[BarryJI]

I just picked up my daughter from her (abandoned) soccer tournament during the current monsoon in Los Angeles. She got into the car looking like a drowned water-rat. I took a cloth to both front seats when we got home; water can be wiped off SensaTec so easily and it appears not to absorb it at all. I don't think I'll be going for leather again, not while I have kids anyway, and the "luxury" trade-off is really minimal.

[AlpsRider]

Sensatec is more practical. I ordered leather in my car in order to get the color I wanted. Honestly at the time of my purchase research I could hardly see the difference between the two. Having said that, I recently took my car in for service and was given a X1 with Sensatec. I had the car for several days and came to the conclusion that while Senstec and leather look similar they don't feel the same or breathe the same. I'm happy with leather but might opt for Sensatec if I had kids or dogs.

[shark715]

We originally specified our convertible with black Sensatec, but given our color choice our salesperson came back to us with a strong recommendation for leather seats as they are treated with a sun reflecting pigment that BMW says keeps them cooler in the sun:

http://www.edmunds.com/bmw/2-series/...g-leather.html

Did we needlessly spend another $1500? Guess we will find out next summer. We don't think the 2 series leather is very high quality, and we have Sensatec in our Mini (although it's not a convertible) and think it's just fine :-)

[Viffermike]

Originally Posted by BarryJI

I just picked up my daughter from her (abandoned) soccer tournament during the current monsoon in Los Angeles. She got into the car looking like a drowned water-rat. I took a cloth to both front seats when we got home; water can be wiped off SensaTec so easily and it appears not to absorb it at all. I don't think I'll be going for leather again, not while I have kids anyway, and the "luxury" trade-off is really minimal.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner! (And if you happen to spill some of those mashed potatoes slathered in brown gravy, well ... it'll just wipe off!)

SensaTec FTW. Dakota kinda-sorta leather FTL.

[SDKevin]

Agree, I've wiped up ALL kinds of stuff off the SensaTec and it never looks any worse for it. Even my wife who sees herself as a bit of a leather snob told the dealer during our test drive that she liked the leather. She was then told it was SensaTec, made me laugh.

[krhodes1]

Originally Posted by Viffermike

Winner, winner, chicken dinner! (And if you happen to spill some of those mashed potatoes slathered in brown gravy, well ... it'll just wipe off!)

SensaTec FTW. Dakota kinda-sorta leather FTL.

I have one car with Sensatec and one with Dakota leather, and I wholeheartedly agree. The leather sucks, and is all but indistinguishable from the Sensatec. The leather was free on my 328i in 2011, and I still would have preferred Sensatec in it. But annoyingly it was only black or beige on that car, and I hate both of those colors. I danced the happy dance when they made Oyster an option for the '16 M235i.

[tbonez3858]

I like the SensaTec but you cant get it in the color I wanted so no SensaTec for me...