What color is my interior? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

kimmation · #1 10-23-2003, 02:29 AM

I just found this forum and I love it. Turned on the heat today for the first time since I've owned my 95 E320 and was concerned that there was no heat coming from the center vents. Searched around here and found that this was normal. Still don't quite understand the design concept, but I'm glad its a feature and not a bug.

I've been meaning to replace my floor mats and found a post about the qualify of Lloyd's mats. I would like to get them, but am not sure if my interior color is Saddle or Parchment. Does anyone know the difference between these colors? From the carpet swatches online, saddle looks like the darker color, a toffee shade? The exterior of my car is charcoal grey.

Anyone have the Lloyd's mats? Performance products has genuine MB mats. What are the aesthetical differences between them? The Lloyd's mats won't have the MB symbol, but I'm okay with that if the quality is top notch.

Looking forward to participating in this forum.

Thanks,
Kim

ksing44 · #2 10-23-2003, 07:06 AM

Parchment

kimmation · #3 10-23-2003, 10:31 PM

I saw pictures of your car while reading old posts in the forum. It is beautiful, looks immaculate and a unique color. I don't think I've seen any in that color, maybe one?

I see you are in Pennsylvania, how does you car do in the snow? I am in currently in California, considering going back home to NY and would like to bring my car along.

ksing44 · #4 10-24-2003, 05:39 AM

Thank you for the nice comments about my car. I am really happy about the color.

I use my original wheels with 4 snow tires and I get around OK. I could probably make it even better, if I purchased more aggressive snow tires, but I went with snow tires that would be OK on dry roads too. They plow the roads, so it really isn’t bad and the roads are dry more often than they are covered with snow. I can always get to and from work, get to the store, or take my son to his favorite hill for sledding. I have to say that it isn’t good enough to just go out and joy ride in the freshly fallen snow, like I used to do in my 4 x 4 jeep or 4 x 4 truck. I also don’t usually go out to deliberately slide around, fish-tailing the car, like it did when I was a kid.

Right now is a beautiful time of year to drive around in Pennsylvania and New York. The colors on the trees are amazing and the cool, "crisp" weather really is nice. You have to bring your car.

Holson Adi · #5 10-27-2003, 12:05 AM

This is saddle I believe..

kimmation · #6 10-27-2003, 05:30 PM

The pictures of the lovely, black E420 settled it. My interior is parchment.

Kim

ksing44 · #7 10-28-2003, 06:55 AM

You know, originally was going to post a picture of Holson’s car to show the difference between his interior and mine, but then I decided I didn’t have the right to post pictures of another member’s beautiful car. I figured posting pictures of your car was part of the joy of being the owner. I’m glad Holson settled it with his photo.

By the way Holson, did you try the KIWI cream shoe polish on your steering wheel? Was your wheel deteriorating like mine, or do you just want one of those wood and leather wheels. So far, the shoe polish has eliminated my fear about wearing a hole in my steering wheel. The wheel has remained smooth to the touch and there is no sign that the leather is going to continue to peel away and kind of flake off. The polish seemed to seal the leather so that it is protected. Now the original wheel feels very good in my hands.

Holson Adi · #8 10-29-2003, 09:32 PM

ksing44,

no I haven't got the chance to try the Kiwi shoe polish. I probably will this weekend

The steering wheel is still really nice.. I just want the part-wood/part-leather steering wheel

I definitely like saddle/parchment over black/grey leather...

However.. somehow a 500E with black interior looks really luxurious and expensive... even those Infiniti G35s with black leather seats don't and they are 10yrs newer

(the leather just doesn't look as nice..)

ksing44 · #9 10-30-2003, 06:05 AM

I have always been a fan of the dark blue and tan (parchment or saddle) or the black and tan (parchment or saddle) combination. The contrast looks good. I definitely don’t like the blue or gray interiors as much as the other colors, but the black interior can look awesome. There is something about the dark look of the black leather and the black carpets that just looks really nice. Black on black looks good. If you have a silver car, then black is the best choice, if not the only choice. When I was younger, I used to dream about owning an older Corvette convertible that was white with a black interior. I thought red with black looked good too, although I just can’t seem to warm up to a idea of a red Mercedes.

The shoe polish thing was just because my wheel was really deteriorating. The leather was just kind of peeling off or crumbling on the backside at the very top of the wheel. It looked like it could have been caused by the sun beating down through the windshield onto that portion of the leather wheel. The rest of the wheel seemed to be OK until I tried the Leatherique, which seemed to remove the finish from the wheel. I would never use that stuff on the steering wheel again. It may be great for the seats or your sofa, but I sure wouldn’t use Leatherique on the steering wheel.

If your wheel is OK, then maybe you don’t need the shoe polish. It will not change the leather into burl walnut.

Then again, the shoe polish may help to preserve the leather wheel so that it never does start to deteriorate. The shoe polish saved me. I have seen pictures of W124s that have a hole worn all the way through the leather steering wheel. I was sure that it was going to happen to me, but then I found the shoe polish. Now I have absolutely no fear that I will need to replace the wheel. It looks great and feels great in my hands.

TROVERMAN · #10 10-30-2003, 08:53 AM

Awesome looking car, I love it. I have some questions, though. First, the plastic trim molding on the door scuffs. Mine has two little stainless looking metal strips on tan plastic, and I saw on one of the pics posted in this thread the scuff actually said Mercedes on it. Is this factory, aftermarket, just on 420's, etc?? Can I get one? Also, my seats are different. They seem to be lighter than both pics, and the pattern is not the same. My seats have like 6 or seven perforated leather strips going forward & backward, not side to side like yours. Did I just get the "cheapo" version? In regards to mats, all that came with my car are black rubber treaddy mats with the M-B Logo star on them.

ksing44 · #11 10-30-2003, 09:44 AM

Hello Troverman,

I saw in your signature that you have the 1995 E320 “Touring”, which I believe is a wagon. I have noticed in other pictures that sometimes the wagons are just a little different than the sedans. The older W124s did have seats that look like you describe. They are not necessarily “cheapo”, but it is possible that they are MB Tex (very good vinyl) or they might just be the older style. I have seen wagons that have flat door panels instead of the kind of pleated padded door panels that are common on the sedans. I think the MB Tex interiors all had the flat door panels. There is nothing wrong with MB Tex. I have read that it wears like steel and that it might even be better than “real” leather.

As for the stainless door sills, you must be referring to my E320 “Special Edition”. Holson’s E420 has doorsills like yours and his is probably not a Special Edition, although I’m sure it is very special and very fast with the big V8. Stainless doorsills seem to be one of the indications that you do in fact have a Special Edition. They were a factory option, but they do not seem to be available from the dealer. I even tried giving the dealer my VIN number to help him track down the parts, but he never answered the question. I saw some parts on EBAY that looked very much like mine and there are a lot of other aftermarket stainless doorsills. So far, however, it has been my experience that the quality of the aftermarket parts falls far short of the OEM. Then again, I have Eibach springs, Bilstein HD shocks, and AMG wheels. All of these “aftermarket” parts are very nice, although I suppose you could say that all of those vendors are actually Mercedes suppliers and that they would almost qualify as OEM parts.

ksing44

TROVERMAN · #12 10-30-2003, 12:50 PM

Thanks for the info, it does look like the "old" style seat, but I am pretty sure it has a "real" leather interior. Yes, it does have the flat door trims, which I think are not as nice as the pleated ones. Overall, though, the car is very nice. Here are the features it's missing: memory seat, (driver's side), heated seats, auto-dimming mirror, ASR / ASD, CD Changer, Infrared keyless--it has dual power seats / headrests, power roof, windows, locks, antenna, mirrors (auto heating) 3rd seat, driving lights, auto-climate control (with a/c) It also says "flagship" on the back--black oval-like emblem with the M-B star perfectly aligned with the E320 emblem. Does that mean anything to you? I don't think it is a dealer.

ksing44 · #13 10-30-2003, 01:34 PM

I have never seen the “flagship” emblem before. It does sound like the kind of badge the dealers typically use, but I really don’t know anything about it. I removed my dealer emblem, but I kept the E320 badge. A lot of people like to debadge their cars, but I wear mine with pride. I suppose they hope others will think their E320 is and E420, E500, or maybe even an S or CL. The only people that will be fooled are people that don’t know anything about the cars, so what does it really matter. The people that will be fooled probably wouldn’t appreciate the difference anyway.

TROVERMAN · #14 10-30-2003, 05:06 PM

Exactly.

Holson Adi · #15 10-30-2003, 06:27 PM

I still can't tell apart an E420 to an E320

I could spot an E500 from a mile away.. well not really.. but.. :p

Flagship -> Flagship Motorcars of Lynnfield, MA (Herb Chambers company)

yeah my E420's not the special edition. There's actually one in school (Boston U) in gorgeous Black Opal with grey leather (i guess the only color that mixes with black opal). The owner doesn't seem too enthusiastic about Mercedes too. If I feel friendly next time i'll ask her if I could see the door sills