[Giggler]

Originally Posted by swainbmw

It will smell like that till the day you trade it .

No it won’t, at least not at the intensity that can cause headaches in sensitive people. It’s called “off-gassing” and the intensity dies down with time. All cars are different, but generally speaking, according to this article, 80% of off-gassing happens in the first 3 months.

https://www.whichcar.com.au/car-advi...micals-in-cars

[swainbmw]

Originally Posted by Giggler

No it won’t, at least not at the intensity that can cause headaches in sensitive people. It’s called “off-gassing” and the intensity dies down with time. All cars are different, but generally speaking, according to this article, 80% of off-gassing happens in the first 3 months.

https://www.whichcar.com.au/car-advi...micals-in-cars

I had a gx 460 for 6 months and it never changed I felt in the hot humid weather they got worse these chemical smells just burn my eyes when I got the new X5 with leather. I never had any offgassing smells.

[roamio]

As of July 9th team "JUST STOP OIL SENSAFIN" intensified it's attacks.

Meanwhile team "SENSAFIN IS BEAUTIFUL" tries to avoid confrontation by using logical approach.

[mattsrs]

Originally Posted by Giggler

No it won’t, at least not at the intensity that can cause headaches in sensitive people. It’s called “off-gassing” and the intensity dies down with time. All cars are different, but generally speaking, according to this article, 80% of off-gassing happens in the first 3 months.

https://www.whichcar.com.au/car-advi...micals-in-cars

Yup. And if anyone wants go expedite offgassing period of all the plastic in the interior, you can put the car in the sun and leave windows a slightly open

[RM707]

My X5M60i with sensafin is coming soon. I will keep you all updated.

[SwissBeemer]

Originally Posted by swainbmw

I think that stitching looks horrible and the new x5 looks very dated from the 70s plus that fake leather will stink every time. The car gets hot

The stitching was actually one of the main reasons I ordered the Merino. I thought the Sensafin stitching looks super boring.

By the way: Those 2k aren't really 100% "gone". Keep in mind that the leather option will also increase your resale value so what you are actually losing is the depreciation just like the money you spend on a car isn't instantly gone but will give you a depreciating asset.

[swainbmw]

Originally Posted by SwissBeemer

The stitching was actually one of the main reasons I ordered the Merino. I thought the Sensafin stitching looks super boring.

By the way: Those 2k aren't really 100% "gone". Keep in mind that the leather option will also increase your resale value so what you are actually losing is the depreciation just like the money you spend on a car isn't instantly gone but will give you a depreciating asset.

I also for see people trying to clean these faux leather plastic seats in the future with different chemicals to clean and it breaking down and becoming very sticky . Then when you sit on them you will also have that feel of being stuck on the seats. I have had several cars from different manufacturers of the years to use products like this to simulate leather to only find that you sweat against it. It doesn’t breathe and it always has a smell but to each to there own if it’s cheaper and you like it it’s on you.

[DaveDBD]

Originally Posted by Giggler

No it won’t, at least not at the intensity that can cause headaches in sensitive people. It’s called “off-gassing” and the intensity dies down with time. All cars are different, but generally speaking, according to this article, 80% of off-gassing happens in the first 3 months.

https://www.whichcar.com.au/car-advi...micals-in-cars

Link doesn’t work.

80% just means sensafin still smells until it hits 100% which may be never. After 2 months and 9000 miles, mine is now smelling like a hot crayon. Perhaps after 100F+ temps recently it will go away with some more hot days.

Also I doubt you will find complaints about merino leather smelling after 3 months.

[realdah]

The smells are definitely different between real leather and synthetic leather, I have full leather in my previous Lexus, but now all are synthetic in Tesla and BMW.

Although both are synthetic, Sensafin is much much better looking and touching than the one in my Tesla.

So far, I don't feel too much bad smells on Sensafin, probably I mostly have it inside my garage, time will tell.

[tooloud10]

Originally Posted by DaveDBD

So all I’m saying is $2k on a $80k plus car is not worth skimping on. The leather is well known to smell nice. Your nose may or may not like sensafin. As a vinyl fabric it is very nice Me, I will always go leather from now on.

You could make the same argument about every single option on the vehicle, and for many people buying the 45e/50e near $80k, the leather could have actually 'cost' them $9500 because of the tax credit.

Originally Posted by SwissBeemer

By the way: Those 2k aren't really 100% "gone". Keep in mind that the leather option will also increase your resale value so what you are actually losing is the depreciation just like the money you spend on a car isn't instantly gone but will give you a depreciating asset.

This is probably the worst argument in favor of leather--it costs $2k to get and KBB values leather at $177 (yes) when you trade the car in five years later.

Originally Posted by swainbmw

I also for see people trying to clean these faux leather plastic seats in the future with different chemicals to clean and it breaking down and becoming very sticky . Then when you sit on them you will also have that feel of being stuck on the seats.

OK, now people are just flat out making stories up. Let me try:

"I heard Merino causes cancer. Now, I don't know it for sure, but I could see it happening in the future so you're best off just paying the two grand up front for leather."

[roamio]

Originally Posted by tooloud10

You could make the same argument about every single option on the vehicle, and for many people buying the 45e/50e near $80k, the leather could have actually 'cost' them $9500 because of the tax credit.



This is probably the worst argument in favor of leather--it costs $2k to get and KBB values leather at $177 (yes) when you trade the car in five years later.



OK, now people are just flat out making stories up. Let me try:

"I heard Merino causes cancer. Now, I don't know it for sure, but I could see it happening in the future so you're best off just paying the two grand up front for leather."

Great points.

[DaveDBD]

$9500? Not. The incentive is $3750 below $80k which means the leather if you went over is $5700. But remember in states with sales tax the tax credit is taxed so it is really only about $3300 to $3500, or $5250 to $5450.

Besides, with BMW now allowing heated steering wheel and front seats without the climate pkg, you can build a leather 50e (without massaging seats) for under $80k with DAPP, pkg assistant, premium pkg, non-white. I do like the massaging seats tho and they were worth losing the rebate as they really help on long drives.

[tooloud10]

Originally Posted by DaveDBD

$9500? Not. The incentive is $3750 below $80k which means the leather if you went over is $5700. But remember in states with sales tax the tax credit is taxed so it is really only about $3300 to $3500, or $5250 to $5450.

I took delivery of my Sensafin-equipped '23 45e at the end of March '23. Sticker price was $79,875 and a $7500 tax credit applied until April of this year, so there are certainly more than a few people that had to decide how badly they wanted some options that would have put them over $80k.

Besides, with BMW now allowing heated steering wheel and front seats without the climate pkg, you can build a leather 50e (without massaging seats) for under $80k with DAPP, pkg assistant, premium pkg, non-white. I do like the massaging seats tho and they were worth losing the rebate as they really help on long drives.

All of that stuff was more important to me than having the leather seats, which would have put me over $80k. Also HK, trailer hitch, M-sport package, etc.

There is a reason you can configure these cars to your liking; some people care about certain options and some don't. This is my first BMW without leather seats and I was worried that I would regret it, but I've been pleasantly surprised that I do not care about the leather at all.

[Keithwand]

Originally Posted by roamio

My opinion - don't waste your money on dated design leather. With sensafin you will get very cool looking stitching, very soft (leather like) material which also be more durable.
I test drove X5 with sensafin that was parked outside and had about 400 miles on it - didn't notice any smell.

In my opinion the leather looks great and the Sensafin pattern reminds me of a Hyundai/ KIA.

[TechCTU]

I looked at and sat on both, I went with leather. It's a personal decision and no wrong answer.

The sensafin felt a bit sticky on a hot day and just didn't feel right to me. It is a big step up from the product on the iX. Every year they keep improving.

[zkadiwal2023]

Same here! I have a 2024 X5 with the Silverstone Sensation and I don't have any smell at all. It smells great! Just what you would think of a new car smell. I also live in Houston, TX where its been close to 100 weather for the last 2 weeks.

[DaveDBD]

Sorry was obviously talking about future orders of 50e ev tax credit, not a 2023 45e.

Too bad BMW hadn’t gotten the 50e out a month earlier as it would have qualified for $7500 also.

[TurtleBoy]

Originally Posted by DaveDBD

Sorry was obviously talking about future orders of 50e ev tax credit, not a 2023 45e.

Too bad BMW hadn’t gotten the 50e out a month earlier as it would have qualified for $7500 also.

We had a few folks get their 50e early so they were able to take advantage of the $7,500 credit before the battery requirements became effective.

[tooloud10]

Originally Posted by DaveDBD

Sorry was obviously talking about future orders of 50e ev tax credit, not a 2023 45e.

That it didn’t affect you personally doesn’t really change the point though—lots of us were put in the position of strategically choosing options to keep the MSRP under $80k.

Too bad BMW hadn’t gotten the 50e out a month earlier as it would have qualified for $7500 also.

Wouldn’t have mattered to most because once you add M-sport and leather, you’re at $80,250 already with no other options. I purposely bought mine a few weeks earlier than I would have otherwise in order to make sure I could still get a ‘23.

[DaveDBD]

Originally Posted by TurtleBoy

We had a few folks get their 50e early so they were able to take advantage of the $7,500 credit before the battery requirements became effective.

My understanding is 50e production started mid-May, long after April 18 end of $7500.

[DaveDBD]

In my case because BMW was slow, my build started the day after BMW announced the $3750 credit and I had increased it April 18 to over $80k because of no ev credit so the added DAPP cost me nearly $6000.

[SwissBeemer]

Originally Posted by tooloud10

This is probably the worst argument in favor of leather--it costs $2k to get and KBB values leather at $177 (yes) when you trade the car in five years later.

Well if KBB says so ...

I usually sell my cars privately and I'm 100% positive that cars with Merino will be more than 177$ additionally on the market than the ones with Sensafin.

But even if it would be 0$ (which it is not) it's a nobrainer for me on a car like this.

But I'm probably the wrong guy to talk to on this topic with my 50e base model being 77.500€ excluding taxes and me adding almost 50% in extras making it 112.000€. (Merino was "only" 1.8k extra.)