Decided to give this a try. It took less than 1 hr & only cost a few bucks. My drivers seat springs were broken on the left side. Couldn't find any good parts at the u pull yard Friday, so this morning I pulled the seat to see if it would work. The springs like to break at the radius, so I cut them back to where I had straight material to work with on both sides. Then just bent a piece of 1/4" brake line, reamed it out to 3/16 ID with a drill, & slipped it over the broken pieces. No need to tack them in place, they can't go anywhere once installed. I've included a couple pics. The first one shows the broken spring. This one had the complete radius missing, so I just trimmed it up so the brake line would slip over it. You can see the one next to it has already been repaired, but the radius was much tighter, so I had to make a much sharper bend in the brake line. Be careful when cutting the spring with a cut off wheel. Make sure you don't drop any hot metal into the seat where it could catch fire. No, I didn't find out the hard way, but was aware it could happen.

Attached Thumbnails

   

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82 300SD 202K
82 300SD 233K
83 300TD 340K
82 300TD 98k euro (parts on the hoof)
85 300TD 282K
83 300TD 197K

There are a couple of threads on this topic on this board. Someone used injector lines I think and reamed them out to make them fit. See 'pool noodles' also.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

clever fix, I'll have to try that when the time comes

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'02 BMW 325i
'85 300D 450k
'93 190E 2.6 170k(killed by tree)
'08 Ducati Hypermotard 1100S 6k
'06 Ducati S2R800 14k(sold)

I started this project MONTHS and months ago on my SD. I must be stupid though cause I can't get the damn driver seat out. The electronics don't seem to want to come unplugged and seat wont come out without disconnecting it (big; but short, wireing harness under seat)

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"Know other lessons I need to learn? TELL me. Tired of learning'em the hard way".

Glow Plug Wait: [i} Time of silence in homage Rudolph Diesel. Longer you own a diesel. more honor you give". [/i]

Life; SNAFU Situation Normal All Fouled Up, & FUBAR: Fouled Up Beyond All Repair

-Now: Snafued Jeep TJ w/OM617 2Be daily driver & building SS M1079 w/Ambo boxed /live in Adv. Truck, Diesel KLR conversion
-Sold 62 UNIMOG Camper w/617 Turbo, 85 300SD

Well, how does the seat feel since you did that? Looks like a good idea, if it is as rigid as it used to be..........

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Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

Think wire cutters.

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DJ


84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012

It seems like a good idea but aren't the springs supposed to press against the padding firmly?

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DJ


84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012

Just in case anyone didn't know (though I'm sure most have already discovered this) If you find a matching seat in the wrecker and you pop off the plastic cover by the seatback knob you will find (2) 13mm bolts under it, 2 on the other side, removing those releases the seatback and hinges from the lower bun assy. The lower bun is identical and interchangeable between passenger and driver seat, and since the passenger seat usually sees much less use....
The seatbacks are not interchangeable so far as I can see. I just dealt with my seat this weekend and discovered this. Changing the rails and seatbacks for the correct seat is all one needs to do. (Also, now I have an extra $5 or so worth of loose change & a spare piece of upholstery too should one of mine wear out)

I should add this is on a 123 chassis, I don't know about other seats...

It's better, but not 100%. Whoever owned the car before me must have applied a lot more pressure to the springs (how's that for a PC way of saying lard a$$) than I do. The springs have lost some of their tension. I'm hoping to find a good passenger side seat bottom in the junk yard some day, but this isn't Mercedes country, so the choices are limited.

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82 300SD 202K
82 300SD 233K
83 300TD 340K
82 300TD 98k euro (parts on the hoof)
85 300TD 282K
83 300TD 197K

New seat bases are also available.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

Coach,
As I've found with all things Mercedes, if it is too hard to do, you're probably doing it wrong.

I recently had the same problems when pulling the seats out of my SDL. It wasn't immediately obvious how to get those wiring connections loose from the seat and I struggled for quite some time figuring out how to get them loose. In the end, after I figured out how to disconnect the wiring, I felt pretty stupid for not realizing how to do it in the first place.

First move the seat all the way back and upwards and remove the carpeted cover that hides the connectors that are almost directly under the front of the seat. .

IIRC, the ends of the cable ends have rigid plastic covers which also function as the latches which hold the cables to the box. By snapping the cover of the largest connector forward, it should release it and you can pull the plug upwards. I think the other connectors are held in by that first big plug. From there, the other plugs come out easily.

It took me an hour to figure out how to get the connectors loose on the first seat. After I figured it out, the second seat took all of 2 minutes.

When I get home this evening, I'll look at it again and confirm this procedure.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

They probably cost more than I paid for the car! Plus the leather is worn & cracked. This is just a temp fix till I find a good set of seats for the right price.

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82 300SD 202K
82 300SD 233K
83 300TD 340K
82 300TD 98k euro (parts on the hoof)
85 300TD 282K
83 300TD 197K

Performance Products shows a cost of $300+ but I swear mine was about $90 (I'll see if I can figure out where mine came from).

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

I bought mine for just about $200. a bit over one year ago. The prices have skyrocketed since that time.

$300 is ridiculous. I'd love to find another one for the SD in the $200 range. But, so far, no dice.

There's a guy on ebay - ideal25 - that seems to have good springs and new horsehairs regularly. I bought a like-new seat spring and a pad from him for something like a hundred bucks for my 300sd a year, or so, ago. What a difference! These 126 cars must have been awesome when new.

But he never answers emails, you just have to watch his auctions. I've bought a few other used parts from him - they have always been in perfect condition. I don't know him, never met him, and never spoke with him. For all I know, he's a she! As always, buyer beware, just relating my experience with ideal25.

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Thank You!
Fred
2009 ML350
2004 SL600
2004 SL500
1996 SL600
2002 SLK32
2005 CLK320 cabrio
2003 ML350
1997 C280 Sport