E36 Comfort Seats: Leather or Not?

[ClayW]

Are my seats leather, vinyl or something else?

I pulled them from a 1994 318i sedan. They are heated.

How can I tell?



While still in the donor car:

[Semblance]

Disassemble the seat enough that you can see the edge or back of the upholstery. Vinyl should be very obviously plastic-looking, and leather should be very obviously split-hide.

[AndrewBird]

Vinyl will have a cloth backing, leather will not. Vinyl will also have a clean smooth edge where as leather will be fuzzy.