Issue:
The car has been well maintained all its life and regularly cleaned, however, as is the norm for some in Australia, that has mostly been at car wash and detail outlets in Sydney. The leather (black) was looking almost grey and had a number of scratch and scuff marks as you might expect.
Further to those marks the leather had a light residue particularly in creases and areas like the front seats where the front part extends to provide extra leg support. The car had been to a cleaner for detail just 30 minutes prior to our process.
(Immediately after being professionally detailed - image shows residue and scratches)
Treatment:
Step 1: clean all areas with LCK strong cleaner.
The leather was found to be dry and covered in a residue, possibly silicon based. Even though the car had just been cleaned, the towel we used became really dirty. Even we were surprised just how dirty this freshly cleaned car was !
(Even though the leather had just been professionally detailed, when we re-cleaned it the towel became filthy)
Step 2: after allowing the leather to dry we could see all the flaws and scuffs clearly. We proceed to apply LCK Leather Lotion with a small amount of Black leather pigment mixed into the Lotion.
The effects of this were again more dramatic than we had predicted with the dry “thirsty” leather absorbing the pigmented lotion very quickly and the rich black leather returning to its former soft luxurious self.
Scuff marks that appeared light and obvious due to the dry nature of the hide became invisible as the pigmented lotion was absorbed.
This was allowed to dry and settle and we then treated with Coralux regular Automotive care lotion.
(This is the same seat - no residue, no marks, no scratches)
Step 3. Show the owners !
The owners, who its should be pointed out are friends of Corium and know leather very well themselves, were “stunned” by the result.
“Wow that’s amazing. It looks like it did when we first bought the car.”
The leather correctly treated with LCK Leather Care had come back from looking dry and brittle and almost dark grey to its previous soft black state.
(Back seat complete!)
Conclusion:
Auto Leather in Australia is exposed to the extremes of heat and UV more than almost any other place in the world.
BMW use excellent leather in very high specification for its vehicles and this is a large part of just why the result was so good.
The leather had clearly been cleaned by car wash or detailer staff who were using whatever was at hand with no understanding that the leather was becoming dry and brittle due to lack of proper care product being used.
We decided we should have a look online at what similar vehicles interiors looked like and found that some had become super high gloss?
This looks awful and cheap on an expensive European vehicle the LCK Leather Care products return the leathers factory “Matte Sheen” unlike products that are full of silicon or wax.
The Lesson:
Simple ! Had this leather been cleaned and conditioned regularly with LCK (at least a few times a year) it would have remained soft and luxurious and, perhaps more importantly, with the correct balance of moisture, flexible enough to cope with teenagers clambering in and out (the care products are already well known for increasing abrasion resistance and performance).
Regular care with correct products will not just extend the usable life of the leather but allow owners to enjoy the luxury interiors of their cars at their very best.
We estimate regular care on an X5, if done at reasonably regular intervals, should be quick and easy and it should not take more than 30 minutes.
30 minutes twice a year for basic maintenance or 4 times a year for the best results will prevent almost all the issues that this particular X5 suffered from.
Its now pristine and looking fantastic. A little proper care goes a long long way.
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