Seat replacement ideas
 

OK Does anyone know if drivers seats from any other later model cars would fit into an 85 300D?

At this point I'm curious to find out what options may be out there vs repadding.

aa

why dont you want to repad?

~Nate

?? - hey, welcome to the dark side! Seriously, it's one of the best things I've ever done to the car, and I've had several car-wise friends compliment me on what an improvement it is....and now my kids REALLY fight over the front seat with the heat:silly:

OK Darth Vader.....SO back to the question of seats that could fit into an 85 300D.

Any suggestions on this? And other thing is my seats are the middle red color MB Tex interior...so matching could be a whole other issue....

Well, you know that I used seats from a 98 750iL, and I'd suggest something like that. I think BMW, Volvo, Saab and even Audi make some great seats. That's personal preference, you need to see what suits you. As for matching, you can recolor almost anything you get. Search SEM products - they have terrific products. Lastly, I'll pass on some really good advice that was given to me - get something newer, not something 15-20 years old.

Thanks, What I meant when I ask what fits in a 300D; I refer to size of the seat and how it would bolt in to the frame.

I used to date a girl who had a Lexus and they do have pretty comfortable seats....Would those fit? I think it was a GL model...

Are your current seats power seats or manual adjusting?

Bill

The benefit of repadding (just did mine) is you can add bolsters and extra foam on certain areas you'd like to have more support on. What I did on mine is to add a thigh support lump as well as lateral supports on the bottom cushion. When I have time I'll do the passenger side.

Best $25 I've spent. (plus $10 more for passenger side--soon.)

And since yours is a unique color, that just adds to it. I can't answer your question on what seats fit the 300D, but I'm sure there can be some adapters made to fit the car.

What late model seats will just bolt right in? - none.
What late model seats can be fitted with modification? - any.

You'll probably need to do this yourself, so it all depends on what you want to get into. For me it was worth it.

Manual seats.

Austin,

If you've got manual seats, then as I understand it, you can put a manual seat from any w126 body in your car. That's the good news. The bad news is that the cars most likely to have nicer seats will be power seats.

You can buy new springs for the bottoms. They're expensive, roughly $300-$350 each. You can get DIY leather replacements for roughly $500 per seat. Or go with MB text for something like $350. In some cases you'll need to replace the pads and they're expensive, too.

If your leather or MB text is ok and it's just the springs, there's a fix several people have done on the forum using pool noodles, the long foam toys that kids play with. And the cost is only a few bucks. Do a search on pool noodles in the forum and DIY section and you'll find illustrated threads on how it's done.

I just bought a pair of front seats from a 1991 560SEL that are in excellent shape for my 88 560 SEL. It wasn't cheap but they look and feel great.

Bill

You can easily install power seats in a vehicle that did not have them originally if all the seat controls are mounted on the seats. All you need is a fused 12V power line.

Consider rebuilding your current seats. I would tend to think its much easier to do then fitting others along with dying them. I added a layer of memory foam to my driver seat and firmed up the bolsters and it made a night and day difference.

Try the 190 16 valve seats, those are fairly comfy.

I read Pete's threads on his BMW seats with interest. I don't have anything against using non-BMW seats but don't have the mechanical chops for that type of mod.

I read about the pool noodle mod here, too, but was willing to spend a bit more to get what I wanted.

Going with gently used seats from a `91 has turned out to be a huge improvement. Not only do they look much better but the new seats really feel great. They cost me less than I would have paid for new springs and pads.

For manual seats, you might find a better deal than I did although with your interior color, that'll be more of a challenge.

Bill