Drivers side seat Leather cracking - Warranty claim?

[FCX5]

Originally Posted by JamesInSJ

2015, black dakota. This has only gotten a little worse since I bought it about 3 years ago, but bugs me and would like to do some kind of visual repair. Would a boat vinyl repair kit be better than this? Or just split quickly leaving a worse looking mess.

Only option of you have a good leather guy is that they can replace that part with real leather. The part there is vinyl and the poor quality of the cushion is likely why it is cracking. I believe if you get a replacement from BMW (it's expensive) but I was told at some point BMW tried to address that problem…so the replacement should hold up well.

Mine is a 2018 and wear seems normal for any leather.

[suitedcboy]

When I was looking (and found) an X5 recently the majority had the vinyl panel on the outside cracked on driver's side with several having the same on passenger side. Some I looked at with what looked to be the same leather with same stitching patterns had what I know to be leather in that panel. I have not figured out if: 1. the replacement covers have that panel in leather, 2. the seat cover was repaired with leather, or 3. the option I saw on VINDecoder on some cars that listed "extended leather" is a option that does take the seats from "leather trimmed sets" to "leather seats".
It is rare for automotive seats to be leather all around. That happened 30+ years back and there were class action suits with some owners getting the $5.11 settlement checks (I don't know what the real amount was but I remember it was not a lot). The car I bought has the cracking on seats that otherwise are in great condition. I will likely pull the covers off one day and have the upholstery shop I've used many times do that section in black leather or whatever he suggests. The seat wearing and cracking on the switch panel, when it extends higher, happens easily and some makes use a carpet-like panel, probably a ballistic canvas, to keep it from happening.

[FCX5]

Originally Posted by suitedcboy

When I was looking (and found) an X5 recently the majority had the vinyl panel on the outside cracked on driver's side with several having the same on passenger side. Some I looked at with what looked to be the same leather with same stitching patterns had what I know to be leather in that panel. I have not figured out if: 1. the replacement covers have that panel in leather, 2. the seat cover was repaired with leather, or 3. the option I saw on VINDecoder on some cars that listed "extended leather" is a option that does take the seats from "leather trimmed sets" to "leather seats".
It is rare for automotive seats to be leather all around. That happened 30+ years back and there were class action suits with some owners getting the $5.11 settlement checks (I don't know what the real amount was but I remember it was not a lot). The car I bought has the cracking on seats that otherwise are in great condition. I will likely pull the covers off one day and have the upholstery shop I've used many times do that section in black leather or whatever he suggests. The seat wearing and cracking on the switch panel, when it extends higher, happens easily and some makes use a carpet-like panel, probably a ballistic canvas, to keep it from happening.

If you have a good upholstery shop, TBH, they can probably recover the bottom of both the front seats to be better than OEM.

Here is a close up of mine, which is a late 2018 model and you can see the line where it could tear on the side. Looks like the quality might have improved since mine is showing no signs of tearing. The seat overall looks nice for a 4 1/2 year DD. You can get. Replacement cover I believe from BMW and it would likely be what is on mine. However, it is probably cheaper to get it done by an upholstery guy…

[Jonnywad]

Mine was really bad so trying the zip-tie method. My concern is that the zip tie wraps around metal but it could slide off since the metal is not connected to anything close to where the zip tie is. it jets out from wherever it is bolted. If it fails I will find something else to wrap around.

Good luck!

Drilled a hole as shown.



After the zip-tie tightened.



What it looks like with the zip-tie.