this question in various forms has been previously posted by others with no reply provided. the question: will the front seats of a later model mb 'bolt in' a w123? for example a 124 seat in a 123?

I don't know specifically if they will bolt up but...anything is possible if you are willing to rework the fittings. You might have to relocate the bolt holes in either the floor pan or the seat track. Do you have the seats? You might be the one to tell us. I assume that the seats are more or less the same size so theoretically it could work. Are the newer ones lower? I'm tall and my 123 seats keep me a little high up. I have the drivers seat adjusted to it's lowest point but hey, let me know if this works out.

__________________
1982 300D Turbo "Helga"
380,000 miles

i do not have any of the newer seats. was posting the question so that if the answer is 'yes', i would plan a visit to the re-cycler and purchase appropriate seat. my driver's seat in an 83 240d is in sorry shape structurally.

I don't know if the dimensions of the attachment point locations are the same, you can do a search for "seat springs, rebuilding seats, etc." and there is some discussion regarding interchangability between various models.

You could also consider swapping out just the seat box (the springs that you sit on) and or the backs. My experience is limited to my 126 but in that model the "seat" consists of the back and bottom connected together as a unit which is bolted to a steel frame assembly that provides the position adjustment capability. These two seperate units are held together by six screws, you may be able to take newer "seats" and attach them directly to your original adjusting frames straight up or you could probably do some clever, simple modification to the mounting hardware and make it work. Around my neck of the woods boneyard seats are $75-100 each. Good Luck!

123 and 126 bases are identical (same MB part no) what I did was to find a good passengers seat and swap the base and covering over it took an evening and what a difference

There was an earlier thread on it

changing front seat ?

Good luck

well here is a pretty dumb question about seats. is the bottom of the front drivers seat same as bottom of the front passenger seat? I keep eyeballing mine thinking about a swap so that the outside (which seems to wear more) of the drivers side becomes the inside of the passenger side, etc.

Any way to make this switch? Hard to do?

Nic
'85 300CD

Yes, it can be done. The only potential problem is lining up the access holes on the seat rails to unscrew the large philips head screws that secure the seat proper, to the adjustment frame. If you have manual seats its easy just use the lever and slide the rail forwards or back.

If you have electrical operated seats you can free the seat from the floor, four 10mm bolts and one securing the seat belt traveler rail then tilt the seat backwards or forwards as needeed to remove whatever screw is available first then use the seat control to move things to gain access to the remaining screw(s). Alternately you can completely revove the seat and use 12v on the appropriate electrical pins to induce the movement, lastly you can dissconnect the electric motor drives and turn the flex-drive cable with a wrench or pliers to accomplish the nessessary movment.

I believe there are six large philips head screws holding each seat, three per side, one on either end of the seat rails and the difficult one in the center that reqires the positioning of its' accsess hole to remove. It might sound difficult but it is really fairly easy and straight forward. If your passenger seat bottom is good then a swap out will be an improvment.

If you do elect to remove the seats and need to induce movement manually instead of electrically check this thread out where I describe how to disconnect the drive motors it might help.

power seat won't raise

First seat took me an hour or two, the last time at the boneyard grabing new/used seat spring boxes took 10 minutes per seat! Good luck!

Billybob,

Well thanks for quick and complete response. Mine are manual so should be straightforward. Appreciate the help.

Nic

Absolutely no problem and a pleasure, I'm still a pup with these cars so if I can share my limited experiance great. Listen though when you go to remove the four 10 mm bolts holding the seat to the floor it would be a very good idea to try to get some penatrating oil on the threads below the seat frame. You can spary some between the seat frame and the floor pan. I would put some there a couple of times, a day before, if you could. I say this because by now I've read at least two posts where people have broken free the nut that is welded to the underside of the floor pan that these bolts screw into. If you break this nut free when your taking out the bolts you are in deep s#*t because its' nearly impossible to hold the now turning nut and you won't be able to get the seat out! There is a double floor and the nut is in between with no access to it to repair it. So as a precaution I'm doing this from now on! When you reinstall these bolts I use some Permatex Never Seize on them and try not to over torque them. The only way to repair the broken-free nut problem appears to be cutting a hole through the outer floor pan an re-attaching it by welding it back in place!

Another option is to go with aftermarket seats. I have looked into this, and a company called Corbeau sells seats with a mounting bracket that fits a w123. Their seats are around $300. It might not be a factory Mercedes seat, but factory Mercedes seats of this vintage, especially out of a junkyard, are not lvery comfortable anyway.

Greg
'84 300D

Billybob - here is a question for you: You said 126 seats fit on the 123 rails (mounts), but do the electric seat rails bolt right to the floor, or do you have to use the manual 123 rails? It would be pretty cool to install electric seats in a 123. Also, when you mounted the 126 seat on your 123 rails, was the seat any higher or lower?

Greg
'84 300D

Sorry if my posts where confusing, my expeeriance is limited to 126 seats only. Others have stated in other threads and desmondo has in this thread that the seat bottoms of the 123 and 126 are interchangable, I believe this to be true but I haven't any direct experiance they are.

I would assume that the seat heights remain the same as the springs/pad/materials are the same.

I do know that the 126 adjustable seat frame does bolt directly to the floor pan. I do not know if the bolt pattern dimensions are identical. They may be, but I don't know if they are. I suspect they are though. I'm sure that an clever and capable installer could fabricate an adapter to bridge any mis-matching of dimensions fairly easy if needed. Crash worthiness of the seat mounts would have to be considered of course.

As to installing electrically adjustable seating once the mounting issues if any are overcome there would be the problem of controls. On my 126 the seat control switchs are mounted in the door. I don't know if it would be possible to replicate that positioning in a 123 door not to mention the wiring into and out of the door that would be needed. It is entirely within the realm of possibility to either fabricate a switch installation or perhaps find a suitable switch unit from another vehicle (I know Ford Taurus has the seat control switch module mounted on the outside of the seat bottom) and retro fit it to the MB seat. It could be mounted on the side of the seats, under/on the seat front between your legs, or even an arrangement that would put the control unit somewhere in/on the center console.

As far as which seats would be the easiest, those without the memory function (a green dot button and a #1 and #2 switch on the door switch module) like those in an earlier 126 such as a pre-85 300SD. I assume that the later you go to more complicated the features that would be involved. But hey, 8-way adjustables, headrest, heated, orthopetically, climate controlled are possible if you've the time, energy and inginuity! I hope this clears up any possible confusion, Good Luck!


BTW you could always buy new seat boxes (the springs in the frame) from Fastlane and your seat would be pretty close to new felling, they may also sell new pads to sit atop the spring boxes!

Billybob,

I'll do the oil thing. My car has always been in South so no rust/corrosion issues I know of but it doesn't hurt to take precautions.

I have traditionally applied white grease to bolts before replacing them (and I always make sure the threads are very clean) but will get some of the Never Seize stuff for future. Always wondered if using grease would cause the bolts to come undone more easily.....but have never had that happen.

Thanks again,

Nic