Quote:
Originally Posted by eclipsisNA
This is incorrect. BMW leather is "semi-aniline," meaning it has a urethane coating as the outermost layer. "Full aniline" lacks a protective coating over the color coat. Very few modern cars utilize full aniline leather. You are correct about Leatherique being oil-based, and oil-based products should never be used on BMW leather. Water-based products like Leather Masters are what need to be used.
Regarding the steering wheel issue in the OP, the most effective way of removing contaminates from any leather surface in our cars is through steam cleaning. Steam will pull embedded contaminates off of the steering wheel and onto the towel attached to the steam nozzle. It's much more effective than cleaning the wheel by hand w/ a water-based cleaner. The steering wheel in this picture looked glossy and was full of body oils prior to being steamed. The factory, matte-look was restored:
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Leatherique is perfectly fine to use on BMW leather and works far more effectively than Leather Master does if used correctly. You are correct, the Novillo leather is a semi-aniline, my mistake. Semi-aniline still absorbs moisture even though it is not supposed to as much.
Steam cleaning works great.