The next 3.....

[AltinD]

That?s because in the VW?s it is plastic leatherette.

I am talking about leather.

None of my VW came with leatherete. Leatherete is mostly for North Americans who despise fabric on their premium cars.

[sportyaccordy]

Leather is kind of dumb for cars, esp high performance ones.

[Hachee]

I'm sort of embarassed to admit this, but here goes...

Most of my cars over the years have all been bought or leased new, and so I knew that they came with leather.  While I never owned one, I had some experience with older 3 Series, and I knew that the leather wasn't all that much better or different than the "leatherette", and since all German made BMWs have a distinctive smell, it wasn't always easy to distinguish between the two.  When I bought my 2004 325xi, it was 3 years old with about 21K miles on it.  It was in mint condition (and since I don't use it much, it still is and has only 32K miles on it, 5 years later).  The info on the car showed "silver, black leather, premium, etc", but there was no original window sticker.  I assumed because it had the premium pack, with wood and memory seats and all that, the seats were leather.  I checked my old brochure, and leather was an option on top of the premium package.  I didn't expect the leather to be soft like that of a 7-Series, and it's not.  But a few years into having the car, I started to think, "hey, these ain't leather!".  The truth is, I'm still not even sure, but I don't really care, and the seats will probably hold up better if they're not.

The point is, the base leather in these things isn't that great, and the leatherette is a pretty good simulation.  I think I know a decent bit about cars, so I do feel a little dopish.  Hmm, I wonder if I have any recourse against the BMW dealer where I bought the car! 

And for what it's worth, I can't really find a compelling reason to replace this car with anything else, including a new 3, although I definitely like the new F30 more than the E90. 

[SVT666]

Leather is kind of dumb for cars, esp high performance ones.

Leather is awesome.  I hate fabric seats.

[NomisR]

Leather is awesome.  I hate fabric seats.

Suede

[68_427]

Suede

I hate suede.

[93JC]

You should try velour seats. A guy I knew in high school inherited his parents' Buick Electra, complete with blue velour seats. Being in that car was like sitting on an old sofa my grandparents might have owned in the 1970s.

[MX793]

You should try velour seats. A guy I knew in high school inherited his parents' Buick Electra, complete with blue velour seats. Being in that car was like sitting on an old sofa my grandparents might have owned in the 1970s.

80s Velour luxury seats were AWESOME.  A friend of mine in high school had an early 80s Olds Cutlass coupe with the cushy velour bucket seats.  They had no bolstering, but they didn't need any because you just sunk into them.

[93JC]

Yeah, this was one of the last Electras, from the '80s.

[AltinD]

Suede

Alcantara is NOT suede ... but yeah, alcantara s great for the seating surface, but NOT for the entire seat and ESPECIALLY not for the cabin and dash lining

[omicron]

Alcantara is ghastly in large quantities. The leather bolster/Alcantara centre I can live with, but the entire seat? The headlining? Ugh.

The seats in mid-'90s Caprices were rather nice - suede inserts at the shoulders and knees to prevent sliding about.

[CJ]

Alcantara is NOT suede ... but yeah, alcantara s great for the seating surface, but NOT for the entire seat and ESPECIALLY not for the cabin and dash lining

From 1998-2000, Volvo's V70R had real suede inserts in the seats, NOT Alcantara.  ACTUAL suede is quite nice.

[NomisR]

From 1998-2000, Volvo's V70R had real suede inserts in the seats, NOT Alcantara.  ACTUAL suede is quite nice.

yeah, the thing is, they're more likely to wear out and more difficult to maintain. 

[68_427]

[NomisR]

looks the same....

[68_427]

looks the same....

[NomisR]

So they're pulling a Porsche?

[Galaxy]

The picture of the blue one looks better, for some reason the nose does not seem to slope so much as with the red one posted earlier.

[sportyaccordy]

So they're pulling a Porsche?

Or a Camry. It's a solid business plan. Esp w/so many 3 series leasees

[SVT666]

I really like it.  The headlights are much nicer than the ugly ass ones found on the current car. 

[NomisR]

What does the wagon look like?  Are they actually bringing it over?

[2o6]

What does the wagon look like?  Are they actually bringing it over?

They've only released the sedan, so far. They have confirmed the wagon for the US, but no pictures of the production coupe or wagon have surfaced yet.

[NomisR]

They've only released the sedan, so far. They have confirmed the wagon for the US, but no pictures of the production coupe or wagon have surfaced yet.

I hope it doesn't look like ass like the current 3, and they have more models than just the 328 or whatever they're going to call the lowest end model.

[68_427]

I hope it doesn't look like ass like the current 3, and they have more models than just the 328 or whatever they're going to call the lowest end model.

Considering the sedan look almost identical....

[AltinD]

Alcantara is ghastly in large quantities. The leather bolster/Alcantara centre I can live with, but the entire seat? The headlining? Ugh.

That's what I also said

PS. I have the combo you mentioned in my car.

[hotrodalex]

Alcantara is ghastly in large quantities. The leather bolster/Alcantara centre I can live with, but the entire seat? The headlining? Ugh.

I wish they went back to the old school headliners. Those are so much better than the fuzzy crap glued to cardboard that come in cars now.

[SVT666]

I wish they went back to the old school headliners. Those are so much better than the fuzzy crap glued to cardboard that come in cars now.

The headliner could be made of human skin and I wouldn't even notice.  The last time I even looked (never mind felt) the headliner in any car was with my ass when I was pound.......

[Soup DeVille]

Leather is kind of dumb for cars, esp high performance ones.

I like leather. The best combo I ever saw was on a Turbo Esprit. The bolsters were made of soft grey suede and the centers were blue leather

[850CSi]

Or a Camry. It's a solid business plan. Esp w/so many 3 series leasees

Heh, my car will apparently be 12 years old before it looks outdated.

[cawimmer430]

I don't even know why I am posting this here since I planned on quitting Carspin for good last week...

Saw the new 3-Series three times today together with Colin.

WHAT A BORING CAR. 

I felt absolutely nothing when I saw this bland car. The rear looks like a 5er. In fact both of us ignored this red new 3er in front of us because we thought it was a 5er! It was only until Colin thought that there was something "different" about this 5er that we began to take a closer look. The license plate certainly is a BMW company plate. Turns out the red car was the new 3er.

Yawn. 


On the Autobahn to Dingolfing...

Nice "5-Series"!






The second 3er, spotted about 30 minutes after the ^first one^...








A pre-production 3er model at MERCEDES-BENZ MUNICH of all places with a Z1 (second one Colin and I saw today) next to it. No threat to the C-Class in terms of design at all.










Now this is hot. Not the new 3er. 



BUT HEY, IT'S RWD. THAT'S ALL THAT MATTERS! PENILE ERECTION TIME!!!