I wondered what success owners have had with "lifting" the condition of the light leather interiors? I am currently looking at L322's to buy and looked at on yesterday with a cream interior where the door cards had quite a lot of staining and the dash was also looking a bit tired. The seats had the usual creasing around the bolster. I have cleaned and re dyed a blue leather interior once with great improvements but not a light colour so I thought I'd ask what others had done. Also the centre screen on the radio/sat nav had marking on the edges really only visible when the car was not switched on but again I wondered if anyone had either cleaned or replaced this? or is it just something to live with. I am asking as mechanically the car was spot on but the interior did let it down a little. Thanks in advance.

Hi, I've done Ivory on an L322 before and previously Light Stone on my P38, but I did have trouble finding the exact shade as leather fades over time and to find something that would blend didn't work out so I ended up having to do entire panels at once mixing my own shade as the front and rear seats were slightly different shades.

Also had a great deal of heartache with the contrast stitching and I ended up staining all of that as well.

So first you need to scrub well with a good leather cleaner but avoid any hard solvents, once that's all dry use at least 3 coats of leather paint, don't use dye as that just stains it and doesn't really recoat it. Once that's all done after a few days give it a good moisturiser / leather feed and keep it fed every few months.

If the leather is actually ripped, then it's more of a pain because you have to remove the covers and stitch on the inside, then refit and go through the above but the scar will still be there.

It wasn't expensive but it was very labour intensive and the car was off the road for a few days.

If I were doing it again today I think I'd do all the cards and trim, rear, passenger and drivers seat back just a really good scrub clean and feed and find a good drivers seat squab cover and just replace it. Because once it's split / cracked it'll never last once repaired. Fuji White / Jet 2012 4.4 TDV8 Westminster

Last edited by AndyRoo on 30th May 2024 3:21pm. Edited 1 time in total

I’ve had great success using autoglyms leather cleaner on ivory leather applied with a magic sponge used very gently / lightly agitate the dirt out and then wiped with a towel to clean the leather.

Glass cleaner on the plastics and handle areas agitated by a magic sponge and then wiped with a towel also works a treat.

The magic sponge seems to reach into the small plastic crevices better than a towel, and is not as harsh as a nail brush.

All followed up by leather care cream on the seats and and leather areas afterwards. V8 or else ...

Hi

My l322 has an ivory leather interior that was tired from use when i bought it (no rips or tears - just soiled / grubby).

I initially used a vacuum cleaner on the seats and door cards / then a stong - intensive cleaner with a nailbrush to remove ingrained dirt, then went back over with a kitchen sponge and more cleaner / then leather feed left to soak in for a couple of days / wipe over with degreaser / coloured leather paint applied with a sponge (dabbed) - more than one coat needed to get an even finish/ then spent time with a large needle to unblock any small ventilation / heating holes that needed unblocking in the leather seat faces / followed by satin sealent (which left a strong chemical smell for a few days).

3 months on and the interior still looks (nearly) as good as new and i have had several of compliments about how good it looks.

I used Gliptone liquid leather products for each prep and finish stage - they were expensive but worth it.

Thanks all, some great tips there. I decided in the end to buy a car with a darker interior. I still really like the lighter material but on balance decided this time not for me.