making W123 front seat firmer
 

I wasn't happy with how soft the bottom seat springs are, so I went to my local farm supply store and purchased an inner tube (4" inside diameter). After applying duct tape to the sharp metal edges under the seat, I place the uninflated inner tube between the seat bottom and the metal plate. Then I inflated the tube to my liking. Much better!

John:laugh2:

..and there is actually an OEM part to firm up your seats - MB calls them seat booster pads.
http://w124.f0e.net/ebay4/seatboost1.jpg

That is awesome! Was it hard to install? It's like custom pnuematic lumbar support!

Wow, I never knew those existed. Any chance you have the P/N?

inner tube
 

Not hard at all. Skinned my knuckles a little applying the duct tape which will hopefully prevent the sharp edges from slicing into the inner tube. I attached my bicycle air pump to the tube before placing the tube under the seat. $4.00 well spent!

John

booster pads
 

These look like solid rubber tubes. On another thread someone had mentioned using styrofoam pool noodles as bolsters. Probably cheaper than these.

John

Someone made the point, though, that the pool noodles are 'open cell' foam, which will degrade quickly and make a mess under the seat to boot. I would expect the MB part is closed cell foam. But the inner tube sounds like pure genius!

they sure look like open cell foam to me.
I can get 4 foot sections of closed foam insulation, called armorflex from my HVAC supplier, I would think 1" nominal 3/4id would work well.
John

Look no further than the top of the page!
http://http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=183654

Are those Mercedes things supposed to go at each front corner of the seat? Because the replacement drivers seat I recently installed had coil springs at the front corners that were not on the original.

- Peter.

Here is the diagram
A Forum Member is selling these on Ebay - and I have bought from him super guy.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MERCEDES-W123-300D-123-W126-300SD-126-Seat-Booster-Pads_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33701QQitemZ150106394367QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

Saves on the hemrrhoids/piles too

Ah. I see. My original seats had no coil springs in them at all. I guess the upgrade wasn't sufficient of an upgrade after all so they had to use pool noodles.

- Peter.

That is an act of genius! :) :D :)

What I did (certainly not as clever) was cut some 4" - 6" x ~12" strips of heavy corrigated cardboard and slid them between the seat bottom padding and the lateral springs. I added just enought to 'lift' the badly depressed area of the seat and it actually feels much better. :D

Yeah but those foam pieces are selling for 30-50 dollars- hardly worth it. Notice how he keeps the part numbers obscured just enough to make it difficult to get the pieces yourself. Hehe- just call Phil and ask for Seat Adapters- probably cost 4 or 5 bucks apiece, better than 30-50. That's just ridiculous. I'd rather have a sore ass.
I wonder if you got some pool noodles and spray-on Plasti-Dip you could make some closed-cell pieces that would work the same? I really wouldn't look for the pool noodles to disintegrate quickly, it would take years. Inner tube idea+pool noodles sounds like an awesome fix.

One year later my pool noodles are still working fine.

Actually intead of pool noodle you can upgrade to tubing insulation foam noodles. Those are supposed to last much longer with wide variation of temperature.

So why do they have a 124 part number?

Chris

Sounds Like a pretty good idea, But I think you will have to refine it a little. Not to burst your bubble(or innerube:D ), I don't think just duct taping a few sharp edges will do anything for long term. You will still have rubbing on the tube from metal parts everytime you hit a bump.Good idea though in theory. Maybe some type of shield to protect it ????

shielding
 

You're probaly right. I was going to use a hard plastic sheet to sandwich the inner tube between the springs and the metal plate.

John:scholar:

Go for it. Report back on how it works out......and don't forget the pics:D

All of the pool noodles that I have seen are closed cell foam.

Pics of inner tube
 

Here they are. I found plastic bucket lids at my local grocer's delicatessin counter that they were throwing out. After determining they were the perfect size, I cut a hole in the lid that would be closest to the floor. The inner tube stem was positioned so it was pointing down so I could attach the air pump hose easily. It was easier to attach the pump before placing the "inner tube sandwich" under the seat. Once I had it positioned, inflation commenced. Both driver's and front passenger's seats are now very firm and hopefully protected from the seat springs and metal plate!

John:D