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Maintenance Maintenance
Car: BMW | 3 Series | E46 | All Derivatives | All body styles

Leather scuff removal

BMW leather is terrible quality, where Audi leather starts to display signs of wear at 70k (Sports seats) it's not uncommon for BMW leather to start displaying signs of wear at as little as 10k. My car is a good case in point, less than 2 years old and 23k on the clock and the drivers bolster looked terrible.

Despite being under warranty, BMW put this down as 'wear and tear'.

The solution

Leather restoration

I use Scuff Master by LIQUID LEATHER tm. The kit contains a leather touch up liquid that is colour matched to the BMW leather, the kit also includes a light grey and yellow toner to adjust the hue should it not be 100%. The kit also contains a gloss enhancer to help match interiors that have worn shiny through use.

Application

Leather restoration

First clean the area you wish to restore with Methylated or surgical spirit. You can see from the photo how my bolster had worn on the edge, this can be avoided by carefully getting in and out of the car, but still should not be like this at under 2 years old!

Leather restoration

Now evenly apply Scuff Master liquid using the foam pad (supplied). I used the liquid in neat form but it can be diluted to cover larger areas if required. The leather in my car is still matt but leather that has seen more use will dictate the use of shine compound, this is added to the Scuff Master liquid as required.

The finished result is outstanding, back to showroom condition!

system uses a control unit termed the ULF (A German acronym for "Universal Hands Free") which controls the system, it is the ULF that your phone connects to. The ULF diverts speech from the mobile through the existing sound system; therefore music is automatically faded in/out when a call is connected/disconnected and incoming calls will ring through the cars' speakers. A microphone is fixed in the car to provide input back to the phone. The phone can be controlled by the steering wheel controls, or if supported, voice activated commands. It is optional to have what is commonly known as an 'eject box' which houses your mobile in a custom 'snap in' adapter, once held in the 'snap in' your mobile is charged and it's antenna is diverted to one on the car for increased reception quality.

The beauty of the BMW system is that your mobile may be left in your pocket, coat in the boot or even briefcase; when the ignition is switched on the phone will automatically pair with the car. It really is a convenient system.

Upgrade path for Siemens equipped vehicles

Bluetooth makes use of the same telephone loom that is used with the Siemens system, BMW appear to have 'standardised' it as their communications loom (the loom is identified by its 50 pin locking plug at the telephone module end). This means that owners of cars with the earlier Siemens phone have an easy upgrade path.

A Bluetooth upgrade for Siemens equipped vehicles is not covered here, but the basics are as follows:

Please click here for a complete Siemens to Bluetooth guide.

For Bluetooth retrofit instructions please see the relevant article which can be reached from the Car Articles page.

© Mark Stewart, Tuesday 29th May 2007
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