CSAT Carbonstructure/Anthracite (Cloth/Leather combo) Seats

[bmwluvr24]

Originally Posted by stefan

Don't bet on it. I had this in my E9x and the side bolsters--the most maintenance intensive area--are actually friggin leather. Not even sensatec or anything. Just leather.

Hope this isn't the case on F8x but as I squint at photos, it disappointingly appears to be the same.

Oh man, good call. I am not extremely rough on the bolsters in my car, but I would bet they are a bit more aggressive on the new seats. Well shit........I guess I will need to grab a leather conditioner kit after all. If that is my biggest worry, I will be a happy customer!

[IEDEI]

i really wish BMW would bring alcantara seats to the US market.

[stefan]

Originally Posted by phishhead24

Oh man, good call. I am not extremely rough on the bolsters in my car, but I would bet they are a bit more aggressive on the new seats. Well shit........I guess I will need to grab a leather conditioner kit after all. If that is my biggest worry, I will be a happy customer!

I know! Annoying! Still a great combination either way.. but certainly we can't pick it for maintenance reasons. If that were the case I'd say go with leather to carry only one set of interior detailing products. With the cloth I'd recommend buying some 3M scotchguard and hitting it with that and keeping fabric cleaner on hand.

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by IEDEI

i really wish BMW would bring alcantara seats to the US market.

They've done it in the past, but it had that funky jetliner pattern.

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by stefan

Don't bet on it. I had this in my E9x and the side bolsters--the most maintenance intensive area--are actually friggin leather. Not even sensatec or anything. Just leather.

Hope this isn't the case on F8x but as I squint at photos, it disappointingly appears to be the same.

It will have much less of a maintenance requirement because the seat-backs and the lower seating services will be the Speed Cloth.

[olmy]

Originally Posted by IEDEI

i really wish BMW would bring alcantara seats to the US market.

Amen! My 10-year-old ZHP has that option and the seats still look like new.

[metrickid]

The design of the F3x alcantara seats (fabric/texture) on the actual F8x seat would be awesome!

[jlh335i]

I think alcantara and carbon seat backs would be

[stefan]

Originally Posted by Sedan_Clan

It will have much less of a maintenance requirement because the seat-backs and the lower seating services will be the Speed Cloth.

What? No. Because you still need to take out all of your leather conditioning and cleaning supplies. PLUS your cloth supplies. All of that together is significantly more work than just using one set. Not to mention, the area that *always* needs the most attention is the outside bolster set, which is leather of all things. So no, as someone who probably never owned speed cloth, you're quite inaccurate stating "much less maintenance".

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by stefan

What? No. Because you still need to take out all of your leather conditioning and cleaning supplies. PLUS your cloth supplies. All of that together is significantly more work than just using one set. Not to mention, the area that *always* needs the most attention is the outside bolster set, which is leather of all things. So no, as someone who probably never owned speed cloth, you're quite inaccurate stating "much less maintenance".

Having owned an ///M3 with Speed Cloth in the past (..don't assume so much!), I stand by my response. My bolsters weren't the areas that 'always' needed attention because I enter/exit my vehicle in a particular way (..mkoesel and I have discussed this in other threads) that doesn't cause any wear on my upper or lower bolsters; the seat surface itself is/was the area that needed the most attention on my leather seats (..i.e...the most cleaning). With SC it was simply vacuum and move on.

[bmwluvr24]

As long as they are good looking and comfortable, I really don't care about the maintenance. It just means more cleaning kits, but I think it is going to look GREAT!!! I can tell you that the pic of the speed cloth seats sold me! Team CSAT for sure!

[s4play]

Originally Posted by Alpine F31

I think it looks great too. I just wish I could order HUD and comfort access without being forced to buy leather.

Whoa, is this a real legit picture?

Is that (CS) or (CSAT)? per the ordering guide?

[bmwluvr24]

Originally Posted by s4play

Whoa, is this a real legit picture?

Is that (CS) or (CSAT)? per the ordering guide?

I do not know which one they are, but those are the new speed cloth seats for sure. That pic gets me all happy and stuff!

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by s4play

Whoa, is this a real legit picture?

Is that (CS) or (CSAT)? per the ordering guide?

It would be the same. CS for the material, and AT is the color (..anthracite).


Alpine F31,

You can have HUD and CA without ordering leather. Just order the ZEC package.

[Alpine F31]

Originally Posted by s4play

Whoa, is this a real legit picture?

Is that (CS) or (CSAT)? per the ordering guide?

I got the picture from the German configurator. I don't know if it's CS or CSAT but I do know it looks awesome.

[Alpine F31]

Originally Posted by Sedan_Clan

It would be CSAT.


Alpine F31,

You can have HUD and CA without ordering leather. Just order the ZEC package.

Yes. I will check that box!
It was different on the military guide.

[stefan]

Originally Posted by Sedan_Clan

Having owned an ///M3 with Speed Cloth in the past (..don't assume so much!), I stand by my response. My bolsters weren't the areas that 'always' needed attention because I enter/exit my vehicle in a particular way (..mkoesel and I have discussed this in other threads) that doesn't cause any wear on my upper or lower bolsters; the seat surface itself is/was the area that needed the most attention on my leather seats (..i.e...the most cleaning). With SC it was simply vacuum and move on.

I am addressing the fact that speed cloth, contrary to what you're saying, is not "less" maintenance than full leather. You must have never owned a high mileage BMW. The leather does NOT hold up if you don't condition it. Heck you don't need to own one. Just browse your local classifieds.

Besides, the whole point of speed cloth is for grip, since in no way is leather a sporty option at all. It's absolutely pointless to combine materials like that and force you to condition your leather and clean the cloth separately.

Again further to my point, if you live anywhere other than warm coastal climates, you will need to separately condition your leather bolsters. Your friends WILL rub against them coming in and out of the car. Do you lecture them before they get in? Or is it easier to just condition it and move on?

The initial point I addressed, and appear to have to highlight again for you, was about maintenance. I am entirely correct in pointing out that you save yourself absolutely no maintenance by going with speed cloth and instead have to do exactly the same routine as if it were leather with the additional task of having to clean the cloth separately. To suggest otherwise is completely pointless and you're doing a disservice to the maintenance of the leather components--which by BMW's own recommendations requires maintenance. Good luck after 40,000mi with just vacuuming.

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by stefan

I am addressing the fact that speed cloth, contrary to what you're saying, is not "less" maintenance than full leather. You must have never owned a high mileage BMW. The leather does NOT hold up if you don't condition it. Heck you don't need to own one. Just browse your local classifieds.

Besides, the whole point of speed cloth is for grip, since in no way is leather a sporty option at all. It's absolutely pointless to combine materials like that and force you to condition your leather and clean the cloth separately.

Again further to my point, if you live anywhere other than warm coastal climates, you will need to separately condition your leather bolsters. Your friends WILL rub against them coming in and out of the car. Do you lecture them before they get in? Or is it easier to just condition it and move on?

The initial point I addressed, and appear to have to highlight again for you, was about maintenance. I am entirely correct in pointing out that you save yourself absolutely no maintenance by going with speed cloth and instead have to do exactly the same routine as if it were leather with the additional task of having to clean the cloth separately. To suggest otherwise is completely pointless and you're doing a disservice to the maintenance of the leather components--which by BMW's own recommendations requires maintenance. Good luck after 40,000mi with just vacuuming.

Rather than address every minute point (...because it's obvious that my experience differs from yours, and Speed Cloth was SIGNIFICANTLY less maintenance for ME) and respond to more assumptions on your part, I'll just say this....


.....I've owned many, many BMW's, and aside from my 5 month stint in a '13 X5, every one of them has met or exceeded the 50,000 mile mark. ALL of them had seats that looked damn near brand new. Your mileage may vary. You're definitely blowing the Speed Cloth maintenance way out of proportion. We're not talking alcantara here, and even that material can be preserved with a little bit of extra care (..not to be confused with 'maintenance' in the context that we are speaking about here).


P.S. YES, I coach people on how to enter/exit my car (..especially women with their stupid jeans with stupid rivets and stupid jeweled back pockets). Maybe you should start. It might save you leather maintenance woes.

[s4play]

WOw at some of the replies on maintenance...hahaha

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by s4play

WOw at some of the replies on maintenance...hahaha

Yeah, I laughed too. It's like saying that a bald head requires more maintenance than a full head of hair.

[aus]

Originally Posted by Alpine F31

I think it looks great too. I just wish I could order HUD and comfort access without being forced to buy leather.

BMW's knows they wouldn't be able to get you to buy the $4,500 package if they did that. It's just BMW crap with the keyless entry. You can get it in many $25,000 car now but it only comes in a big package with the //M cars.

.

[mkoesel]

Actually, his comment wasn't really about the options only being available in the package (which is a bummer, I agree), but instead he was talking about the package excluding the possibility of the cloth interior.

However, the comment was made before we got the official order guide. As it turns out you can, in fact, get the ZEC package without being forced into the leather interior (which is a change from the E9x M3). So that's nice for some folks.

Unfortunately, there are two negatives. One is, you don't get the package any cheaper than if you selected a leather interior instead. So you are essentially paying for extended leather while taking cloth. And, two, you lose the heated rear seats (apparently not compatible with the cloth for some reason) and again do not get a discount on the package because of it. So essentially you are paying $4500 (or whatever the package price is) for a handful of options that should cost more like $3000 or whatever. So it's the package deal that forgot the package pricing.

Originally Posted by aus

BMW's knows they wouldn't be able to get you to buy the $4,500 package if they did that. It's just BMW crap with the keyless entry. You can get it in many $25,000 car now but it only comes in a big package with the //M cars.

.