Why did they use horsehair in some 85 300D W123 Seats?

I am currently rebuilding mine and have discovered that they were Horsehair while the "better" seat frames and pads from the 78 300D I am using are some type of normal synthetic material.
Over time the '85 horsehair collapses and the seats leave you sitting on jagged springs. I kept on seeing "sawdust" in my car and wondering where it all came from--of course it was Horsehair, decayed.
Dont laugh but my daughter always said she was allergic to the car--now I know why!

The answer to this question goes back a long, long way. Back when the germans began to replace animal labor with automobiles, naturally there was leverage to be exploited with our hooved friends. Some sort of sacrifice was necessary from the horses and cows. As you might expect, the horses were quicker on their feet by donating their hair. OTOH, .....

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'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.

I want to rebuild mine too let us know what you decide to use for padding.

Danny

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1984 300SD Turbo Diesel 150,000 miles

OBK member #23

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FWIW, Old Vw's and other such cars also had horsehair pads. They hold up suprising well considering the materials they had at the time.

But yes...the shed even when off the animal

Usually allergies are not much of a problem with the horse hair becuase its so heavily treated with stuff that unless you are eating it facefulls at a time, it wouldn't only be dected by the most sensitive to allergies.

Obviously horse hair is NOTHING compared to the foams, etc that we have now but it did a pretty nice job before

That was funny Pete.....

At least horsehair does not ' outgas' like foams..

Some of these things are just supply and demand and costs.. Horses die due to being organic... why throw away usefull products which result ?

The honest and true real answer (look it up on the Mercedes website) is Dr. Benz was forced to hire a very proud Prussian Engineer name Dr. Ferdinand Priebeke by Mercedes Board of Directors. The man was very good at designing Panzers, but didnt mesh at Mercedes. His constant clashes forced Dr. Benz to put Dr. Priebke in charge of the division making seats and interior accoutrements to minimize his effect on the company. After one meeting about using the 12 cylinder Panzer Diesel in a luxury sedan the contemptuous Dr. Benz was overheard saying "That Dr. Priebke is a real Horse's Ass! "
The proud Dr. Priebke had his revenge when he designed the first set of seats--he used ______you guessed it..
This is absolutely the truth, i always tell the truth, look it up if you dont believe me..

The only thing a horse is good for is racing, glue and violin bows.

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1981 300D 147k
1998 VW Jetta Tdi 320k
2001 Dodge Ram 2500 141k
1979 300D 234k (sold)
1984 300D "Astor" 262k(sold)
Mercedes How-To and Repair Pictorials
I love the smell of diesel smoke in my hair

Some of these things are holdovers from HORSE CARRIAGES.... ever seen those beautiful Diamond Tufted spring mounted seats on old surrys... like Doc on Gunsmoke ? Chances are it was stuffed with Horsehair... a properly groomed horse makes new hair... so combing gives you a reliable supply.... you don't have to kill the horse to have stuffing material...

..another reason the cows lost out on that concession

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'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.

Acutally, it's not just stuffed in there, but rubberized and pressed together. It holds together better than most plant fibers. (Except for maybe something REALLY durable like hemp.)

So what are you using to replace the badpadding??? LMK because I need to rebuild the backseat of mine... Frounts are OK, back is bad... Ill live with the frounts for now, as it gives reason to move to the back

~Nate

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95 Honda Shadow ACE 1100.
1999 Plymouth Neon Expresso. 2.4 swap, 10.5 to 1 comp, big cams. Autocross time attack vehicle!
2012 Escape, 'hunter" (5 sp 4cyl)

Exactly! Every spring, especially in colder climates, there are mounds of it. Earlier padding was either made of straw, feathers, or horse hair. Think of what the alternatives would be like.

A renewable resource long before it was considered cool.

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Sam

84 300SD 350K+ miles ( Blue Belle )

The same thing as the butt pad ....I am using a set of seats from a 1979 300D which held up very very well plus I am inserting some additional foam from an upholstery shop.

A couple of days ago when I had to tear into the back of my driver seat to get the motor to return it to the 'normal' upright position, I pondered what could be done to rebuild these seats. Not knowing what the bottom pad looks like, I'd assume it is similar to what I witnessed in the seat back. Pad in overall good shape, except where it was squeezing around the springs.

What I'm envisioning is cutting a thin sheet of nylonish-plastic, like 3/16ths thick, that white stuff that is fairly flexible, to go between the springs and the original pads. This would help to distribute the load over the springs and prevent pad compression around the spring wires.

Thoughts?

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But what do I know...

1984 300SD 256k

you can buy couch cushion pads at wal mart or a decorating/fabric store(joannes etc) and just cut them to fit.

you can also buy a 1" foam to go over the horsehair pads if theyre not bad.

my car seems like it had an easy life by the seats, a hard one by the paint and plastics. so all i did when i restuffed mine was...


1) remove the seats, and their upholstery

2)get two pool noodles, support the springs with these, they make the biggest difference.

3) sit a volvo seat heater pad on top of the horsehair, cover this with a 1" foam sheet cut to fit.

4) make sure the wires for the heaters wont interfere with the seats function and put the covers back on

5) install the seats

6) wire the switches to the heaters

7) enjoy a flat, hard seat with a toasty rump and lower back on every ride.

i got my heaters/switches at the u pull it for 20 dollars. youll need to cannibalize a volvo seat for this. its good for your stress to rip into that seat. i didnt have any tools besides a screwdriver, so i had to rip the cover off with my bare hands you can take a scissor and it may make your day easier great project!

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