For those of you who shop at Costco, I highly recommend you picking up a cleaner/degreaser called "Oil Eater". This stuff is by far the best cleaner I have ever tried. So far I have used it on the door in my garage, my sister's engine, some dirty laundry and the dove grey leather in my M3.

When I used it on my leather I was nothing short of amazed at how well it took the dirt off. I didn't even think the leather was all that dirty until I used this cleaner and saw for myself the difference between the cleaned areas and those that were not touched yet.

Other than some slight wear on my side bolsters, the leather looks absolutely brand new now. And this was following the instructions on the back saying to dilute it with 4 parts cleaner to 1 part water for use on upholstery. There is a very useful table on the back of the container that lists its many uses and the correct ratio to use for each one. It comes in what I think is a gallon jug and includes a spray bottle for what I want to say is somewhere around $10.

As for the other things that I used it for as mentioned above, it performed equally well. The engine in my sister's car hadn't been cleaned in years and after using this stuff and high pressure water, one could literally eat off of it.

For those of you who shop at Costco, I highly recommend you picking up a cleaner/degreaser called "Oil Eater". This stuff is by far the best cleaner I have ever tried. So far I have used it on the door in my garage, my sister's engine, some dirty laundry and the dove grey leather in my M3.

When I used it on my leather I was nothing short of amazed at how well it took the dirt off. I didn't even think the leather was all that dirty until I used this cleaner and saw for myself the difference between the cleaned areas and those that were not touched yet.

Other than some slight wear on my side bolsters, the leather looks absolutely brand new now. And this was following the instructions on the back saying to dilute it with 4 parts cleaner to 1 part water for use on upholstery. There is a very useful table on the back of the container that lists its many uses and the correct ratio to use for each one. It comes in what I think is a gallon jug and includes a spray bottle for what I want to say is somewhere around $10.

As for the other things that I used it for as mentioned above, it performed equally well. The engine in my sister's car hadn't been cleaned in years and after using this stuff and high pressure water, one could literally eat off of it.
Hmmm...I wonder how tough this stuff is compared to purple power

This is strong stuff- is it safe to use on leather? I understand it's being diluted. I know full strength is good for garage floor. Does it say on the container what you specifically can and cannot use on

Hmmm...I wonder how tough this stuff is compared to purple power

I remember a while back I used Purple Power to clean an engine and it discolored some aluminum pieces. Since then I haven't used it. I definitely wouldn't use it on the interior.

This is strong stuff- is it safe to use on leather? I understand it's being diluted. I know full strength is good for garage floor. Does it say on the container what you specifically can and cannot use on

I actually didn't read what it should not be used on before i tried it on my leather. But now that you asked I decided to go out in the garage and grab the container. Under the warning section it says discoloration may occur on warm/hot aluminum surfaces. Not recommended for use on glass, suede, silk and soft leather.

With that said, the Nappa leather in the M3 is very soft and I experienced no ill effects whatsoever. I did dilute it with 4 parts water to 1 part solvent as per the instructions for upholstery. I did experience some streaking when first applied, but after going over the areas a few times streaking was no more. All the other cleaners designed for use on leather that I've tried did absolutely nothing to clean. Granted, I have only tried Lexol cleaner, Connolly's leather cleaner and dishwashing liquid mixed with water.

The method I used was to spray a small section at a time and let soak for only a few seconds. Wiped with a damp microfiber cloth and repeated if necessary until all traces of embedded dirt were removed. I then gave the leather a final wipe down with another damp microfiber cloth. A bucket of water comes in handy during this stage to rinse off the cloth during the process.