Front seat question W126 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

MS Fowler · #1 01-11-2005, 08:53 PM

Are the front seats interchangeable left to right? Are all front seats in W126 cars interchangeable?
I am restoring my '82 300SD. I will be redoing the leather seats. The driver's cover is good, but the springs are tired. The passenger cover ripped. Can i swap the driver's cover to the passenger seat base and install on the driver's side? Then I plan to get a better leather seat for the passenger side. Color doesn't matter as I will remove all dye, treat with leatherique and redye.
Any comments on my plan?

miamimike · #2 01-11-2005, 09:04 PM

What are you going to do about your Back/lumbar adjustment mechanisms? By switching sides you couldn't reach the adjustment as it would be buried by the middle consule and then you have the seatbelt located there also. Why not leave the seats where they are and just get the seats repadded and covered. I think you are inviting problems.

tjohn · #3 01-11-2005, 09:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MS Fowler

Are the front seats interchangeable left to right? Are all front seats in W126 cars interchangeable?

Any comments on my plan?

Yeah, I'm jealous that you have real leather. Very difficult to find in the older 126.120s. From what I can recall about the seat bottoms they interchange with no problem. However, I did not do a swap, I ended up doing the pool noodle trick to stiffen up the springs, then put a 1" layer of furniture grade high density form on top of the horsehair pad. Worked great.

MS Fowler · #4 01-12-2005, 05:03 AM

OK, I just looked at my seats again. The seat belt is mounted to the frame; not the seat. There is no lumbar adjustment. All the controls are electric.
So the modified question is... Are the seats themselves interchangeable on the frames?
And a new one... How recent W126 seats will work? Did MB change the appearance (pleats/ stiching patterns) over the years?

Thanks for the replies.

Pete Burton · #5 01-12-2005, 08:21 AM

It looks feasable to me. I've thought of doing that for a few years but I've never acted on it. Aside from the fact that the armrest needs to attach to the driver's side back, I believe you can switch the seats on the frame.

Fisherman · #6 01-12-2005, 09:41 AM

There are a couple of things that you have to do and changing the motor base is not one. In fact this is the biggest PITA about these seats as you have tomanually turn the motor to move the seat to get to the mount screws.

The seat belt control bracket, seatbelt lock and sensor wire will need to be exchanged to the other seat.
If you have an arm rest then you can change the seatbacks also quite easily. But be careful threading the motor wires through the seat.

The plug-ins for the seat controls are both the same so this should not be an issue.
I can go into much more detail if you decide to do it.

Brian Carlton · #7 01-12-2005, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fisherman

There are a couple of things that you have to do and changing the motor base is not one. In fact this is the biggest PITA about these seats as you have tomanually turn the motor to move the seat to get to the mount screws.

I'm not sure if the seats on the SDL are the same as the SD, however, I never manually turned the motor on the SDL. I ran the seat all the way aft, under power, removed the forward mounting screws, ran the seat all the way aft, removed the forward mounting screws, disconnected the wires, and removed the seat from the vehicle, IIRC.

SD Blue · #8 01-12-2005, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MS Fowler

Are the front seats interchangeable left to right? Are all front seats in W126 cars interchangeable?

Yes, the front seats, and the parts on them, are interchangeable. From your post, it sounds as if you are planning on swapping the spring base with its upholstery.

MS Fowler · #9 01-12-2005, 06:46 PM

Thanks for all the great information. There is a chain of "U pull it" yards near me. They work off a printed price list so you know the cost beforehand. Seats cost $20 each- no track.Tracks are an extra $20. So for $40 I can get the whole thing. The downside is they do not keep track of inventory; you must go in person and pay the $1 admission to see if they have what you want.
When I'm ready, I just keep going until I find what I want.

rgp123 · #10 01-12-2005, 11:26 PM

I partnered with one of our forum members on an SD driver's seat rebuild. After we got the seat out of the car we put jumper cables on the battery with aligator clips on the jumper cables and used the aligator clips to directly power the seat bottom for removing the spring from the motor frame.

Take it from the middle-aged crowd, work smart not hard.

hughet · #11 01-13-2005, 10:39 AM

Robert,
Raise both seats as high as they go. Get a flashlight and look for broken wires in the frame and inspect the condition of the horsehair pads. My pads really did not need changing. My passenger seat had very little wear and no broken springs so I left it alone. The drivers seat had worn out leather and a broken spring frame so I did a total overhaul on it. When you compare the redone driver's seat (with the reinforced frame that I got from Potomac) with the passenger seat it is much firmer and much more comfortable. You spend all of your time in that seat so it is worth the extra money if you can get a stronger frame.
Potomac's numbers are 800-831-7686 for the Maryland location and 800-275-4405 for the Florida location. There are a number of other MB dismantlers listed in Hemmings that you can also call. Performance and Caliber sell new frames for $250 and new horsehair pads for around $110 each. Tex seat covers are around $299 per seat at Performance or ADSIT. If you go to a dismantler get the new style reinforced spring frame from a passenger seat in a later model if you can.

SD Blue · #12 01-13-2005, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hughet

....... go to a dismantler get the new style reinforced spring frame from a passenger seat in a later model if you can.

Do you know how late of a model we can go to on this? The drivers seat on my 84SD is in dire need of attention.

hughet · #13 01-13-2005, 01:08 PM

SDBlue,
The spring assembly from a 90 420sel fit my 84300SD perfectly. As far as I know it will fit on all earlier models. The only thing that varies is the horsehair pads. Go to the GAHH website and you can see all that.

ayalar007 · #14 01-18-2005, 09:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hughet

Robert,
Raise both seats as high as they go. Get a flashlight and look for broken wires in the frame and inspect the condition of the horsehair pads. My pads really did not need changing. My passenger seat had very little wear and no broken springs so I left it alone. The drivers seat had worn out leather and a broken spring frame so I did a total overhaul on it. When you compare the redone driver's seat (with the reinforced frame that I got from Potomac) with the passenger seat it is much firmer and much more comfortable. You spend all of your time in that seat so it is worth the extra money if you can get a stronger frame.
Potomac's numbers are 800-831-7686 for the Maryland location and 800-275-4405 for the Florida location. There are a number of other MB dismantlers listed in Hemmings that you can also call. Performance and Caliber sell new frames for $250 and new horsehair pads for around $110 each. Tex seat covers are around $299 per seat at Performance or ADSIT. If you go to a dismantler get the new style reinforced spring frame from a passenger seat in a later model if you can.

Tom,
Thank you so very much for your info. I am very sorry I have gotten back to you so late, but I am back in school and time for idle is scarce. I did however finally get a chance to get under the seat.....

It was really bad under there. To say the least there is hardly any padding left. It looks like it snowed palomino clored snow underthere. There must be about 2 or 3 springs broken. I think Im looking at a whole new seat. I'll be giving the guys at potomac a call as soon as I solve the ball joints dilema on my car (I think safety has priority to comfort). The passangers seat is pretty good considering the years its been there. But the drivers seat has got to go!! Again thanks!!