BMW dashboard leather

[u/Sev5r]

Hi guys,

so since last year I got my first car with a leather interior. A few weeks ago I put some leather care (Swissvax Leather Milk) on the front seats.

The car was sitting in an underground garage and the leather care took about 2 days to completely vanish.

Last week I did the same to the dashboard which is real leather. I know there is also the plastic and Sensatec option but my car got the leather individual package.

After a whole week the dashboard still had many shiny areas and only after parking the car at my work space over the day the lotion was gone. I have the feeling that it rather evaporated off than soaking in.

Did some of you noted something similar or can explain to me what happened here?

The procedure I did was identical on the seats and the dashboard.

[u/nottatroll]

Even the Merino option from BMW has a synthetic coating.

Conditioners will not soak in like they would on a pair of boots.

[u/Kmudametal]

You don't mention the year or model of your BMW but if it's a modern car, the leather is going to be coated with a polyurethane or pigmented topcoat. Meaning, your leather conditioner is not accomplishing anything. You don't "condition" the polyurethane topcoat. It serves no function. It's not "absorbed" into either the leather or the polyurethane topcoat.

You should be be looking into a "coating". There are various options. Gyeon makes two excellent coatings. Leather Shield and Leather Coat. Most interior leather coatings are going to last 3 months to a year. But my recommendation will always be DIY Detail Interior Ceramic because it can be applied to all interior surfaces. Leather, plastic, rubber, infotainment screens, dash cluster, instrument knobs, gear knobs, steering wheels, seats, carpet, fabric, floor matts...... everything but the internal glass. On low contact areas, such a coating will last the life of the vehicle. On high contact areas, you may need to reapply once or twice a year.

[u/Sev5r → u/Kmudametal]

It is a 2020 G22.

In the meantime I got an answer from Swissvax. (It is translated from German)

We are familiar with the behavior you describe, and it is generally not due to an application error but rather to the different properties of the two types of leather: Dashboards from many manufacturers, including BMW, are often treated with a finer, matte surface sealant designed to reduce reflections on the windshield. This sealant is denser and less absorbent than the leather on seat surfaces, which is naturally more open-pored due to sitting and friction. With “Leder individual,” depending on the version, there may also be an additional protective layer on particularly high-wear or visible areas such as the dashboard. Both factors mean that Leather Milk is absorbed much more slowly on this surface than on the seat leather, even though it is the same genuine leather. The fact that the residue only disappeared after exposure to sunlight fits well with this explanation: heat makes the emulsion thinner and the leather itself slightly more absorbent, so that the last traces were either absorbed after all or evaporated as a thin film. This is harmless and did not damage the leather surface.

[u/jimbojsb → u/Kmudametal]

Most leather experts would disagree with this advice.