[Pitiful Old Man]

My wife's early 2011 X3 with 30K miles has an Oyster interior and a Blue Water Metallic exterior. My vote was for black because it looks better and would be easier to keep clean. I was overruled. Something about it being her car... Of course, I'm the one doing all of the cleaning.

I was wrong. Not only does the Oyster interior look great and stay cool, it has been no problem to keep clean. My wife does have some dark blue jeans which transfer color to the seats but they (the seats) are very easy to clean. I use Griot's products but any reasonable quality leather cleaner/care products should work just fine. And, while I clean the car weekly, I only clean the seats once every month or three. We have no children or pets. The seats look new.

[ponti33609]

My wife is in denim shorts most of the time in FL and after 6 months there has not been a transfer of color.

[BigJake]

I'm glad I got it. After 1.5 years, I do sometimes get some blue on the seat, but a quick wipe with Griot's leather cleaner takes it right out.

[bmwsiman]

Originally Posted by ReturnZero

What kinds of cleaners have you guys been using with it? I figured after a while I would get some leatherique and just use that every few months, but other than blue-jeans I'm pretty clean and not too worried. I had Ivory leather in my 03 Range Rover and it started to wear a bit after ~75k miles, but nothing terrible.

A quick wipe over with a Johnsons Baby Wipe does it for me. Used by several detailers I know too....

[STR8-6IX]

the oyster interior is awesome! looks so much better then venetian beige. strange that my early model specified venetian beige although mine looks like oyster. its not difficult at all to maintain and I love it on my titanium silver paint. this spec looks great from the outside if you have tinted windows.

[nyalpine90]

I had oyster interior with carbon black on 2015 x3, that i trade it in for alpine with mocha.
Best interior and leather didnt stain at all. The x3 was my daily commute to work.

[Speedbird1]

Just coming up to 3yrs / 30000 miles with the Oyster / Carbon Black combination on my LCI 30d Msport. Absolutely no marks on the leather whatsoever. I have 2 kids and all seats are heated and used regularly. I do clean the seats once a month with BMW's leather cleaner, which also provides a good level of ongoing protection. Wouldn't hesitate to have Oyster again, hopefully in my G01 later this year. Hope that's helpful.

[Grimtrog]

Oyster is probably my favorite color but I was too chicken to get it when I got ordered my old X3. Good to hear that it holds up well. Might be a viable option in the future.

[Smithy2014]

I had oyster for 3 years and never had any problems with it, just changed to Ivory White (a brave choice) and in my eyes is a million times better looking than oyster - ivory makes oyster look yellowy (if that's a word)

Anything is better than black as it makes the interior look too dark

[STR8-6IX]

Originally Posted by Smithy2014

I had oyster for 3 years and never had any problems with it, just changed to Ivory White (a brave choice) and in my eyes is a million times better looking than oyster - ivory makes oyster look yellowy (if that's a word)

Anything is better than black as it makes the interior look too dark

Meh... ivory looks a little funny and is tougher to match with an exterior colour. The yellowish beige tint of oyster may be a little funny but it's a chassis BMW colour and I love how it looks paired with silver for example.

I have 75k miles on my car and the oyster Leather is holding up great. No dye transfer if any sort but unfortunately my belt has permanently stained a small section of the lower seat black... not too noticeable though. Any leather required to be cleaned and conditioned occasionally. As long as you Maintain this leather and take care of it, it will always look good.

Personally I would go for oyster leather on my silver paint over black.

[Crassus]

Nevada is treated leather and very easy to maintain. Any dirty or stains simply sit on top of the sealant. As others have said, as long as you use a leather cleaner and feeder/cream once a month, any discolouration should wipe off with ease.

I have beige interior in my car and white leather seats and back on my dining chairs. The same leather cleaner and cream are used on both and after 12 months, they still look like new.

Further more, my beige carpet in the car occasionally get soiled but because they are made out of polyester even what might be mistaken for a permanent stain, comes of with ease every 4 months I wash them. You can eat chocolate ice cream in my car and I wouldn't break a sweat.


PS: Buy a pair of cheap car mats to use when your OEM ones need to be dry for 2-3 days after being washed.

[STR8-6IX]

Originally Posted by Crassus

You can eat chocolate ice cream in my car and I wouldn't break a sweat.

A pressure washer to your beige carpeting should make them look new again.

Btw if you have beige carpets that is the Venetian beige interior, not oyster.

I pressure washed the very dirty black mats in my dads car a few weeks ago and so much grime came out! They look so new and clean now.

If you smack them against a wall several times they will dry out in your car within a day or two.

[Crassus]

Originally Posted by STR8-6IX

If you smack them against a wall several times they will dry out in your car within a day or two.

Good idea to use a pressure washer. I am due to buy one.

I wouldn't advise letting wet carpets dry in the car while it's being used as they would be a magnet and breeding ground for bacteria that camouflage the new car smell. Additionally you don't want all the water evaporating on top the leather, headliner, dashboard or windows. Hence why buying a spare set of £10/$10 carpets.

Keep carpets clean and dry and the car will smell like new. In between washes I occasionally refresh the carpets by spraying an odourless 99% bacteria killing air refresher on them. I keep it handy in the boot, spray the carpets at night and wake up to a fresher ride that's less fatigue inducing and easier to breath in.

Invisible bacteria on carpets = polluted/stuffy air



Sorry, I am a bit of an obsessive fresh air addict.

[STR8-6IX]

Originally Posted by Crassus

Good idea to use a pressure washer. I am due to buy one.

I wouldn't advise letting wet carpets dry in the car while it's being used as they would be a magnet and breeding ground for bacteria that camouflage the new car smell. Additionally you don't want all the water evaporating on top the leather, headliner, dashboard or windows. Hence why buying a spare set of £10/$10 carpets.

Keep carpets clean and dry and the car will smell like new. In between washes I occasionally refresh the carpets by spraying an odourless 99% bacteria killing air refresher on them. I keep it handy in the boot, spray the carpets at night and wake up to a fresher ride that's less fatigue inducing and easier to breath in.

Invisible bacteria on carpets = polluted/stuffy air



Sorry, I am a bit of an obsessive fresh air addict.

I go to a self car wash pretty often. The pressure washer is very handy for cleaning the exterior and I got so much grmoney me out of the carpets, was really satisfied after. Helped to freshen up the interior considerably.

[plymjack]

Our X3 with Oyster is 5 years old 45k miles and still looks great - no obvious staining and we both wear jeans ! - love the colour too

[CalCarNut]

My wife's X3 has Venetian...and it's still looks great (it's a 2012). The truck was a CPO vehicle..so the prior owner obviously took care of it.

[Portadown95]

Oyster leather has taken a beating the last 5 years but no regrets. If they had offered oyster sensatec, as they do with the two series, in would have chosen that fotlr it's superior durability.

[dreamspeed]

Had oyster on a lease, definitely would not get it if I bought the car.

I wear dark jeans all the time and it does rub off onto the seats pretty easily. It's relatively easy to clean off but becomes a hassle as it gets stained quickly.

[najnad]

My 2011 X3 with oyster interior is holding up except for the drivers side door armrest. Long story short, a professional detailer got over zealous and created a wear mark where there was none. They claimed it must have been repaired in the past and their cleaning took off the repair...it was never repaired before. So now I am going to try and re color it with oyster leather dye from seatdoctors dot com

[mike_MAN]

Also have this interior color as well. They do get dirty really quick. I keep in mind when I plan to drive the X3, I plan to wear trousers instead of jeans. The blue does rub off on it pretty easily. When I do wear jeans, I actually sit on a throw... LOL

There was a stain (or wear mark) on the passenger seat bottom. I tried to clean it up with Adam's leather cleaner and a brush. It wasn't coming out so I kept brushing it until I realized I wore it down (Maybe it was a wear mark to begin with). I guess the leather isn't the most durable. It does feel suspectable to chipping with light scratches. Passengers with keys or zippers in their back pockets and whatnot. Maybe it just needs to be rejuvenated to heighten the moisture.

But thanks for sharing your solution! Let us know how it works out. I may try it on mine.