Leatherette is standard.

CVT Benhogan

 

Hmmm.
I previously had a Silver-Grey with beige leather. I thought it was a great combo.
I changed within the last few weeks and I decided on the interior colour first and that in essence decided the exterior colour.

I didn't want an all black interior (too drab I thought) and I didn't want beige again. All grey is too cheap and all truffle is, well, all truffle.

Luckily, we can order amethyst in Ireland so that was that. It's a light-ish colour. The beauty here is that the carpets go anthracite, the door cappings, transmission tunnel and dash goes black and the headlining goes sky gray. The leather on the seats and door inserts go amethyst. I hadn't seen one before ordering so I was a tad apprehensive, however, I couldn't be more pleased with the outcome. I then went sapphire black exterior. See here

What I was considering doing was black exterior and order with the standard grey cloth seats. With this, the carpets go anthracite, the door cappings, transmission tunnel and dash goes black, headlining goes sky grey and the door inserts and seats are grey cloth. Then order a beige leather upgrade kit which the dealer can fit afterwards. Here the seats and door inserts go beige. In Ireland, this costs the same price as ordering the leather from the factory. This would have given me the interior contrast I was looking for. Problem? I didn't want the sky grey headlining with the beige seats.

So, I'm wondering if the US dealers could order an amethyst kit to retrofit afterwards. Or any kit for that matter. If not maybe we could set up a supply chain for all those US customers who canot order amethyst.

I really liked the beige when I had it and couldn't say anything wrong against choosing it. However, I thought there was too much beige before I ordered and after looking at my current car, it may have been a bit too much 'in-yer-face-mate'. All beige I think might have been considered old. The amethyst combo looks somewhat more classy I think and probably more sporty.

Hope I haven't confused you too much but I have two photos of a MysticBlue/Beige sport E60.

 

Silver Grey/Black Interior/Light Pop Wood looks a million dollars IMHO

 

I would not worry about the Beige interior. It looks really nice, especially in the dash and doors and the leather seats are really easy to keep clean.

My 320Ci was Black metallic with beige interior. Problems to keep the outside clean but no problems with the interior!

But if you have small children and/or dogs and love mudwrestling but not showers, go for some darker interior color.

 

The Beige leather in the 5 series is the most difficult to keep clean I've ever experienced. I think it's because of the fairly deep grain in the leather. Any dirt first shows up on the surface, and the grain stays clean, making the dirt much more visible. A smoother leather would be much easier.

I'm getting white (silverstone) in my M5, so I really like the lighter interiors. I think it will be a little easier to maintain because it's smoother than the 545 leather. Maybe not - we'll see.

 

How about mystic/grey?

If you're going to get a 550, but need to ditch Logic 7 and comfort seats to afford it, buy a loaded 545. Those are probably the two best options available. A decent part of the 5-series experience involves comfort and sensory pleasures. If we all just wanted to mash on the gas and spin tires, I suspect we'd spend our 65k on a Z06 instead.

Just a thought.