Motoring Discussion > BMW - Which colour interior?
Thread Author: a900ss Replies: 59

 BMW - Which colour interior? - a900ss
Wife and I are having a 'domestic' regarding interior colours.

Can some level headed individuals pass judgement.

I want Cinammon (photos halfway down this page)
www.bmwclubmalaysia.com/forums/showthread.php?35348-Rollcall-who-has-F10/page6

She wants black which I think is boring
guitigefilmpjes.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/picture-update-bmw-520d-touring-f11.html

Residual value isn't important but we need a darkish colour as we have two small children.

Exterior would be very dark blue, almost black.

Thanks in advance.
 BMW - Which colour interior? - Runfer D'Hills
Erm, who would be sitting in / driving this car the most and who therefore has the more, in fact arguably the only, right to a casting vote ?

:-)
 BMW - Which colour interior? - -
I like neither but thats a personal thing, black will be more practical IMO but i dislike it intently, German cars are gloomy enough inside as it is without adding more of the same.

If i was forced to choose between the two it would be black, is there a third possibility of dark blue to match the body?
 BMW - Which colour interior? - nyx2k
cinnamon, looks lovely
 BMW - Which colour interior? - Runfer D'Hills
Strikes me there's a man or mouse decision thing needed here ! Personally I prefer the black but if you want cinnamon then just order it man ! Jeez...

:-)

 BMW - Which colour interior? - colino
I appreciate you have two small children, but why drive around in a car that looks like it is already covered in electric diarrhoea?
A nice grey or light blue covers all the bases, I think black looks dull all of the time and unless you go for a two-tone job, you'll get bored of a wacky colour scheme.
 BMW - Which colour interior? - Oldgit
Blacks are awful both inside and out. Black cloth interiors show all sort of fluff and lint etc. Very light colours are similarly very impractica,l especially if that surface can reflect in the windscreen. This results in difficulty in seeing through the glass, as all you can see is the top of the fascia.

The interior of my Golf was described as Titan Black, IIRC. I looked at this in a showroom car before ordering mine and found the colour to be a Charcoal Grey which was very acceptable and a good compromise as I would never have ordered a car with jet black cloth upholstery and never, ever in leather.
 BMW - Which colour interior? - Zero
>> I appreciate you have two small children, but why drive around in a car that
>> looks like it is already covered in electric diarrhoea?

I have to agree, its looks like the inside of a babies nappy.
 BMW - Which colour interior? - Ian (Cape Town)
Think 'climate change'.
If you've ever put your bottom onto a black leather seat which has been standing in the sun all day, you'll decide NOT to go for that option!

And as another contributor suggested, black shows up scuffs, lint, dribbles, crumbs etc etc etc.
 BMW - Which colour interior? - Dog
I'm a black man (or dark) unless its a Jaaag then it ivory leather / burr wall nut.
 BMW - Which colour interior? - Bagpuss
My colleague has a 520d estate car. Dark blue paintwork and grey interior. Looks very nice and appears to be hardwearing.

That cinnamon interior looks like the colour I chose for my last 5 Series, to try and liven the interior up a bit. I liked it for about a week then regretted my colour choice for the remainder of the 3 years and wished I'd just gone for black.
 BMW - Which colour interior? - Runfer D'Hills
My current car is black outside with beige leather inside, I thought the beige hide would be a pain to keep clean but it isn't really. My car gets used as a van in the week, stuff thrown in and out of it all the time, I'm certainly not precious about it, I eat in there most days and drink black coffee etc. Thick end of 20k miles put on in 6 months or so of usage. I just wipe the seats down with a very slightly damp cloth once in a while. They're fine. Look like new.

My previous 2 cars had black leather interiors. Very easy to live with. As for heat on a sunny day, no real problem with AC. Used to have time for a fag standing outside while it cooled down. Now I just check my emails on my BlackBerry. Probably a more constructive use of time if somewhat less pleasureable.

:-)
 BMW - Which colour interior? - Duncan
Black.
 BMW - Which colour interior? - R.P.
The interior of the X1 is Nevada Brown leather - a little "startling" at first but quite nice now...!
 BMW - Which colour interior? - Londoner
It depends how you are going to use the BMW.
If you are going to drive it in the traditional manner (i.e. 6 inches from the bumper of the car in front) then get a black interior with a grey or silver exterior.

OTOH, if you are going to drive it as expected of a long-established member of the Car4play forum (i.e properly), then go for a grey interior and a deep blue exterior.
 BMW - Which colour interior? - Runfer D'Hills
>>If you are going to drive it in the traditional manner (i.e. 6 inches from the bumper of the car in front) then get a black interior with a grey or silver exterior.

...and don't forget to use far too much hair gel, ludicrous sunglasses, have an absurdly large knot in your tie, oh and affect short sleeved shirts...
 BMW - Which colour interior? - a900ss
Squeak, Squeak.....

It WON'T be black. However I do wonder if the cinnamon will be a short term love affair rather than a 48 month marriage. Beige was my first choice but I am concerned about keeping it clean.

With regards the rest, if you are in the outside lane and not overtaking, you just feel you are entitled to be there because you are doing 80MPH, please pull over and let me pass. If you are overtaking, fine.

Sunglasses, yes, Polarised Oakleys when it is sunny.

Hair gel - move with the times, it's modelling clay now for those of us that still have a full head of hair.

Tie, don't wear them.

Short sleeves, again never when working but T Shirts are fine when not working.

:-)
 BMW - Which colour interior? - rtj70
If they are the only two colours you will consider then black. That cinnamon will have you hating it in a year or so.
 BMW - Which colour interior? - Runfer D'Hills
Beige leather doesn't need to be a problem if you fancy it. Leather is easy to keep clean. Dampish cloth for minor stains / spillages. Plenty of specialist cleaning products for bigger problems.

Cheese based supper tonight BTW?

:-)
 BMW - Which colour interior? - a900ss
>>
>> Cheese based supper tonight BTW?
>>
>> :-)
>>


Fish actually!!!! As in the finger variety. :-)
Last edited by: a900ss on Mon 9 Apr 12 at 19:07
 BMW - Which colour interior? - Runfer D'Hills
>>As in the finger variety. :-)

Heh heh !
 BMW - Which colour interior? - -
. Beige was my first choice but
>> I am concerned about keeping it clean.

Then go with your beige choice without fear.

My 16 year old MB's seats in mushroom colour leather are still clean and virtually unworn, they were getting a bit dull but our very own For sorted that out a few years ago in a couple of hours and they came up like new again.

Where BMW's and later MB's are better is that you can, unlike older MB's have nice light upholstery with very dark carpets, they are the real pain to keep clean in light colours.

For proper gentlemans club atmosphere, with light leather you must have real dark wood cappings for the trim, none of that aluminium or even worse imitation aluminium tat, and Heaven forbid anyone at BMW puts pretend carbon fibre on the dash..;)
 BMW - Which colour interior? - Dog
Eh, I've just had a LQQK at that Cinnamon, and I think it looks hideous.

Don't do it Ethel!
 BMW - Which colour interior? - Dog
Its got to be Oyster or Black - or I'll send the boys round:

www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201214461385309

;)

Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 9 Apr 12 at 21:07
 BMW - Which colour interior? - Dave_
I delivered an F10 520d with white leather seats and white carpets last month. It wasn't raining that day, but nonetheless it was almost impossible to keep the interior spotless during unloading and handover. Goodness knows what it'll look like three years down the line.
 BMW - Which colour interior? - Dog
Thanks Dave. (DD)
Last edited by: Dog on Mon 9 Apr 12 at 21:26
 BMW - Which colour interior? - VxFan
>> Thanks Dave. (DD)

You're welcome. IIRC though, isn't that your brothers postcode you use? It's him who should be thanking me - lol
 BMW - Which colour interior? - Dog
Nay lad, that was where we lived up at Warleggan, my brothers code that I use is in N. Staffs.
 BMW - Which colour interior? - Kevin
>Its got to be Oyster or Black - or I'll send the boys round:

Dog, you have impeccable taste.

My XJ is almost identical with ivory leather, charcoal carpets, seatbelts, dash top and door cappings. Wood is dark polished walnut. It has a relaxing quality to it even in the worst traffic hold-ups.

a900ss,

Black is claustrophobic and the interior can get really hot when parked. The Cinammon is an improvement - but not much.

Do as Dog says and look at Oyster and Black.

The leather is a doddle to keep clean. It just needs a wipe over every few months with a good leather conditioner/cleaner. I use Liquid Leather from a Co. called Gliptone - works a treat.
 BMW - Which colour interior? - NortonES2
She's not wrong! BMW are not alone in having a taste failure: try the Bentley www.bentleymotors.com/models/new_continental_gt_v8/visualiser/ for a puke-inducing experience.
 BMW - Which colour interior? - WillDeBeest
Wise words from the Anti-Black Caucus. (That sounds dreadful - perhaps they ought to be the Beige Tendency. Or is that worse?)

Fear not the light interior. As Humph says, a bit of a wipe from time to time is all it takes - and the same is true of a black one, since the dirt is there even if you can't see it. My Volvo, with its beige-grey 'Oak' interior was chosen in 2002 when we had a toddler and an embryo; ten years and 130,000 miles on, the few signs of wear are mostly related to it being a fabric interior rather than a leather one; if I'd known then I'd be keeping it this long I'd probably have gone for the half-leather 'Svangen' option, but still not in black.

Funny, isn't it, how people these days seem happy to choose black exteriors that look great for ten minutes after washing, or until the car moves, whichever comes first, then filthy until the next wash, but fret about whether the interior will show the muck?

I've not looked at the Cinnamon option from BMW but if it looks like the Brown interiors offered by MB and Audi, you get an interior that looks like it was designed to be black, only with brown seats in place of the black ones, and the effect is jarring.

The funny thing is, brown leather is one of my favourite materials: most of my shoes and belts are in shades of brown, and I secretly covet a variety of brown leather work and weekend luggage, but I've yet to see it done convincingly in a modern car. I think it may be because the seats have to tone with the functional, technical parts of the interior, and those just look wrong in anything but black or dark grey; that's why there are no brown iPads.

This has parallels in my own search for a Mercedes E estate: the (rare) alternative to black inside those is light grey, and I have a problem with that that maybe you can help with. The trouble is that grey leather takes me back to an 80s world of ruched loafers with little chains on, yellow Farah slacks and Ralph Lauren polo shirts. Not a style I ever affected myself, you understand - I was still a student then - but it appalled me in my elders and I'd have a hard time adopting it now. Perhaps uncle Humph can offer some encouragement from behind his study desk, followed by a paper bag of gobstoppers and the muttered exhortation, "Don't tell your mother."
 BMW - Which colour interior? - WillDeBeest
I've had a look at Cinnamon now. Just as I thought - unlike Spike Milligan I can't offer three cheers for the brown, grey and black.
}:---$
 BMW - Which colour interior? - Runfer D'Hills
Grey leather only ever looked good on elephants.
 BMW - Which colour interior? - Kevin
>Grey leather only ever looked good on elephants.

When I picked the Jag up from it's last service one of the sales guys wandered over and tried to sell me an ex-demo XF.

It was metallic grey with 'Dove' interior and what looked like light oak wood.

Reminded me of an allotment pigeon coop.
 BMW - Which colour interior? - swiss tony
That's not Cinnamon, its 'Healthy breastfed poop brown'

idanas.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/baby-poop.html
 BMW - Which colour interior? - Fullchat
I like, BUT it would have to be on a blue or lighter coloured car.
 BMW - Which colour interior? - idle_chatterer
I like the brown (cinnamon) with black carpets / armrests..... my rationale being: it's not coal-hole dark but will better resist the effects of carrying children. I (mistakenly) went for a light coloured interior in my Audi a couple of cars 'back' and the grimy marks even the best behaved kids can put on light grey carpets and seat backs become apparent quite quickly.

It's a pity that so many car companies only offer very light or very dark interior options these days.
Last edited by: idle_chatterer on Tue 10 Apr 12 at 09:21
 BMW - Which colour interior? - Rudedog
Isn't there a reddish colour interior BMW seem to add to most of the M3's? can that be bought on other models.
 BMW - Which colour interior? - a900ss
>> Isn't there a reddish colour interior BMW seem to add to most of the M3's?
>> can that be bought on other models.
>>

Not for the 5 series.

Anyway, decision made and button pushed.

Gone with beige (including beige carpets). Think I'll need to buy some black mats.
 BMW - Which colour interior? - rtj70
Glad you didn't go for the poo colour :-) There was a similar poor colour choice for my car. And a colleague got cinnamon (or whatever Audi call it).... and it looks horrible.

Ironically colleague thought leather in my VW better than his Audi. Softer in mine. How it last long term I don't really care. I have it for another 2.5 years.
 BMW - Which colour interior? - Zero
Phew! no Poo!
 BMW - Which colour interior? - PeterS
I had an E61 535d touring with a beige interior - it looked fine after 30k miles, though of course no children here. My Father has also had a 525d Touring from new; it's now 7 years/120kish miles old and the beige interior in that looks pretty much as it did when it was picked up. They live in the depths of Yorkshire, so it's seen more than it fair share of mud and muck!!

Audi used to do a nice dark blue interior, which I really wanted for the A4, but in S-Line trim black was the only choice :-( The dark blue carpets/dash/door trims were also available with 'vanilla' leather in the old (old) A6, and I always thought that looked stunning as a combination
 BMW - Which colour interior? - Runfer D'Hills
Beige carpets? Oh...right...Ok...

Sucks teeth...

:-)
 BMW - Which colour interior? - -
>> Beige carpets? Oh...right...Ok...
>>
>> Sucks teeth...

16 years old and suffering my size 11's (or SWM's stilletto bliss..;) for the last 10, mine are still as new under the matching over carpets.

Mind you the overcarpets are the real OE deal so up to the job and a perfect fit, those carp things the leaing companies throw in are like a wet scrunched up tea towel after two years.
 BMW - Which colour interior? - Runfer D'Hills
Fair enough, my E came with beige leather but black carpets which seems a good compromise. The overmats have slightly embarrassing "AMG" logos on them. My only excuse in mitigation is that they came with the car too...

:-)
 BMW - Which colour interior? - Zero
>> >> Beige carpets? Oh...right...Ok...
>> >>
>> >> Sucks teeth...
>>
>> 16 years old and suffering my size 11's (or SWM's stilletto bliss..;) for the last
>> 10, mine are still as new under the matching over carpets.

Still wearing those stiletto's? good job she and you are the same size.
 BMW - Which colour interior? - -
''my E came with beige leather but black carpets which seems a good compromise''

Yes, probably the best combination you can find wish i had that too, i think BMW got in on this first and MB copied them, all older Benz seem to be matching collars and cuffs.

''Still wearing those stiletto's? good job she and you are the same size''

Not the same size yet but you never know, a few hormones here and there...might as well change, feet size bears no relation to other extremeties depsite what they say..;)
 BMW - Which colour interior? - rtj70
>> those carp things the leaing companies throw in are like a wet scrunched up tea towel after two years.

The lease company for my car threw in their standard (low quality) mats too. But the dealer said they always put a set of proper VW mats in the boot. They have to fit the lease company ones. A big difference in quality.

I went for the boring black leather but that was the only option when you got the climate seats. Otherwise a nasty orangey brown option available as well as a black/cornsilk combination.
 BMW - Which colour interior? - Rudedog
I went for carpet mats in the Golf rather than rubber ones and they have only just started to show a small wear mark where my right heel goes after 6 years which I think is pretty good. I noticed that VW have re-started to sell all black interiors on the Mk6 i.e. black seats plus black headlining which I kind of like.
 BMW - Which colour interior? - R.P.
And me - very VW that.
 BMW - Which colour interior? - Runfer D'Hills
I had two mk2 ( well I think that's what they were, an F reg and an H reg ) Golf Gtis. The first ( white ) one was an 8v and the second ( black ) one was a 16v. They had black interiors with a really nice check pattern cloth on their Recaros. I still remember the 16v with particular fondness. Seemed very quick at the time. Must have been around 1990 I guess.
 BMW - Which colour interior? - rtj70
A tip someone told me when buying a new car..... get two sets of mats and store the second set. Come resale time the brand new, immaculate mats look great of course!

I knew someone who took the protect the car interior to a whole new level... he'd carpet the car himself! On top of the original carpets. Looked fine but a bit extreme.
 BMW - Which colour interior? - rtj70
When I had a Golf GTi (before stolen) I remember it had checked Racaros as standard - for my black car that would mean red/black checks. So I went for blue/black. I also spec'd a lot more non-standard stuff to make it very non standard. Nicked all the same.

Car seats were firm in this car. Ride even more firm. I am glad my current VW on 18" wheels (the Golf on 16") is comfortable. The Passat that followed the Golf had only 15" wheels!
 BMW - Which colour interior? - R.P.
The MK5 we had aped the MK1 in its upholstery design, that car had (and still has) a lovely interior. This E90 I'm getting is very plain inside - half leather black and greyish.

The V50 in our fleet has the "design" interior sort of oyster coloured leather with black trimming - looks quite engaging...
 BMW - Which colour interior? - WillDeBeest
...those carp things the leasing companies throw in are like a wet scrunched up tea towel after two years.

Curiously, the (black) Arval PHH mat in my driver's footwell has just worn through after 130,000 miles. The other three still look as good as new.

Did anyone have an Astra Mk2 (won't play the Vauxhall alphabet soup game) SRi with the Burberry-esque plaid interior? We saw a nice dark blue one while we were shopping for Mrs Beest 20 years ago, but she wasn't convinced and bought a Rover 214 instead. That has Paisley-patterned fabric, as I remember.
 BMW - Which colour interior? - Runfer D'Hills
I think the worst interior fabric I can remember was on a little Suzuki Vitara convertible we hired on holiday once. Fun wee car given that we had huge areas of unmade trails on our doorstep. Really proved what that sort of car is for. Coped effortlessly with dried up riverbeds, sand dunes, driving on beaches etc.

The seats though were covered in a fabric which must have been chosen by someone whose brief was to find the most unpleasant looking and indeed most nylon-y ( new word there, eat your heart out Shakespeare ! ) feeling fabric they could find. I've tried to block it out, but my residual memory is of a grey and red paisley pattern highly scratchy nylon.

Totally out of keeping with the otherwise rufty-tufty looks of the little off-roader. Didn't matter in the end because within a couple of days the whole car inside and out was so filthy you couldn't tell what the original colours had been.

Had to clean it up a bit before I had the gall to hand it back...

One of those cars you absolutely love while on holiday in a hot climate and with access to it's natural off-road environment. The sort of car which you half decide you might buy when you get home, only to realise when you do get back that in fact it's a complete fish out of water in most parts of this country.

 BMW - Which colour interior? - idle_chatterer
Well I for one like the 'poo' colour.... cautionary tale, a colleague of mine about 10 years ago had a 525i touring in a fetching metallic dark-blue with a cream leather interior and 3 young sons. He correctly asserted that the leather was 'wipe clean' until #2 son vomited ribena, the leather certainly cleaned up nicely but the newly contrasting patch of purple stitching didn't fade....
 BMW - Which colour interior? - Dog
Red leather is very nice, I had an XJ6 in old english white with red leather, don't see much of that colour these days.

My German g/f had a bronze 230 CE with Ivory leather ;)
 BMW - Which colour interior? - -
Good choice, it will be a luxurious place to sit, agree on a set of overcarpets.
 BMW - Which colour interior? - Runfer D'Hills
Now here's a thing, my son is on school holidays and wanted to go mountain biking in our local forest today. I was able to take the day off but my wife had already gone to work with the Qashqai which has the bike racks on the roof. No problem, the Merc is an estate and it's easy enough to get two bikes and our peripheral kit in the back.

The bikes and indeed we did get fairly grotty, it has been raining here for a week and despite the use of an old rug in the loadspace, so did the inside of the car.

Quick wipe down of the beige leather upholstery with a damp chamois and a swift application of Henry on the black carpets. All sorted.
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