[frbz]

Wow! You keep them all so clean!

[betrezra]

You have a car problem .... a good one to have.

I've been eye-balling the older M5's for a while now.

You keep your cars in immaculate shape.

[Nate047]

LOL awesome How do you like the E36 M3 vs the S52 M Coupe?

Side note... Must be nice to have that much parking. (I live in Venice Beach)

[Texaz3]

Originally Posted by nholmes

Very nice collection.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by frbz

Wow! You keep them all so clean!

I do my best. I don't like dirty cars.

Originally Posted by betrezra

You have a car problem .... a good one to have.

I've been eye-balling the older M5's for a while now.

You keep your cars in immaculate shape.

E39 M5s are great cars, maybe last of the analog 5-series. Feel big to me after driving small cars. Impeccable build quality and materials. Even old ones are still holding up nicely. They did hit rock bottom few years ago, and now starting to appreciate, with good ones going for really good bucks.

Get one before its too late - I have a feeling these are next E30 M3s.

Originally Posted by Nate047

LOL awesome How do you like the E36 M3 vs the S52 M Coupe?

Side note... Must be nice to have that much parking. (I live in Venice Beach)

Parking is nice for sure. I need a lift, I have no room in the garage!

M Coupe is smaller, lighter, nimbler, more tossable, and much more raw. Push it, and its white knuckles gripping steering wheel kinda ride. Planted like its on rails, sits very low. I can touch my rear tires while sitting in drivers' seat.

M3 is much more civilized car. Less jerkiness due to longer wheelbase and better rear suspension setup? Hard to say, I have 15 years of seat time in MC, only about 6 months in M3. Very similar speed/acceleration-wise of course. Both great cars, very fun.

[westopher]

**** yeah. Great collection. I drove an e39 for the first time last weekend. What a great car. Love the m coupe from the drivers seat as well. I guess I love them all haha.

[Braymond141]

Originally Posted by Texaz3

There is simply no way a 127K miles leather that has never been cared for, never had leather treatment/conditioning done in its life and spent most of its time in cold Washington climate and under California sun will ever look like new again.

For the record, I did say more original matte, not like new.

Given that you are a leather conditioner type, you may not agree with cleaning/degreasing the leather and just leaving it be. Some of the nicest aged interiors have never seen a drop of "conditioner". The leather used in all of your cars is pigmented (painted) and then a matte top coat applied. There is very little you can do to fix the sealed off leather beneath (yes, some top coated leathers are semi-permeable). Cleaning the surface is what brings back the feel and appearance of correction. I've been down the Leatherique rabbit hole. The claims are bogus.

You can clean/degrease the leather with apc like Simple Green (diluted 50/50) or something like Gliptone Cleaner (diluted again). SOFT use with a magic eraser does wonders on leather and restores vinyl parts to like new. Overuse on leather can cause damage. There are also specific leather rotary brushes, but again overuse or use on worn through areas will cause damage. The idea here is to clean/degrease every nook and cranny as thoroughly as possible. THIS is what brings leather back to life.

Leatherique "restored" era







After









And since then on other cars







175k miles






Anyway, keep up the great work. I have no interest in going back and forth about Leatherique (I've done that enough on this forum). Keep using it if you're happy with it. There are much better methods though.

[Texaz3]

Originally Posted by Braymond141

Anyway, keep up the great work. I have no interest in going back and forth about Leatherique (I've done that enough on this forum). Keep using it if you're happy with it. There are much better methods though.

No, this is great! I just didn't know about this. Definitely looks better. I simply didn't know any better, and Leatherique worked best out of what I have tried so far. I will definitely try Simple Green/Magic Eraser and report back. Thanks!

[Braymond141]

Originally Posted by Texaz3

No, this is great! I just didn't know about this. Definitely looks better. I simply didn't know any better, and Leatherique worked best out of what I have tried so far. I will definitely try Simple Green/Magic Eraser and report back. Thanks!

Try just the all purpose cleaner first with a soft face/nail brush (your wife probably has one). Remove with a damp microfiber (several times). Gentle use with a wet magic eraser is a final touch to really cut all sheen off. Do this on something you don't care about first. As with any leather cleaner including APC's, don't drip this on the leather and let it sit. They will leave cleaned marks.

[Texaz3]

Originally Posted by Braymond141

Try just the all purpose cleaner first with a soft face/nail brush (your wife probably has one). Remove with a damp microfiber (several times). Gentle use with a wet magic eraser is a final touch to really cut all sheen off. Do this on something you don't care about first. As with any leather cleaner including APC's, don't drip this on the leather and let it sit. They will leave cleaned marks.

Magic erasers are pretty abrasive, so I don't know if I want to use it on leather? I think it can easily cut through the top coat. Especially on the leather that already have wrinkles and cracks and have that top coat most likely broken in those areas.

I just quickly tried 50/50 solution of simple green with a boar brush, then followed by damp microfiber towel. Already looks better. Will try to do the whole seat over the weekend. Thanks again.

[Braymond141]

Magic erasers can be abbrassive when used aggressively. When you use them softly they do more dirt extraction than cutting. They are a once in a few years thing that shouldn’t lead to any top coat destruction. Best used on flat areas too. Abbrassive aside, similar to the rules of wet sanding. They are however the best solution used aggressively on the E36 vinyl dash/panels when they start to white decay. You can make them look new again.

You have a fantastic collection there. I think you’re due for a Z8 next (either will do; Alpina 4.8 or S62)!