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I've been thinking about speccing white leather for the Coupé, but....how sensitive is it?
I don't want to end up cleaning the seats every week?
Anyone have an input on what it is like to live with MB's "porcelain" leather, or white leather in general?
Any light colored leather will require regular cleaning and conditioning. Light colors, especially white, will show dye from jeans as well as normal dirt. There are many good cleaning and conditioning products available ... and you will have to use them frequently.
I have owned several cars with light grey leather, and all needed considerably more maintenance than darker colors.
I owned a car with white leather seats and used to spend half an hour every fortnight with a microfiber cloth, bottle of peroxide, baking soda and then use a a spray bottle to spray mixture on the stains. The dirt used to come up in seconds and blot the stain until the seats became clean.
I had cream colored leather in my 2010 Camaro that looked great when it was clean. It did require a monthly cleaning to make sure my jeans didn't leave marks. My go to was Murphy's Oil Soap, hot water, and a clean sponge. It is not harsh so it won't damage the leather. This worked on the cream seats in a Bentley cgt and the white inserts on his Gallardo. My local Ace Hardware sells it.
It's no more sensitive than the black leather - you just see the dirt far more readily.
Due to a stuff-up with my original order I ended up with a W205 with the AMG light grey leather, which is essentially white. I would never have chosen this color but have to admit it looks down right awesome.
I'm very meticulous with keeping the car clean anyway, but as per what the others have said, you do need to look after the interior more than with a dark hide. Personally I wouldn't attack it with peroxide and baking soda because all you need to do is clean and nourish the leather, not attack it (unless you have a serious stain). I knew someone in Germany who bought an 500 SL with all white leather and the girlfriend sat on it after using self tanning lotion. Seats turned a nice shade of pale orange - total write off.
MB uses a good quality full grain leather and it's naturally quite stain repellent. A good leather conditioner and cleaner will get most things out and nourish the seats. With our previous car I tended to use the Meguiar's Leather Conditioner, but with the Merc I switched to this stuff from the Chem Guys which I personally find the best leather care product I've ever used.
The wife bought some new jeans a while ago and blue stain got onto the passenger seat. One gentle wipe with the conditioner and it was back to factory spec.
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