Some of these "standard" items did seem to come out mid-year. For example, my SD manual mentions ABS and SRS (I think) and my mid-year 84 has neither feature.

I agree that MB-Tex holds up much much better than leather. Just take a look at some of the mid-80's cars for sale on Ebay. The cars with leather show a lot more wear.

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Robert W. Roe
1984 300SD 171K mi