[iviegatron]

For my next M3 I'm thinking of getting a lighter interior either Silverstone or Ivory White. Leaning more towards Ivory White. However, my concerns are primarily jean stains and upkeeping with maintenance.

How forgiving is BMW light colored leather?

Would this be an issue if I were to get the leather ceramic coated?

Maybe get permaplate offered by BMW?

To those that have a lighter interior, what are you doing to keep it clean?

[wavyyyy]

I have silverstone and it’s beautiful but I wouldn’t do it again. I’m wiping it every single day. I’ve applied colour lock but there’s still a stain every day. Easy enough to clean but impossible to keep clean.

[Juanero]

Light leathers look good. But they will pick up the colors of your clothes, etc. My wife's denim has turned light sand bolsters blue!

[1209582]

as someone mentioned, silverstone gets dirty quick. but i wash my cars on the weekends so no biggie.

[iviegatron]

Originally Posted by wavyyyy

I have silverstone and it’s beautiful but I wouldn’t do it again. I’m wiping it every single day. I’ve applied colour lock but there’s still a stain every day. Easy enough to clean but impossible to keep clean.

Originally Posted by Juanero

Light leathers look good. But they will pick up the colors of your clothes, etc. My wife's denim has turned light sand bolsters blue!

This is what I'm afraid off. I have two kids as well and it'll be a challenge keeping it clean. Being OCD doesn't help either.

[KevinGS]

Silverstone is a real challenge if your anal.

Ivory would be a nightmare.

If you have kids (or if you have regular passengers), I wouldn't even consider Ivory.

[AhsanU]

If you have OCD then don’t bother, stick to a darker colour. I have ivory with buckets and it’s in raggedy condition but I couldn’t care less so I’m completely ok with it. I have a 23 month old too so the backseat is in dreadful condition as well.

That being said, I’ve had no transfer of denim into the seats like I did in my F80 with Silverstone seats. I almost exclusively wear denim jeans too.

It’s too pretty to pass up and I would do ivory again, but it is definitely not for the type of person that needs a clean car.

[beamlord]

It's really not a big deal, protect with leather protector, and then any stain is easily wiped off with a simple damp cloth.
I don't understand people making a huge fuss about it.
Also, having black leather doesn't mean they stay cleaner, it's actually even worse because they still get all that dirt and stains and you never see them, hence never clean them properly 🙃

So unless you're running a taxi cab service with your car, it shouldn't be an issue.

I would never consider plain boring black interior. Ivory white is the most beautiful choice, just go for it.

[BTC Maxi]

Originally Posted by wavyyyy

I have silverstone and it’s beautiful but I wouldn’t do it again. I’m wiping it every single day. I’ve applied colour lock but there’s still a stain every day. Easy enough to clean but impossible to keep clean.

This 💯. I love my silverstone however it drives me crazy sometimes. You notice almost every little stain and half the time they don’t come out. With two kids I would stick with a darker color. I’ve been cleaning it with a leather cleaner someone on the forums recommended however it does not work that well. I may have over exaggerated a little bit however it is definitely more of a chore than darker colors

[luckylingy]

I beg to differ. I'm OCD about a clean car, and my Silverstone interior is as pristine as it was on delivery day. I attribute success so far to a) ceramic coating it Day 1; b) being the sole occupant who wears dark denim only occasionally; and c) cleaning with Colourlock on a regular basis. Clean-up is easy and quick (less time than drying a rim), and all dye transfer is removed on the first pass. I wouldn't hesitate speccing my next interior as Ivory or Silverstone, now that I have the proper tools and techniques.

FWIW, I had a 2013 5 Series in Ivory Nappa leather, whose second owner must be as fastidious as me. That car has ~80,000 miles on it, and it still looks brand new, inside and out. Even the driver's seat.

[wtwo3]

I've had 2 cars with ivory... my previous X5 and current X7 both have ivory seats. I also have a 5 year old and a 1 year old. My X5 was, and my X7 now is, in pristine condition. I'm not sure how people are treating their cars that they end up disasters, but if you're a relatively neat and clean person, I haven't found ivory difficult to keep clean at all. I also have a no food policy in my cars. If my kids are hungry they can eat before we go somewhere or they can eat once we get to the destination. If we're on a road trip, we'll stop at the restaurant as opposed to getting drive-thru. So it's really not that difficult to keep clean. And you have a nice bright interior that really makes the cabin feel larger than it is.

[ChrisM4]

Originally Posted by iviegatron

This is what I'm afraid off. I have two kids as well and it'll be a challenge keeping it clean. Being OCD doesn't help either.

You will lose your mind with either of those colours if you’re the slightest OCD

[chicagofan00]

Silverstone owner here (also have an 8 & 6 year old) and don’t find I have much issue keeping the interior clean from an overall perspective. I have seat protectors underneath my kid’s booster seats so that helps a bit in the back. I also don’t let them eat in the car.

I did have the shop that did my PPF, ceramic, & tint do some protection on all the leather surfaces so I would have to think that contributes to being able to keep it clean. It will definitely show dirt sooner than a darker interior would but has also been easy to clean up. I also haven’t had any problems with dye transfer from clothing.

If I were to order my car again though, I don’t think I’d pick Silverstone. I would go for a bolder color choice like KO or FR, however, not having seen either of those two interiors in person before having ordered my car I played it a bit safe since the exterior was already going to be a bold color. I will say that the Silverstone has definitely helped brighten up the interior, which is nice since getting a sunroof on this car was not an option for me (CF roof or bust!).

[wavyyyy]

To amend my earlier post, if you’re okay with wiping it every other day or so, you’ll be fine with silverstone. I’m lazy and that’s a lot of work so I don’t enjoy it that much. Also some of the stains are subtle and you really have to be paying attention to see them.

I agree with chicagofan00 that it brightens up the interior for sure. I have no sunroof and I have 20% tint all around + 35% on the windshield but it’s nice and bright still because of the interior.

It’s essentially very much a love hate thing, because I think silverstone and ivory look the best, but as I said earlier, I wouldn’t do it again given the choice. I’d probably just go black, or if no buckets tartufo.

Also if anyone says their ivory or silverstone interior doesn’t get dirty, that’s false. Either they don’t notice, use seat covers, or are lying.

My car is currently at Detailers Domain and he’s also coating the interior for me, hopefully that helps.

[JDUNITNOW]

Had my car for 16 months and Silverstone still looks new. I coated it with ceramic and wipe it down when I notice any stains. I wear jeans to work so when I drive car I really pay attention to ingress and egress. I use ONR to wipe down interior mostly and if it's really dirty, I use a leather cleaner to tidy up.

[JY01]

I have Silverstone and would do it again if I ordered another car. Coming from only owning cars with black interiors, I was afraid it would be a headache/burden to keep Silverstone clean but it hasn’t been like that at all. It’s been my daily for the past 4 months and still looks brand new so far. I protected the seats with Gyeon Leather Shield which probably makes maintenance easier, and I use Sonax leather cleaning products once every couple of months even if the seats aren’t dirty, just to keep them clean.

[Leindurstit]

Had ivory white dakota seats in my 5er and they were nightmarish to keep clean as it was a far rougher (crackly-textured) leather that would keep stains unless you really scrubbed the heck out of it.

Same color in the M4, but the smoother leather is far easier to keep clean, only "needs" it every few weeks maybe. I wouldn't go for it if you're routinely tracking a ton of dirt in on your person, and be leery of rain if you're wearing bluejeans everywhere, but in either case you're going to stain the seats, just a question of how visible it is.

[wazzza]

I had silverstone on my F82 for 3 years or so. All I did was leather cleaning and conditioning once a month or so. Just need to avoid brand new dyed jeans, other than that it’s pretty low maintenance. ColourLock or Giest products are your best friends.

[wazzza]

Originally Posted by iviegatron

This is what I'm afraid off. I have two kids as well and it'll be a challenge keeping it clean. Being OCD doesn't help either.

Just read your response. Well ignore my previous advice if you’ve got kids lol. Get black

[08-335xi]

The real factor here is how messy you and your passengers are. If your kids eat in the car, I would avoid the light interior. My wife’s X3 with Canberra SensaTec is way more difficult to keep looking new than my Fiona Red M4 and Tacora Red X3 M40i. It simply shows the dark stains more. If you do not let your kids eat or drink in the car the main issue will be marks from shoe bottoms and hands on the door pulls. I have to clean marks and discolorations from both consistently in my wife’s car. I think all our seat backs are dark plastic (CF or Blk plastic) regardless of options, which does help some. I do not allow eating in the M4 which helps tremendously to keep it looking new with minimal maintenance. My kids are fairly aware of not making messes in our cars, but food and colored drinks are the main enemies year round and slush, salt and road grime are the enemies in the winter. It’s inevitable that marks and stains will happen if you don’t cover the seats. The darker colors just make the marks less noticeable.

Keep in mind that I am very particular and like to keep my cars looking new. The factors above a substantial part of why I selected Fiona Red over Silverstone in our M4.

[vetteflier]

Assuming I order my next one, it will be black again with Ivory. Rarely anyone in the car but me--no one else drives it; don't wear jeans often, and condition it regularly with Maguiars conditioner which does a great job.

[DO444]

Going to add some pictures here for you.
Ivory is soo, soo nice.

I have 5% tints and 70% windshield and the cabin is still pretty light inside because of the color of the interior (ivory).

My detailed told me that he can ceramic the interior to greatly reduce dye transfer and make it easy to clean, so I’m going to do that.

But, honestly it wouldn’t really bother me to have some transfer. The only time you’ll ever see it is getting in and out of the car.

All the other time you just enjoy your interior!