I'm really thinking of just ordering the cloth seating. I'm going basic for 2 reasons. One is to keep the price down and the other is I just hate seeing cars in time with the Wrinkled,cracked leaned drivers seat. No matter how you try the seat will wrinkle on the outgoing drivers side and sorry that just bothers me. When I was looking for a used car and when I saw that on the drivers seat I would move on. Especially when the only other option is Leatherette. What do you guys think?

 

I've had cloth on all our MINIs other than my wife's convertible. (leatherette i.e. vinyl)

Leather seats are great if your goal is to minimize wear on your suit. For comfort, cloth is a clear win IMHO. And cloth can last really well if you don't abuse it in my experience.

We went with the leatherette on the convertible on the theory that if they got dirt on them from the top being down it would be easier to clean. While that was true, I don't think it made up for them being cold in the winter and hot in the summer.

Our Roadster is cloth.

Purely my opinion!

Don

 

I was going to go with the cloth if I wouldn't have picked the recaro for other reasons though. 1 because the leatherette cracks over a long time 2 leather take alot of proper care to keep them from wrinkling or cracking like you say and with a roadster it is even more work. My current leather seats are in great condition after 5 years and 90k but it's alot of work with good and proper leather care product.

 

We've got cloth/leather in ours. They come with lumbar adjustment and are ever so slightly wider than the cloth seats, they fit us better. We had cloth in our previous two MINIs, I found the cloth sports seats had too much lumbar support, and were a bit snug.

 

I wanted the Lounge Leather with white piping but refuse to pay $2,000 for only the two seats in the Coupe.

 

I go cloth for multiple reasons. First being the wear & tear that leather shows, as you pointed out. Second, they are much cheaper, as you also stated. But another benefit is that if you're not installing racing harnesses for your daily commute, cloth seats tend to hold you in place a good bit better. And down here in FL, cloth seats never singe your thighs in the Summer, which lasts about 9-10 months per year.

Leather gets all the style points, but cloth is far more practical & low maintenance.

 

Iwas thinking the same way. For leather to be same cost as other MINI models, but with only two seats I couldn't wrap my head around justifying that! And the JCW cloth seats turned out to be amazingly comfortable and supporting which is key in a driving car.

 

What a misunderstanding you have. MINI should charge even more since they have to remove the rear seats from the R58/R59 before shipping.

 

LOL Julien!

 

Bah... I got the leatherette. I guess maybe I didn't know better.

This is the first car I've ever special ordered. Every other car has pretty much been a beater, or kind of close enough to it (except for one that was new off the lot). They all had cloth seats.

I always thought leather and leatherette seats looked nicer, and was always a bit jealous when I saw them in other cars. So I went for it. Looks like I should have done my homework.

I pick her up on Monday. I'm so excited. I'll just have to read up on how to care for the seats, and be diligent.

 

No regrets - you'll be happy with them - you like how it looks that's what really matters!

The leatherette seats in our convertible looked great after 5 years, and in a convertible they got a lot more sun and weather exposure than most seats.

Use a good vinyl protectant (not, in my opinion, armor-all) like the Lexol brand and those seats will look great forever.

Congratulation on your new MINI!

 

We have two MINI's with the combo cloth/leather seats and love them. I also ordered my R59 with the cloth/leather seats. The fabric is very tightly woven and looks nice (no "mouse fur" look!). I like the contrasting color of the leather bolsters.

As all the others have said, they're durable, cooler in summer, not so cold in winter. In Texas, it's the cooler in summer part that matters most to me.

 

I have been debating this as well, shopping for an R59. I'm leaning towards lounge leather mostly for styling. Yes they are 2K, but if you chose any other dash or interior styling, that cost is included in the 2K. The color line and fluted metal dash both carry a 250 cost with STD seats but have no cost with LL. If I was really concerned with cost I wouldn't be looking at a mini. On a side note I did sit in the recaros, or at least told they were the same as the 2.75K option. Really not impressed. Just my .02.

 

Ah, good! Thanks for the tip, Don. Definitely will look into non-Armor-All products. That brand always seemed to be a bit oily.

ok... back to the thread.

 

Us lovers of leather call these "Character Lines". I have them in my face also.

The leather is good quality. If price were not an issue I would say go with it.

gary

 

After many years of black gravity leather, I'm glad I went with cross check cloth/toffee leather along with a toffee color line.....instead of lounge leather. Brightens up the interior, should remain looking almost new, and half the cost.