Bought an old BMW M3, filled with regret...

Jez said:
Isnt Dakota the basic grainy leather found on the regular 3xxCI models?

My E46's have all had Dakota leather (or so i thought) and it is a fairly low grade leather.

Yours is Nappa which is the better smooth type of leather.
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Yeah its like the standard BMW leather with heavy grain and no where near as plush as the Nappa.
 
Hmm what was the leather in my 318Ci? I don't think it was Dakota as it felt inherently different to Dakota in other cars I've been in and liked. Is the standard E9x leather Dakota? I didn't like the texture in The standard E9x but the E46 standard leather was nice as was the standard in the 5 and 6 series.

It's all too confusing :o
 
The standard leather in the 650i i test drove recently was Dakota (if i am correct about the naming convention, i think i am). Its not very nice compared with Nappa. I would have thought that the 318CI would have certainly been Dakota too.

Whether it all changed between generations needs a real BMW expert though. I dont think it has as i can certainly say that the standard current gen F10 leather seems like Dakota too for example.
 
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Yeah Nappa is so smooth and soft. It's the main reason I haven't wished I had heated seats, it warms up so quickly that it negates the need for heating I find.
 
I would guess that Nappa could be specified on any model if you are prepared to open your wallet. I believe Nappa is standard on the M models and possibly the 7 series?

I am surprised a 650i didn't have Nappa as standard though.
 
Merino is higher quality than Nappa isn't it? Need to sit in a Merino specced interior one day!
 
panthro said:
Nappa is smoother and softer because it's made with lambs hide, not cows hide.
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I thought Nappa could be any hide, difference is the quality of the hide / how its treated to give the smooth texture?

Least thats what i read when looking how to care for my Nappa interior.
 
mrk said:
Merino is higher quality than Nappa isn't it? Need to sit in a Merino specced interior one day!
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Supposedly, but Merino is still made from lambs hide like nappa AFAIK. Merino is generally associated with wool and I believe that it's the hide of the Merino wool producing sheep that is used. I didn't notice much difference between Merino and Nappa.

Firestar_3x said:
I thought Nappa could be any hide, difference is the quality of the hide / how its treated to give the smooth texture?

Least thats what i read when looking how to care for my Nappa interior.
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That's true, but it has to come from a young animal and most of the time it's lambs hide as that is supposed to be the softer grade.
The only reason I (think I) know this is because my wife was a buyer for a luxury brand...so fashion and automotive may be completely different!
 
mrk said:
The above took about 30mins, the process was sped up as I trailed the hairdryer out between the 3 colourant layers. The long process will be the super seal layer, in a couple more hours once the paint is fully dry I'll spray the seal on and leave overnight.
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There's a joke here somewhere about you + hairdryer + convertible...
 
It's not like I'm going to take out the one I keep in the glovebox now, what would the neighbours think!

Edit*
Autoglass update!
They've said £12.13 is too small an amount to transfer via BACS so asked if I'd prefer a cheque, or alternatively they can post me £25 of high street vouchers (this in addition to the £75 excess being refunded currently too).

I've asked for the vouchers, I CBA to get to the bank to deposit a cheque for £12.

All is well that ends well I suppose?
 
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The airbrush gun will come in handy for other little DIY projects around the home too, simply fill the glass bottle with whatever and off you go! Just keep it away from the face, it's quite easy to accidentally press the trigger :o
 
Not me :p

Have I missed my 5 minutes of TV fame? :o

Also, here's why you should never use the wrong MF cloth when wiping dry or buffing!

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Look at the bonnet! thankfully it's mostly the bonnet so will machine polish that easily enough and learn from my mistake.
 
That happens every time I dry my car with a MF, no matter how perfect it was before. What suggestions do you have because it seems to me that it doesn't make any difference what brand MF I use, or with/without QD. Does my head in beyond belief, takes a good half a day to polish it up nice and then it only lasts until the first time it gets washed :/
 
Good excuse for a respray! :p

Clarkey said:
That happens every time I dry my car with a MF, no matter how perfect it was before. What suggestions do you have because it seems to me that it doesn't make any difference what brand MF I use, or with/without QD. Does my head in beyond belief, takes a good half a day to polish it up nice and then it only lasts until the first time it gets washed :/
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I had a pack of 3 microfiber cloths from Aldi of all places :o that had a pretty deep pile to them and no stitching or labels on them and they are really good, don't leave swirls at all provided they are spotless.
 
That right there is why I absolutely cannot be bothered with dark paint, you've had it properly corrected, you wash it properly and STILL it ends up like that.
 
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