If you live on the BMW configurator like I do, you’ve probably noticed that you can spec a G80 M3 with bucket seats in every color option except one: Tartufo. For reasons that were always unclear to me, Tartufo is the one interior option that is not compatible with the bucket seats in our market. However, there are cars optioned with the seats in our market, and it’s not much of an upcharge, according to this Instagram video:
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I wasn’t sure I believed that full Merino Tartufo buckets cost barely more than the regular full merino options—$2590 vs. $2550, plus the $4500 charge for the seats themseves—so I sent a few questions over to BMW about the seats, as well as the requirements for ordering them.
The pricing is correct. For an M3, full merino Tartufo buckets are an available option and cost just $40 more than the other merino options you can get on the configurator. You can also get the buckets in Tartufo extended leather. While that is a no-cost option in every other color on the buckets, Tartufo extended leather will cost $2050, which means you should just splurge for merino.
The cost is only $40 more because these seats are available as a regular option in some other foreign markets, so it’s not a crazy ask to get them put into a car heading to the U.S. There are also no restrictions on ordering, so you don’t need to have an individual color to get approved for them. You just can’t order options that were already incompatible with the bucket seats in the first place.
The video also states that the cost for Tartufo buckets in an M4 runs in the thousands, far more than the upcharge for the M3, which BMW confirms. BMW does it’s own upholstery work for seats that go into M3s, while an external supplier does it for M4s, which results in a difference in price. Who knew?
So, if you want a G80 with Tartufo buckets, run to your dealer and make sure they check the right boxes. It can be done.
