I just cleaned my new '05 TL for the first time this weekend after taking it home earlier in the week. I noticed a small leather crack in the front passenger seat about 1/4-inch long. It doesn't appear to be seperating (yet). Should I be concerned that it will worsen over time? I would hate to go through the touble of a warranty replacement, but I will if there's a possibility of it worsening. Suggestions? Thanks in advance!

 

Seeing as how others have had many problems with the leather in our 04 models I would definitely be concerned about it. I would contact the dealer ASAP to show them the problem before it progresses any further. This is the only aspect of the TL that I am dissapointed in. The leather in my 04 Accord coupe never showed any signs of wear in the 5000 miles that I had it. My 04 TL is already starting to show wrinkles and signs of wear after only 1000 miles. As a matter of fact, the leather in my Ford expedition after 80,000 miles still looks it has less wear than the leather in the TL after only 1000.

 

It is not really a crack - words mean things, and my point is not just an anal distinction. What you have is what many of us have - a crease. Unless the leather has actually split apart, it is a crease, not a crack, and almost all elather has creases. It is a fact of animal hides, which are not as mechanically consistent as plastic.

The TL leather is soft, compared to by 1997 Outback, which has "leather" like vinyl. It hgas worn well, esp for a vehcile that gets a lot of hard use with abrasive dirty clothing.

I certainly agree that my 2004 TL has a "sagging" look to it, which I would prefer not to have, but the seat is comfortable, so I am not ready to file a clas-action quite yet. The 2005 has different reinforcement stitiching on the seat bottom, so that is a course I would pursue first, and intend to. Good luck with the solution you pick.

 

The dealer left the old seat cover in my car when they replaced it. I had a chance to examine the material close up. The top layer is a thin rubber coating, which will wear out especially around the crease lines. Underneath, some extremely stretched and thin layer of leather. The padding under the leather is less than 1/8" thick.

 

yea man i hear all of you on the leather i got like 4500 miles and since i had like 900 its looked like ive had 40000... Im takin mine in again the first time there like its fine but this time oh NO!!!! ... 04 tl nhb camel

 

This is making me want to get the leatherette that BMW has available. Is leatherette just another word for "vinyl"?

 

Yes, cheap vinyl made out of old recycled yogurt containers - but German yogurt most likely!