my 1992 525i has cloth interior? anyone know why?

[Young Pete]

i bought the car in the midwest of the US. How come i seem to be the only e34 with a cloth interior?????????? :(

[Jason]

it sounds like a basic 525i, i would guess you dont have wood trim either right?

[Young Pete]

it sounds like a basic 525i, i would guess you dont have wood trim either right?

no wood trim!

[Alexlind123]

I was under the imspression that leather seats were standard in the us. I thought only european BMWs could be ordered with cloth seats and manual windows.

[DanDombrowski]

No cows available at the time?

[brodee]

Does it also have manual windows? I was looking to buy a 520 that had been imported to the US, it had cloth seats and power windows up front with crank in the rear.

[Alexlind123]

Maybe the leather was replaced by a PO.

[uscharalph]

i bought the car in the midwest of the US. How come i seem to be the only e34 with a cloth interior?????????? :(
What's it look like? Pictures?

[TheGeak]

Alan_525i has the cloth interior in his 525. He knows a lot about the "why" behind it

[shragon]

a standard 525i without premium package or option usually comes with leatherette. i think there might be a special option where you could order one with cloth seats. as thegeak has said, i'm sure alan will be able to tell you a lot more.

[Lennyz525i]

I have one with cloth seats. Only very few of them in the US. So far I had only seen early 89-90 525s with cloth.

[John in CT]

I vote euro model too. Both Mecedes and BMW sell (or did sell) real stripped models in Euroland. Manual windows and zero trim. Grab any taxi over there and see. We got highline stuff in an effort to upgrade the cars image and because we have (had??) more money,

John

[Blitzkrieg Bob]

No animal hostiliies man...

[Interceptor]

I vote euro model too. Both Mecedes and BMW sell (or did sell) real stripped models in Euroland. Manual windows and zero trim. Grab any taxi over there and see. We got highline stuff in an effort to upgrade the cars image and because we have (had??) more money,
It's because driving a BMW in US was/is considered a luxury. In Europe that's not that big of a deal, especially with Germany so close with cheap second hand bimmers/mercs all over. Most of the used expensive cars can be bought cheap because we have expensive fuel and having a car with a big engine can be a bit pricey. In my country, a lot of bimmers are diesel or run on LPG.

[Interceptor]

Does it also have manual windows? I was looking to buy a 520 that had been imported to the US, it had cloth seats and power windows up front with crank in the rear.
My euro-spec car came with a digital clock, cloth seats, rear window cranks and no A/C. I retrofitted the OBC and rear electric window lifters. I'm planning a trip to Germany to buy cheap some nice electric sport leather seats with heating, rear head rests and automatic A/C, possibly an M-Tech II steering wheel, too.

[Chris'91'525i]

My car was bought by a military guy and shipped back to the USA.
It has nice cloth seating with heat package. Has the reflector triangles in the tool kit and firstaid kit that slides under the front of passengers seat too, which i read is standard OE.
It also has a euro only opiton (I'm pretty sure) ,with the rear center armrest down, it has a water-proof bag that comes out so you can put your snow ski's in the trunk and into the passenger compartment.
My car came with another weird BMW accessory. A (half) car cover. But it only covers the top of car. It only reaches to the bottom of all the windows.
It is made of a silver and international orange material. Wonder if it's a distress signal too ?
Still in it's original package and never used.

Chris

[Tiger]

Some people are allergic to leather and some are earth kisser.

[Gayle]

Young Pete

Do your seats look like Interceptor's? There is a link in his post that has the pic.

After reading other times about the euro model, I have been curious if all the cloth seats have that contrasting color scheme.

[Kakaire]

Besides, I live in the tropics its always terribly hot so I am fine with cloth.

http://img354.imageshack.us/img354/8484/shiftlever3ql.jpg

http://img354.imageshack.us/img354/7673/rearseat1gl.jpg

http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/6104/between4xt.jpg

http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/4169/dash9zn.jpg

[Interceptor]

Do your seats look like Interceptor's? There is a link in his post that has the pic.

After reading other times about the euro model, I have been curious if all the cloth seats have that contrasting color scheme. I really doubt it - mine are aftermarket seat covers.

[Gayle]

Young Pete

Take a pic. We want to see them.

[Paul in NZ]

cloth was standard here and in the UK,leather was an option....and to make it more confusing,mine has most options but no wood trim.....

[pmlmotorsports]

ok, here goes..........most, if not all 525s were dealer pre-ordered cars, and virtually all these cars were ordered with leather. However, a few select owners actually ordered their cars and waited. If you wanted a 1989 - 1993 525i and were willing to have it built to your exact specs, you could've ordered it with leatherette or cloth as standard, or spent the extra $$$$ and ordered leather. It's like anything else in the auto industry, if the car manufacturer needs a lease to be @ $299/month, they'll offer the bare bones basic model to "fit" the price-point. Similarly, in 1995 MOST dealers offered the E34 with the M-Tech kit for their inventory as BMW made it part of a "premium package" that usually included wood trim interior and BBS style wheels.


HTH

[JAlfredPrufrock]

Voted I wish I had cloth.

[shragon]

ok, here goes..........most, if not all 525s were dealer pre-ordered cars, and virtually all these cars were ordered with leather. However, a few select owners actually ordered their cars and waited. If you wanted a 1989 - 1993 525i and were willing to have it built to your exact specs, you could've ordered it with leatherette or cloth as standard, or spent the extra $$$$ and ordered leather. It's like anything else in the auto industry, if the car manufacturer needs a lease to be @ $299/month, they'll offer the bare bones basic model to "fit" the price-point. Similarly, in 1995 MOST dealers offered the E34 with the M-Tech kit for their inventory as BMW made it part of a "premium package" that usually included wood trim interior and BBS style wheels.


HTH
all 95 e34's in the US came with m-tech sideskirts (not front and rear bumpers), regardless if the car was bare bones or fully loaded. premium package on the '95 525i added leather seats, wood trim, basketweave wheels, etc... i have the original brochure. :)

for example, here's a '95 525i with no premium package (notice the wheels), but it still has m-tech sideskirts.
http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/5978/18io.jpg

however, most recently, i have seen one picture of a '95 e34 in europe, which was a lowly 518i or 520i, with no m-tech sideskirts and lower black bottom bumpers, but it did still have a wide grill. :D

[DallasBill]

..................
It also has a euro only opiton (I'm pretty sure) ,with the rear center armrest down, it has a water-proof bag that comes out so you can put your snow ski's in the trunk and into the passenger compartment.
................
ChrisI know the ski bag was an option is Canada. A friend in Calgary has it on a '94 they purchased there new.

[Anthony (M5 in Calgary)]

I know the ski bag was an option is Canada. A friend in Calgary has it on a '94 they purchased there new.

A well received option too - my last 3 bimmers have had them: '88 325iS, '90 535iM, '91 M5.

[Young Pete]

Young Pete

Take a pic. We want to see them.


sorry dont have a digital camera right now....ok i will describe my Euro? bimmer. i bought the car used from a local used car lot back in 1999.

its a 1992 m50 alpine white 525i automatic with one color(gray) all cloth seats/interior no leather whatsoever (not even leather trim), the cloth looks very nice though, not the two tone kind like the e34 i see from the guy from croatia!!!!. These seats are definitely genuine oem look straight from the factory, with heated seats and 2 pairs of armrests that look very oem. it has no wood trim, it did not come with an obc, just the regular digital one, the the wheels were the stock bottleneck type. it did come with a toolkit underneath the trunk (im sure every e34 would). oh yeah, its got power windows on all for sides. last, its got a POWER ANTENNA IN THE BACK! I SEEM TO BE THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS THIS TOO..............

PLEASE HELP ME FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THIS CAR............................

so far so good its got 192k miles and counting. :p

THIS IS PROBABLY A CUSTOM BUILT EURO SPEC MADE TO ORDER I ASSUME. I WILL TAKE PICTURES WHEN I GET A DC. could this be a direct order from germany at one time....

ANY COMMENTS.......

[Paul in NZ]

PLEASE HELP ME FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THIS CAR............................

check the last 7 numbers of your vin here (http://www.realoem.com/bmw/carselect.do) ,type it in the car "serial number" and see for yourself.....

[Sean H]

Probably not a custom euro car or a transpant or anything like that. Cloth interior was a no-cost option on early US 525's. It just wasn't a very popular one.

[Lennyz525i]

Wait.. the ski bag was an option?? Cool, I have the ski bag!

[bjl4776]

I actually have a complete grey cloth interior in decent condition (some of it is in great condition, some of it is in bad condition) if anybody is having a hard time locating any cloth pieces pm me

[Alan_525i]

I need new grey armrests!

[BobHarris]

Both of the e34's that I have owned had cloth seats.

My 518 had very few options at all (analogue clock no A/C but all four electric windows, keyless entry with full closure).

My 530 touring has wood trim, A/c and OBC but still has cloth seats.

All the best

Bob

[Am Piobaire]

My Aussie E-34 was originally bought brand new by a firm of solicitors and it is fairly basic - no wood - cloth trim - no computer and a std stereo system. Mind you, it is an 88 model - but it does have electric windows and air.