[JackMK]

I wanted to know what parts specifically are plastic in the interior of a 2023 m340i. I'm looking into getting gyeon interior detailer and some people said it tends to leave a dry look on plastic and it can even give long-term effects, so I was looking into their vinyl cleaner specifically for that. Unless someone can recommend me an interior cleaner/detailer, safe on everything including plastics, however I'm getting a dedicated leather cleaner

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by JackMK

I wanted to know what parts specifically are plastic in the interior of a 2023 m340i. I'm looking into getting gyeon interior detailer and some people said it tends to leave a dry look on plastic and it can even give long-term effects, so I was looking into their vinyl cleaner specifically for that. Unless someone can recommend me an interior cleaner/detailer, safe on everything including plastics, however I'm getting a dedicated leather cleaner

On a new car why would you use anything like that??

Just keep the interior dusted with a good microfiber (like the rag co's creature) and, only when necessary, use warm de-ionized water. You'll never need more than this unless you're doing some really stupid shit inside of your car.

As for the leather, you can do that same thing. Modern auto leather doesn't need "conditioning" or "nourishing" or massaging or nuzzling. That was the 70s. *ALL* auto leather is coated. Yes, ALL of it. yes EVEN MERINO LEATHER Uncoated leather wouldn't last 2 months.

With that, if you have white leather (and/or if you sweat a lot on it), it's a good idea to use a leather shield to prevent dye transfer & abrasion damage.

If you want to stay German, use Colourlock mild cleaner & then leather shield.

[DanG]

Have you tried Groit’s Interior Detailer?

https://www.griotsgarage.com/interior-detailer/

[JackMK]

Originally Posted by GrussGott

On a new car why would you use anything like that??

Just keep the interior dusted with a good microfiber (like the rag co's creature) and, only when necessary, use warm de-ionized water. You'll never need more than this unless you're doing some really stupid shit inside of your car.

As for the leather, you can do that same thing. Modern auto leather doesn't need "conditioning" or "nourishing" or massaging or nuzzling. That was the 70s. *ALL* auto leather is coated. Yes, ALL of it. yes EVEN MERINO LEATHER Uncoated leather wouldn't last 2 months.

With that, if you have white leather (and/or if you sweat a lot on it), it's a good idea to use a leather shield to prevent dye transfer & abrasion damage.

If you want to stay German, use Colourlock mild cleaner & then leather shield.

I’d also be using these products on other German cars such as a Porsche and 2 bmw suvs that get dirty inside because of the activities done

[JackMK]

Originally Posted by DanG

Have you tried Groit’s Interior Detailer?

https://www.griotsgarage.com/interior-detailer/

How is it? Haven’t looked into it a lot

[DanG]

Great. I use it all the time. You don’t have to worry about what is plastic.

Groit’s is a BMWCCA sponsor and give BMWCCA members a discount.

[Almuliman]

Another vote for Griot's Interior Detailer. Smells good and it does a great job on basically everything not glass or leather in my 1, in our Volvo, and in our Odyssey van.

Griot's is great in general – I'm local, so I get to go see their amazing car collection, their regular car meets, and spend way too much money ("Huh, I never knew I needed a..." and my wife is never along to keep me grounded).

[JackMK]

Originally Posted by DanG

Great. I use it all the time. You don’t have to worry about what is plastic.

Groit’s is a BMWCCA sponsor and give BMWCCA members a discount.

I was looking into both Gyeon interior detailer and carpros innerqd if you’ve heard of them

[Raimo5]

Originally Posted by GrussGott

On a new car why would you use anything like that??

Just keep the interior dusted with a good microfiber (like the rag co's creature) and, only when necessary, use warm de-ionized water. You'll never need more than this unless you're doing some really stupid shit inside of your car.

As for the leather, you can do that same thing. Modern auto leather doesn't need "conditioning" or "nourishing" or massaging or nuzzling. That was the 70s. *ALL* auto leather is coated. Yes, ALL of it. yes EVEN MERINO LEATHER Uncoated leather wouldn't last 2 months.

With that, if you have white leather (and/or if you sweat a lot on it), it's a good idea to use a leather shield to prevent dye transfer & abrasion damage.

If you want to stay German, use Colourlock mild cleaner & then leather shield.

I'd say quick interior detailers have their place. Can be very helpful in removing tougher fingermarks, light dirt and should leave a light UV resistance behind. Protection against UV is important, be it either plastic or leather. But, it should be gentle enough not to cause any discoloration. I prefer Meguiars D149.

All modern leather is coated, but that doesn't mean leather wont benefit from conditioning if it needs it. Those coats are semi permeable and will wear down with use. After couple of years of use, the coating is more worn and balance from leather tanning process starts to degrade. This is where leather can respond well to good and balanced conditioning. Conditioning on the other hand needs to be subtle and should not be saturated with creams and milks and what not else crap is out there. It will cause more harm than good if overdone.

I really love Colourlock products and use them for pretty much all things leather.

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by Raimo5

I'd say quick interior detailers have their place. Can be very helpful in removing tougher fingermarks, light dirt and should leave a light UV resistance behind. Protection against UV is important

Quick detailing has its place, quick detailers are silly.

I carry around rinseless mix is small spray bottle for bird poo, etc otherwise I just keep the car washed every week or 3. For the interior I've never had to use more than de-i warm water.

As for "UV protection", yeah so your car came with it everywhere so that's also kinda useless but sure, why not? spend $10k on it!

In case it's not obvious, the detailing industry's marketing lies irritate me.

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by JackMK

I’d also be using these products on other German cars such as a Porsche and 2 bmw suvs that get dirty inside because of the activities done

Well, I had a Tanz convertible M3 with Opal merino leather that I jumped into open top Magnum PI style after hiking full of sweat & dirt and, sure, the thigh bolster would get pretty nasty but a little warm de-i water always has worked for me, so I've never had a reason to use anything more.

That said, I do use Colourlock leather shield.

[swagon]

Originally Posted by JackMK

I wanted to know what parts specifically are plastic in the interior of a 2023 m340i. I'm looking into getting gyeon interior detailer and some people said it tends to leave a dry look on plastic and it can even give long-term effects, so I was looking into their vinyl cleaner specifically for that. Unless someone can recommend me an interior cleaner/detailer, safe on everything including plastics, however I'm getting a dedicated leather cleaner

here's what's leather in your car, assuming Vernasca leather:

steering wheel
seat inserts (NOT headrest, NOT bolsters)
airbag cover
possibly center armrest, but unsure

simple interior detailer/cleaner is more than enough

I use Colourlock mild cleaner for anything better than vinyl, i.e., nappa leather, etc.

[Raimo5]

Originally Posted by GrussGott

As for "UV protection", yeah so your car came with it everywhere so that's also kinda useless but sure, why not? spend $10k on it!

In case it's not obvious, the detailing industry's marketing lies irritate me.

Just about all materials in car come with anti oxidants baked in to them, but it is necessary to understand the limitations of it. There is a physical limitations in materials engineering of how much anti oxidation agents you can cram into something and usually it is a balance of cost and reasonable durability.

You can get a lot of things looking clean with filtered water, but another question is do you want to make things last longer in fine state by adding a bit of extra protection from environmental impact. There is no one solution fits all here and it all depends how the car is used and how much environmental impact it receives. Subscribing to an idea that there is no added benefit from using a proper coating on proper surface is just not true. Even more so when using a product that gives you quick, pleasant and effective experience.

I understand that there is a lot of useless crap and straight out lying in detailing business, but show me a for-profit sector where this is not the case? There is no need to destroy your nerves over something as trivial as that.

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by Raimo5

Subscribing to an idea that there is no added benefit from using a proper coating on proper surface is just not true.

Auto interior cleaning:

(0.) Always dry dust first with a good microfiber
(1.) Water, nature's first & best solvent!
(2.) If needed, polymer-based rinseless wash
(3.) If needed, cheap diluted water-based APC
(4.) For carpets, vacuum and, if needed, a decent low/no foam shampoo
(5.) For upholstery, leather shield is a good idea if you have white leather or plether due to dye transfer, otherwise as above.

Everything else is purely for fun.

Example:
70% of the time I wash my car with $10 of chenille mitts and $0.25 of rinseless wash over my $1 of turtle wax seal-n-shine and sometimes I top with $0.10 of TW spray wax.

But 30% of the time I use $2,000 worth of tools & silly crap.

The key is, I know that 30% is completely unnecessary.

but, sure, UV & anti-oxidants or whatever

[JackMK]

Originally Posted by swagon

here's what's leather in your car, assuming Vernasca leather:

steering wheel
seat inserts (NOT headrest, NOT bolsters)
airbag cover
possibly center armrest, but unsure

simple interior detailer/cleaner is more than enough

I use Colourlock mild cleaner for anything better than vinyl, i.e., nappa leather, etc.

You think I'll be fine using P&S Express for everything, and what do you suggest for a protectant

[tturedraider]

Originally Posted by JackMK

I wanted to know what parts specifically are plastic in the interior of a 2023 m340i. I'm looking into getting gyeon interior detailer and some people said it tends to leave a dry look on plastic and it can even give long-term effects, so I was looking into their vinyl cleaner specifically for that. Unless someone can recommend me an interior cleaner/detailer, safe on everything including plastics, however I'm getting a dedicated leather cleaner

About the only thing that is pure, hard plastic is the lower portion of the center console.

Originally Posted by swagon

here's what's leather in your car, assuming Vernasca leather:

steering wheel
seat inserts (NOT headrest, NOT bolsters)
airbag cover
possibly center armrest, but unsure

Source? Specifically regarding the bolsters and the headrests.


In the past if the car was equipped with leather virtually everything was leather, including the door armrests and the door card inserts. Just from my cursory observation of the door card insert material on the SensaTec equipped 3er, the non-stitched door card material (SensaTec) does not look quite the same as the stitched door card material used on the leather equipped 3er. I’m thinking in particular of the Tacora Red, because that’s what I’ve observed the most closely. But, I haven’t made a super close inspection of either door card insert. I do know that on the 4er the door card insert has stitching regardless of whether the interior is upholstered with leather or not. This is a fairly new thing. Before this change SensaTec door cards never had stitching. It was one of the dead giveaways whether a 3er had SensaTec or leather.

Sorry. Didn’t mean to hijack the thread.

[swagon]

Originally Posted by tturedraider

About the only thing that is pure, hard plastic is the lower portion of the center console.



Source? Specifically regarding the bolsters and the headrests.


In the past if the car was equipped with leather virtually everything was leather, including the door armrests and the door card inserts. Just from my cursory observation of the door card insert material on the SensaTec equipped 3er, the non-stitched door card material (SensaTec) does not look quite the same as the stitched door card material used on the leather equipped 3er. I’m thinking in particular of the Tacora Red, because that’s what I’ve observed the most closely. But, I haven’t made a super close inspection of either door card insert. I do know that on the 4er the door card insert has stitching regardless of whether the interior is upholstered with leather or not. This is a fairly new thing. Before this change SensaTec door cards never had stitching. It was one of the dead giveaways whether a 3er had SensaTec or leather.

Sorry. Didn’t mean to hijack the thread.

source: bmw documents that cannot be published, my cleaning lady says

they do these mid-year changes often, and they are not announced publicly. the g20-23 m sport airbag cover is going to be plastic soon, too. and if i recall, individual merino seats in the g30 5er have or will soon have non-merino leather headrests. just a few months before the end of the production...

yes, you are right that in the e90 and f30, door armrests and door card inserts were leather (dakota or merino) if the car was equipped with leather interior.

in the g20, they have once again cut costs by leaving the door armrests plastic even if it's got full merino interior. and bmw individual will not finish them in leather, according to their price list. they will do the seat consoles or center tunnel, but not the armrests.

i have 4M5 individual leather dashboard in conjuction with sensatec/alcantara m sport seats in my g20 - door armrests, inner door card trim, center console armrest. none are leather and all are made out of different materials. the door armrests are so hard to touch that my elbow starts to hurt after a while. hate it

[M5Rick]

I have a seat cover on my drivers' merino seat and remove it when not in soiled casual clothes.