate-active wool Pikea and naturally-tanned natural leather on the seats, headrests and in the door panels."

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newvehicles/i/i3/2013/showroom/design.html

I tend to accept the corporate global site as more authoritative than local sales people but maybe that's just me.

 

[Nutsucow]

although I do agree with you in what bmw have stated, I do find that the leather surrounding the dash/steering wheel are completely different in look feel and texture that cover the seats and door pockets,

I'm going to ask the Genius salesman to save the seat cover for me to take a look at when the new seat cover arrives for me to inspect, as I do have my doubts as to wether or not it's actually proper leather...

 

[Nutsucow]

Right,where do I start!

Since taking delivery of the car all was well for the first 4 days and then all went a little stray..

So far I have run in to several problems with the car and is now back at the dealers awaiting parts from Germany that are on back order..

Whilst driving error message popped up on the nav screen saying "drivetrain problem" do not switch of engine...
You can not restart after the engine is switched of.
Drive to the nearest bmw I service.. A little difficult at 10pm.

Drivers door whist trying to open makes a rather unpleasant clicking noise?

Error message again this time saying passenger door open, stopped and checked the door but it was closed.
Again another error message, this time saying the boot was open, again checked it and it was closed.

I have expressed to the dealers that I no longer want to drive nor own this car and that I want a replacement or a refund.

Unfortunately I have to go through the notions of letting bmw attempt to rectify the problems before they will except the car back.

It's been about a week now and bmw Germany will not release the car from the dealers to me until they await parts to fix the main issue of drivetrain problem.

The only good news is i have been given an i3 till mine is hopefully being sorted..

Oh,and still waiting for the replacement drivers seat cover to arrive.

 

[epirali]

Yikes, sorry you seem to be having issues with your new car. Its kind of the last thing you want.

Has dealer agreed to a set of conditions to take the car back? Do you have Lemon Laws in your state?

 

[Nutsucow]

Not quiet sure about the lemon laws but,if the car is returned and it runs in to problems within a time period then it's going back.

The i3 they have loaned me (2015) has on 2 occasions shown on the dash that the doors were open..same as my one..

Is this coincidence? Or am I missing something that is a common fault?

 

[epirali]

Not quiet sure about the lemon laws but,if the car is returned and it runs in to problems within a time period then it's going back.

The i3 they have loaned me (2015) has on 2 occasions shown on the dash that the doors were open..same as my one..

Is this coincidence? Or am I missing something that is a common fault?

One data point: mine has not shown any such behavior or other faults in three weeks. Mine is 2014 build fwiw.

 

[jadnashuanh]

The sensor on the rear door is fairly sensitive, and the door, while maybe partially latched, may not be fully closed. I think this comes from years of warnings, don't slam the doors! Well, you don't have to slam them, but you do need to close them maybe a little harder than on some other cars.

 

[spinball]

The door warning is odd. I've driven 4 different i3s (one being mine for 2 weeks now) and no door open errors on any of them.

 

[jadnashuanh]

I've had the door warning a couple of times in a year. If you open the rear door and close it with some authority, it does not recur (at least that's what mine has done). It's usually if someone other than myself closes a door. It does not have to be slammed, but it needs a decent push. All of the rubber seals can allow the door to partially latch, but you have to compress them to get it fully latched.

 

[Nutsucow]

The door warning is odd. I've driven 4 different i3s (one being mine for 2 weeks now) and no door open errors on any of them.

Equally now I have drive 4 also,and 2 have had the door issue arise.

 

[Nutsucow]

Still no news from the dealers regarding my car..

It's been about 10 days now and I have only been called once about a week or so ago about parts on orider.

I have noticed on the Idrive app that the car has been driven 3 times and has covered 43 miles on 3 separate occasions which is understandable to a certain point.

What has annoyed me though is this, the last trip was driven at 23% and that the gps tracking that was activated has been deactivated..

Is this common practice?

 

[spinball]

The door warning is odd. I've driven 4 different i3s (one being mine for 2 weeks now) and no door open errors on any of them.

Equally now I have drive 4 also,and 2 have had the door issue arise.

Funny enough I now saw this once on my own car after using the rear door. I did close it lightly that time and apparently that was not enough!