[Auto]

My car has aprox 100 000km on it and the steering wheels has become like a shiny sausage.

I want do make it look matte again.

I've tried cleaning it with interior clean but that doesn't make it matte black again.

What do I do?

[TOGWT]

Body oils and perspiration from your hand mixed with dirt brought in by the a/c system cause the finished to become 'shiny'.

Leather Master™ Leather Degreaser -is an aerosol product for cleaning oily stains; it dissolves and removes oil and grease from finished leather surfaces. This cleaner can be applied for cleaning all types of leather (check for colour fastness) this aerosol product is ideal for cleaning this type of stain as it dissolves the oils and transforms them into a powder that is more absorbent than the leather. This powder is what is wiped off, cleaning and degreasing the leather. Allow the white powder to dry fully. If the powder is drying to a yellow colour, it means that there are still a lot of oils in the leather.


TOGWT® Autopia Detailing Wiki Article - “Leather steering wheel” - http://togwt1980.blogspot.co.uk/2013...lcleaning.html

TOGWT® Autopia Detailing Wiki Articles (Leather) – http://www.autopia.org/forum/autopia...yperlinks.html

[5soko]

Get a good leather cleaning brush and some leather masters cleaner, scrub and repeat until clean, and dry with a microfiber. Don't forget to condition with some leather masters aswell when your all done.

[RimasRS]

I guess it will never be the same... Dont throw away money for expensive cleaners there is no magic. Just bring it to some shop to wrap it in alcantara leather. Then use cleaner every week to keep it fresh.

[chumley]

Believe it or not, Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.

[Otruba_843]

Originally Posted by 5soko

Get a good leather cleaning brush and some leather masters cleaner, scrub and repeat until clean, and dry with a microfiber. Don't forget to condition with some leather masters aswell when your all done.

+1 although I don't condition the steering wheel for safety reasons.

Originally Posted by RimasRS

I guess it will never be the same... Dont throw away money for expensive cleaners there is no magic. Just bring it to some shop to wrap it in alcantara leather. Then use cleaner every week to keep it fresh.

False.

[PTek Will]

I've used Chemical Guys Extreme Leather Cleaner and it does the job. Use a terry towel instead of a microfiber towel to cut your work time down since they are more abrasive than MF towels. Use a conditioner when clean to keep it from cracking

[ucmike]

Originally Posted by chumley

Believe it or not, Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.

Do not use a Magic Eraser on leather - it will remove the dye. The sponge has a very fine grit, and I made the mistake once. You definitely don't want that to happen.

[jmen11]

Use a strong leather cleaner and do not use a conditioner.

[chumley]

Originally Posted by ucmike

Do not use a Magic Eraser on leather - it will remove the dye. The sponge has a very fine grit, and I made the mistake once. You definitely don't want that to happen.

Incorrect. I used it on my e46 with the M3 steering wheel and it did NOT remove a bit of dye or abrade the leather. It returned the wheel to exactly the condition the OP was asking for - a clean matte finish.

The level of abrasion on it is very fine. In fact, a very fine abrasion is exactly what you need for this. No lexol-esque product is going to reverse that "shine" he is referring to. I use the Leatherique combo for my seats and it's great, but you could leave that stuff on there for a week and it's not going to undo that kind of wear/shine.

I'm not that creative, don't know where I saw there exact thread since it's been a while, but check any of these out. In fact, the second link reflects my results exactly.

http://www.e46fanatics.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=864205

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=681976

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...AWESOME!!!!!!!

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums...l-Shiny-or-not

[Raja Ventureshield]

leatherique.

[SHEEDI]

Originally Posted by chumley

Incorrect. I used it on my e46 with the M3 steering wheel and it did NOT remove a bit of dye or abrade the leather. It returned the wheel to exactly the condition the OP was asking for - a clean matte finish.

The level of abrasion on it is very fine. In fact, a very fine abrasion is exactly what you need for this. No lexol-esque product is going to reverse that "shine" he is referring to. I use the Leatherique combo for my seats and it's great, but you could leave that stuff on there for a week and it's not going to undo that kind of wear/shine.

I'm not that creative, don't know where I saw there exact thread since it's been a while, but check any of these out. In fact, the second link reflects my results exactly.

http://www.e46fanatics.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=864205

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=681976

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...AWESOME!!!!!!!

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums...l-Shiny-or-not

Magic eraser wont get rid off dye, you had to use dye remover

[FRRYY]

Surprisingly there are alot of people that are totally against Mr Clean Magic Eraser.
I seriously have no idea why. That stuff is amazing and it WORKS. on EVERYTHING.

I've used it on my own steering wheel and it gets it matte and like new all the time.

[Surly73]

Originally Posted by frryy

Surprisingly there are alot of people that are totally against Mr Clean Magic Eraser.
I seriously have no idea why. That stuff is amazing and it WORKS. on EVERYTHING.

I've used it on my own steering wheel and it gets it matte and like new all the time.

As an experiment I very gently tested magic eraser on my E39's steering wheel. At a very gentle touch it took off the protective layer of the leather and what was left was uncoated. Sure, it's matte, but it's been permanently damaged.

People are against Magic Eraser because of observations after use. There are lots of different leathers out there and maybe some top coats handle magic eraser better than others but the caution is warranted.

[N8N]

I just had the whole Leatherique thing done to my car... was ecstatic with the results on the seats etc., not so much on the steering wheel. Not the fault of the detailer; it was just old, somewhat damaged (dye is worn through in some places, not very obvious, but you can see it if you know what you are looking for) and shiny everywhere else.

Tried the ME as a last resort before buying a dye kit...

It actually works.

Clearly the Leatherique did what it was supposed to do, as I got NO color/dirt on the ME... so the steering wheel was as clean as it was ever going to get, just the dye layer itself was worn smooth and shiny. A very light, ultra-gentle wipe over the whole wheel with the ME made a huge improvement in the appearance. Did it abrade the dye layer? Probably. Does it look better than it did before? Definitely.

[Surly73]

Originally Posted by N8N

I just had the whole Leatherique thing done to my car... was ecstatic with the results on the seats etc., not so much on the steering wheel. Not the fault of the detailer; it was just old, somewhat damaged (dye is worn through in some places, not very obvious, but you can see it if you know what you are looking for) and shiny everywhere else.

Leatherique seems to be pretty good stuff. The problem is that automotive leathers (at least any that we're going to see in a 3 series) are all urethane top coated. Unfortunately there's virtually no "access" to the natural hide underneath except probably stitching, perforations, and coating failures. This is why most care directions are just to use a soft damp cloth and wipe down.

For me, Leatherique still seemed to do something a "soft, damp cloth" couldn't do, but I don't believe it's working anywhere near its potential (or price) on our interiors.

Tried the ME as a last resort before buying a dye kit...

It actually works.

Clearly the Leatherique did what it was supposed to do, as I got NO color/dirt on the ME... so the steering wheel was as clean as it was ever going to get, just the dye layer itself was worn smooth and shiny. A very light, ultra-gentle wipe over the whole wheel with the ME made a huge improvement in the appearance. Did it abrade the dye layer? Probably. Does it look better than it did before? Definitely.

Yep - you clearly understood what you were doing here. You're "sanding" the coating to make it matte again, effectively, and hopefully not removing it.

Lots of cautionary notes are required because many will be rubbing the entire top-coat off, seeing marks on the ME and thinking "wow! Look at all the dirt I'm getting off!". Even with an abundance of caution a couple of light strokes removed the coating one time I tried it (not in my E90) so...

You didn't get before/after pics, did you?

[N8N]

I sure didn't... I should start training myself when I do something where I think to myself "I don't know if this will work, but here goes" to snap some before pics. I still may get some dye anyway as I have a small mark on the driver's seat side bolster where the PO's belt (and mine too) dragged getting in/out of the car, and now it looks so good inside that I might as well go nuts.

[RimasRS]

Like I said it will never be the same...

[N8N]

well in my case I had nothing to lose, it was already looking bad after a good Leatherique treatment. I wouldn't recommend trying it until you're sure it's clean and well conditioned.

[ms123]

I used the ME on my E90 sport wheel for the same reason expressed by others here. Sort of at the "nothing to lose" stage. While it did a great job on most of the rim... on the section where a previous owner caused a lot of wear (looks like scratches from rings) the finish has clearly been taken off.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned:

I wasn't being particularly careful about hitting the spoke-trim-button-cover-thingy and the ME hitting it very lightly, just a few times, has caused the "soft touch" coating to peel a bit.

OK... time for a new wheel! If anyone in the Orlando/Melbourne area has any compatible wheel for sale (2008 E09 w/ paddles), please let me know!

Has anyone had a wheel re-covered by an upholstery shop? I was thinking that a good shop could wrap right over the existing leather, making the rim just a tad fatter in the process.

[N8N]

If it's just the finish of the leather, have you looked into something like the Leatherique redye kit? I haven't used it myself but am seriously considering trying it. Others have reported good results.

[jeffb335]

Originally Posted by Surly73

Leatherique seems to be pretty good stuff. The problem is that automotive leathers (at least any that we're going to see in a 3 series) are all urethane top coated. Unfortunately there's virtually no "access" to the natural hide underneath except probably stitching, perforations, and coating failures. This is why most care directions are just to use a soft damp cloth and wipe down.

For me, Leatherique still seemed to do something a "soft, damp cloth" couldn't do, but I don't believe it's working anywhere near its potential (or price) on our interiors.



Yep - you clearly understood what you were doing here. You're "sanding" the coating to make it matte again, effectively, and hopefully not removing it.

Lots of cautionary notes are required because many will be rubbing the entire top-coat off, seeing marks on the ME and thinking "wow! Look at all the dirt I'm getting off!". Even with an abundance of caution a couple of light strokes removed the coating one time I tried it (not in my E90) so...

You didn't get before/after pics, did you?

Agreed, Reading through this thread I think there are two different things going on here....

I recently used leatherique on my wifes X5 steering wheel that was all smooth and shiny from hand lotion, hand sanitizer, frapacinos, and whatever else she gets on there, The results speak for themselves:



Obviously it came out good because there was gunk ON the wheel, if yours is worn through or something, no amount of cleaning is going to help....


Now you guys who are successfully using the magic eraser....I think maybe in your case the shine isnt just stuff ON the wheel, its the leather itself being worn down to a smooth finish, in your case the magic eraser roughs up the smooth surface enough to make it look matte again....totally different method of action, similar finished look.