[desmotesta]

First a little history.

The car is a 2002 with 67K miles. The interior is all original and the leather has never been refinished.
The previous owner did not have any children and the Leather is in almost new condition except minimal wear on the driver seat.

Also, before THIS clean up I have tried to "clean" and "condition" the leather interior with my tried and true Lexol brand Twice in the last 3 months. Although the leather was cleaner and "softer" than I received it, Lexol didnt seem to work as it did in my other cars.

Long story short, I ordered the Leatherique Prestine Clean and Leatherique Rejuvanetor Oil after a bit of research. I was highly skeptical and questioned my own decision to spend nearly $50 for two 150 ml bottles of cleaner/conditioner.

First surprise was how *****-backwords the directions were from Leatherique. Unlike most cleaner/conditioners the LEatherique Rejuvanetor Oil is used first (which I thought was the conditioner) and the Prestine Clean solution is used last.
Not understanding the logic, I still decided to just follow the directions.

Note: I did my best to capture the before and after difference but I still do not think the pictures show how much better the leather looks.
Also, for people who have "Extended leather, I suggest buying the bigger bottles of both products. you do not really realize how much MORE leather there is in the extended package until you start cleaning it.

All in all, I am extremely happy with the result. The leather is cleaner, softer and like new after just one application.

Driver seat before clean up:

Driver seat Wear (this is the most wear I have anywhere on the leather)

Rear before clean up

Front "Baking" per directions. I let it bake for 3 hours in sun

Driver seat Baking

Rear Baking:

Driver seat Baking

Driver Seat POST CLEAN UP

Pre and Post Rejuvanetor Clean up:

Passenger seat POST Clean up

Dash Post Clean up

Towel after JUST Driver seat Clean up (Rememeber, the leather has been cleaned/conditioned twice in 3 months already)
This is how much Lexol did NOT pick up.

Rear Post Clean up

Dirty water from leather that has been cleaned twice in last 3 months.

This is how much product I used in One application.

 

[furry]

amazing, is there an alternative to 'baking' it in the sun however? i.e. can the process be done quicker?

 

[desmotesta]

I doubt it because even after 2:30-3:00 hours the rejuvanetor oil wasn't dry in all places.

 

[fünf]

very slick!

 

[OC e39r]

Great timing for this thread, as I am just done with the same process on full leather too. The results are nothing short of amazing. But i took as much interior parts out to massage it more than one time and for a better reach of the tight corners. I also let it bake in the heat - but not in the direct sun light - for an average of two days.
The only negative side it is a messy and time consuming, but the more time you invest in it, the better results you get.

 

[EaglEye]

Good stuff! Just keep a microfiber handy to wipe off the film that will form on the inside of the windows after the excess Rejuvenator evaporates out of the seats on a hot day.

 

[furry]

results are amazing though...will definitely refer to this thread

 

[DesiOC]

I suggest doing this, in addition, to help absorption of the product into the leather, it worked wonders in my case:

 

[B Jack]

Your interior looks fantastic! I especially like the CF trim. Is that real CF or are the pieces wrapped? I'm a "wood trim" guy but that CF is "outta this world"

 

[Alin10123]

The plastic over the seats is an awesome idea. That way the liquid doesn't evaporate and it has nowhere to go except into the leather.

 

[Kevin The Clean 1]

desmotesta;,

Great job & the dark leather looks much more supple & freshened up now. However, that back seat looked just fine before the leather treatment was applied... !

 

[sneal4600]

I plan on using Leatherique on my M5 this spring once we get a warm day. However, I can attest to the results because last summer I bought an 86 Jag that had been sitting in a barn for 15 years. The leather was in outstanding shape, not dry or cracked... it was just dirty. Jag used Connolly leather and the before and after results were astounding. The interior looks almost like the day it left the factory.

 

[desmotesta]

desmotesta;,

Great job & the dark leather looks much more supple & freshened up now. However, that back seat looked just fine before the leather treatment was applied... !

Thanks. And yea the rear seats were already in like new condition. However the leather did not feel soft to the touch.
Now it feels much softer.

 

[desmotesta]

I suggest doing this, in addition, to help absorption of the product into the leather, it worked wonders in my case:

You are right in fact the manufacturer also recommends wrapping the seats in plastic. I plan on doing this every 3 months so next time I plan on wrapping the leather in plastic. I have a whole new roll of Uhaul plastic

 

[fünf]

will this work on gray leather?

 

[desmotesta]

Your interior looks fantastic! I especially like the CF trim. Is that real CF or are the pieces wrapped? I'm a "wood trim" guy but that CF is "outta this world"

Thank you. I am not a big fan of the wood interior so the first thing on my to-do list was to wrap the wood in 3M Dinoc 1080 CF Vinyl.
It is very easy to apply and although not the real thing for me it was way better than having the shiny wood.

I always wanted the extended leather package and most if not all of extended package late models came with the dreaded wood

 

[chowdah]

Another good post to refer back to on leather is:
http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e39-m5-e52-z8-discussion/70112-my-leather-treatment-clinic.html

 

[desmotesta]

will this work on gray leather?

Yes the product is not color specific.

 

[KevinM]

Nice job!

I did a similar treatment a few years ago using slightly different products (from the leather treatment thread Chowdah posted above. The baking on process is kind of a pain but seems to be a necessary step.

 

[DECOCQ]

Your results look great. I'm dealing with the same subtle cleaning ability of lexol. I feel the more I clean and treat the leather with lexol the less it does it's purposed job.

Now lets hope for your sake the pollen will be dissapear with these crazy storms today. Jeez it's horrible here. I will definitely be doing this in the next couple weeks.