looking for comparison of different interior materials

[bmw_guy_2020]

I'm looking for a comparison of different interior materials for the M3.

Looks like leather/cloth is the standard trim, Novello leather is $950 and then "extended" Novello leather costs at least twice as much as the standard Novello leather.

I plan to get my interior in black. Do you have any pictures of these different styles of interiors in black? The bmw website doesn't give you very good pictures of the interior so it's very difficult to see the differences.

And for those of you who are familiar with both the Novello leather and "extended" Novello leather - what is the difference between these 2 options and do you think that the "extended" Novello leather is really worth *twice* as much as the standard Novello leather?

What is your opinion on these different interior trims?

[dimabimmer]

oh man... Seriously...

but anyway, if I were you, I would get Speed Cloth!!! It is so awesome! I don't want to start another Cloth VS Leather War, but... Speed Cloth is so underestimated!

Unique Combo Sporty Look,
Light Feel of Cloth,
Cools you off in Summer, keeps you cosy warm in Winter,
Firmer, better back support,
Your back can breath agains Cloth - High Performance Fabric,
Very, very durable... you never get "leather aging wrinkles"...
Free of Extra Charge Standard Option,- you save $$$ !!!

See and follow link in my sig to see couple of shots of Speed Cloth, but there is whole thread about it too...

[bmw_guy_2020]

dimabimmer - Thanks for the pics. I wasn't exactly sure how to visualize that.

Looks like the cloth is used in the main body while leather is used in the outer areas.

I think cloth would feel like a downgrade for me - like I ran out of money when I configured the vehicle.

So now I need to figure out - what is the difference between Novelo leather and "extended" Novelo leather and why does "extended" Novelo leather cost more than twice as much?

[BimmerM]

Originally Posted by bmw_guy_2020

So now I need to figure out - what is the difference between Novelo leather and "extended" Novelo leather and why does "extended" Novelo leather cost more than twice as much?

I have extended leather and can probably help explain. The Novillo leather itself on the seats and door panels are identical on the Extended. The difference is the "Extended" portion of the leather which includes:

1) Leather along the lower side section of the center console (the console that is between the driver and passenger seat)
2) Leather along the entire lower section of the dash (below the trim). This includes the glove box.

That's about it.

I didn't get too many pics of the extended leather but here's one of the side of the center console and one of the part to the left of the headlight switch. Looks for the stitching, that's a giveaway that it's leather.

[bmw_guy_2020]

Originally Posted by BimmerM

I have extended leather and can probably help explain. The Novillo leather itself on the seats and door panels are identical on the Extended. The difference is the "Extended" portion of the leather which includes:

1) Leather along the lower side section of the center console (the console that is between the driver and passenger seat)
2) Leather along the entire lower section of the dash (below the trim). This includes the glove box.

That's about it.

I didn't get too many pics of the extended leather but here's one of the side of the center console and one of the part to the left of the headlight switch. Looks for the stitching, that's a giveaway that it's leather.

Thanks for the pics and explanation. I think I can live without that. I don't think I've ever seen that in any other car. Maybe they do that in Bentley's and Spykers? But at least in 2011 no one's going to look at my dash and think that I'm cutting corners because it's not wrapped in leather.

I think it looks good as far as I can tell but I'm not going to spend any extra money on it.

[BimmerM]

Originally Posted by bmw_guy_2020

Thanks for the pics and explanation. I think I can live without that. I don't think I've ever seen that in any other car. Maybe they do that in Bentley's and Spykers? But at least in 2011 no one's going to look at my dash and think that I'm cutting corners because it's not wrapped in leather.

I think it looks good as far as I can tell but I'm not going to spend any extra money on it.

I don't blame you. For the price you pay you would expect more (or at least I expected more LOL).

However, note that other models do offer full dash leather even as far back as 10+ years ago. My friend's E39 M5 has the extended leather package and it includes leather on top of the dash as well as nearly every part of the interior. BMW has been offering extended leather for a long time, except for the 3 series, in the US they only started offering it on the E9x M3 as the previous E46 M3 never had that option (except in Europe).

[FruitCake]

If they asked $5k for the extended leather to include every lower panel below the glass, I'd pay.

[ersin]

Cloth is only on inner portion of seats and in door panels. Outside of seats and armrest is Novillo leather. "Novillo" refers to the type and/or grade of leather. I believe in Spanish, Novillo means a young bull. So, maybe this is where the leather comes from. IDK.

"Regular" Novillo leather includes the inner part of seats and doors.

"Extended" leather adds leather to sides of center console and lower part of dash.

"Full" leather adds leather to top of the dash, doors and probably any other place that's normally showing plastic. Sometimes the headliner is Alcantara with this option. But unfortunately, BMW doesn't offer a full leather option in the 3 series.


Cheers.