How to Recognise Quality Replacement BMW Floor Mats

Before too long, the floor mats in your BMW will need to be replaced. Normal day to day wear and tear will take its toll, causing worn patches or even holes. Usually, the drivers mat is the first to go and often, it is the only mat to show signs of wear. It is extremely rare to find a replacement for the drivers mat only so the likelihood is that you will have to buy a full set of new mats.

It pays to buy quality mats. There are various types of mats on the market, but many of them are not of the same quality as original BMW mats. Such mats often wear very quickly and some may even start to turn up at the corners .

Mats that don't fit correctly can move around, especially if they are made from lightweight material. If this happens to the drivers mat, then it can be dangerous should it get caught up in the pedals. Always ensure that the drivers mat has fixings to allow it to be attached to the floor.

Clearly, the best option is genuine BMW mats or those manufactured by a supplier to BMW, otherwise known as an original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) . The second option may be the best value. Such mats are made using the same material and specification as those made for BMW. There is often some small variations to differentiate them from genuine mats such as the edging material being different and the lack of any BMW badges or markings. Otherwise, they are the same and will perform to the same standards.

There are three main types of BMW floor mats (excluding rubber mats) and many are available in a wide range of colours, patterns and designs. The first is the City mats. These are short pile mats and the best value for money in my opinion. The second type is Velour mats. They have much longer pile than City mats and feel a lot softer and more luxurious. They are heavier too. Due to the length of the pile, these can sometimes show wear quicker than the City mats. The third type is the coarse, but hard very wearing Country mats. They feel much more like a door mat but will last the longest, although they are not always the most visually attractive of mats.

Genuine BMW mats have a variety of different fixings. BMW have changed these over the years and different models of BMW use different types of fixings. It used to be the case that all mats had fixings but more recently, only the front mats or just the drivers mat has fixings. The other mats remain in position due to the precision tailored fit.

Broadly speaking, original mat fixings fall into three main categories. The first of these can be found fitted to the E36. They use a small plastic cloverleaf shaped fixing which remains attached to the floor of the car. The hole on the mat is placed over the fixing, which in then pulled up through the hole and twisted to hold the mat in position.

On BMW models such as the E46 and E39, a T shaped fixing is used. These are simply pushed through the holes of the mat into the fixing holes on the floor of the car and twisted using a screwdriver or coin in the slotted head of the fixing.

More recently, a velcro type disc has been used. Some of these discs screw into the carpet using a large diameter plastic threaded screw underneath. Others have a T shaped end on the underside and twist into the original holes on the floor. The mats that use such fittings have a special material in the corners of the back of the mats which simply sticks onto the velcro disc.

OEM mats sometimes use slight variations to the original fixings. The E36 type is replaced with a more universal screw fixing. A large diameter plastic screw is screwed into the carpet on the floor of the car. The hole in the mat is placed over the top of the fixing and the top section is turned through 90 degrees to grip the mat.

OEM mats with velcro discs may use a fixing where the disc has several diagonally angled pins on each side of the disc. These pins are pushed into the carpet to hold the disc in position.

Finally, when buying replacement mats, be sure to make sure that you are buying them for a left hand drive or right hand drive BMW. The front mats are different depending on which side your steering wheel is on.