From highest quality to lowest quality ... how would you rank them?

1. Merino
2. Nappa
3. Pearl
4. Nevada
5. Dakota
6. Leatherette (I know, it's not really leather ... but something has to be the baseline).

My only experience has been with the Dakota leather on my 545 and 550 and I've got mixed feelings. It's certainly durable, which is a good thing, and the fit and finish is good, but it's much harder than it probably should be in a car of this class. I've test driven E60's with the Merino leather and that's much better.

For what it's worth, my neighbor has leatherette in his E90 and it's actually pretty nice. To the untrained eye it could easily pass for genuine leather and, I have to say, it feels a little nicer than the Dakota leather!

I agree. My Dakota leather is nice and durable. But not nearly as soft as it should be for a car in its price range.

i had a 2009 328 with leatherette. i personally thought it felt cheap and the car didnt have that "leather" smell. It also looked cheap IMO.

the dakota is durable, like others have said. I would compare the quality to a leather in a nissan Altima/Maxima, or top of the line camry, with one exception... this leather FEELS like it will long outlast the leather in those types of cars.

if the merino leather is the leather in the M5, then that is some good stuff...

new question??? what is the difference in those leathers? animal? part of the animal? processing?