For all you vintage 300D and generally W123 owners, its unbelievable what new seats can do for your driving experience and car appreciation !

I found pristine front seats at the salvage yard.
brought them home one day at a time because only one fit in my car for the haul home.

I went back today hoping for the rear bench seat set up.

Gone.

But I am happy with the front seats.

The driver's seat even has a lumbar bladder.

The new seats are supple and like new !

What a difference from my OEM 1979 horsehair seats.
My old seats were in OK shape but compared to these new ones, it is like night and day.

Donor car was an '83 240D. Correction 1-24-14 1982 240D Color is like Ox blood (Sienna ?) whereas my original interior is tobacco. Looks good though.

So, if you have the opportunity, look into new seats and experience the 'difference'.

Well worth the time and trouble.

Attached Thumbnails

 

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1979 300D 220 K miles
1995 C280 109 K miles
1992 Cadillac Eldorado Touring Coupe 57K miles SOLD
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1979 240D 140Kmiles (bought for parents) *SOLD.
SAN FRANCISCO/(*San Diego)
1989 300SE 148 K miles *SOLD

Congratulations. If you're windshield looks like it's been sandblasted from 30+ years of highway driving, you should replace that too, then you'll be in heaven.

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'81 300SD

Super nice seats.....super rare color....there are members looking for interior bits in that color....if the rest of the car is in that shape....I would buy it all and flip it!

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wow - great find. I have the same color interior and will admit that I am slightly coveting those seats!
If you happen to find yourself back there, I could use a pair of front floor mats in that color (mine were replaced w/ mismatched palomino). I'd be happy to pay you for the time plus shipping and a bit extra.

I agree i think i would have a much better relationship with this vehicle if the front seats were better............... hmmmmm maybe just find something that would fit?

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"NEW" 1984 300D TD needs some love

Nice! I found a pair of manual seats out of a 1983 380SEL Euro at a pick and pull last summer. The skins aren't perfect, but the springs are. The driver's seat even had the corner coil springs reinforced with an extra set of coil springs to make the corners more firm. I've been planning to put them in the 300SD. The only problem is that the seats are light gray and the 300SD's interior is olive green. Gray and green just won't look right, and the product I want to use to recolor them (SEM Color Coat) doesn't come in green.

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'81 MB 300SD, '82 MB 300D Turbo (sold/RIP), '04 Lincoln Town Car Ultimate

Sooner or later every car falls apart, ours does it later!
-German Narrator in a MB Promotion Film about the then brand new W123.

Those seats look really nice, good score UNKL300D Having nice firm seats that don`t sag are all the difference in the world.

When you see something in the yard, get it now. Or it won`t be there when you come back. Had that happen too often.

I have replaced all the seats in the 240 from Junk yard finds. the drivers seat was in a 83 240D pass side. It was like no one ever sat on it.
I just replaced the rear seat back cushion from one out of a 84 300D. I have Tobacco, but the new seat is a light sandy color. the HH Padding is rubbery like. I had a can of 3M 8090 and I soaked the pad from the back hoping it will help extend the life of it. It`s nice and plush compared to the old one.

The old seat back was like burnt toast and the cloth backing had rotted away.

There are a lot of good seats getting crushed with the cars.
Today I pulled a front set from a 82 300D in Blue.


Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

For the members who don't want to add strange color front seats in their car.....the skins are super super easy to switch from one to the other....no tools really required or upholstery knowledge

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Three things instantly transformed my 1980 300sd from the feeling of a worn out junker to a real car again.
#1.Seats: re-padding the broken down front seats so you can sit straight and upright in comfort made all the difference in the world.
#2.Shocks: Replacing the completely worn out Shocks made it go from a wheel hopping wallowing pig, to a tight well riding sports car.
#3. Motor mounts: That rocking & shaking at idle will not go away until you replace the motor mounts; (no matter how well tuned up your engine is).... I had no idea how important good motor mounts in a diesel are. ...New motor mounts=smooth idle.

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"Our Lady of Blessed Acceleration...
don't Fail Us Now"

Well there is a learning curve to do the MB seats if you have never done them. After taking one apart, it is pretty simple to do.

You will have to remove the back rest to do either section. Compress the Springs to give the fabric some slack, then pull the folded over piece that is in the slot out. there is a sewn on thick piece of Card Board around the edge of the MB Tex.

Then there is the Hog Rings to snip off from the cloth, and the covers come off.

The Plastic side covers are fragile and will break if you are not careful.

If you have broken Springs, just replace the Spring Box with one from a 2nd Gen W126. The pass side will fit on the drivers side, just swap over the seat tracks, and you will have an improved seat.

I don`t care how good looking the MB Tex is, these are old seats and the cloth backing in most cases it rotted and will have to be replaced. Have an upholstery shop repair them for much cheaper than buying new covers from GAHH or World Upholstery.

Forget doing the Pool Noodle trick.

Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

I have the whole interior pretty much out of the car, i think i will swap the seats and rebuild the driver seat, any passengers will just have to ride in the back.

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"NEW" 1984 300D TD needs some love

Hey all, I went back yesterday to try to find the rear bench seat.

It was gone. Both sections.

Unfortunately the interior was ransacked. All the mats and carpeting gone.
Only a few door panels left. Its a manual window lever type set up.
(engine and trans gone also)

My gripe is about idjits who come in and destroy everything so that nobody else can have an opportunity to salvage stuff and they save 3 seconds with a quick and dirty pull.

If I had a pick up truck, I would have just packed the entire interior in.

But since my 300D is my 'pick up truck' I had to go one by one. Its a bit of a distance also.

As I drove over there yesterday on my new seats, I kept having the sensation that I was driving someone else's car !

Anyway, its quite an improvement.

Definitely worth doing in order to enhance your car experience.!

Many years ago I brought the car to a local boat/car upholstery place.

$1000 per seat was the verbal estimate...

yeah, the car is about worth that much at market value....(priceless to me)

So I just put quality sheep skin covers on them.

My windshield is fine.

Glass seems never to be taken from salvage yard cars.

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1979 300D 220 K miles
1995 C280 109 K miles
1992 Cadillac Eldorado Touring Coupe 57K miles SOLD
********************
1979 240D 140Kmiles (bought for parents) *SOLD.
SAN FRANCISCO/(*San Diego)
1989 300SE 148 K miles *SOLD

You might be comparing the older style (1979) versus the newer/later style (1983).

Notable differences:

1. Armrest is thicker on older style
2. Backrest is thicker on older style
3. Headrests are pointed on older style
4. Pleats are flatter on the older style
5. Rear nets have chrome surround on older style

The springs of an older seat are also designed differently than the springs of the newer one.

Were you able to transplant the seatbelt into the newer seat? The buckles are different between those years.

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http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7271/7...144c3fc1dc.jpg

shooooooooooooooooot didn't think about the arm rest, so when you swap passenger seat in for the drivers seat do you just swap seat backs?

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"NEW" 1984 300D TD needs some love

The seat back frame for driver and passenger are the same, as is the MB Tex cover. There are holes in the metal on both sides, and taped to thread in the arm rest. Remove the back panel and you will see it. You have to remove the panel to remove the Arm rest, there is a big nut, don`t remember the size though.

MB standardized things, cheaper in manufacturing.

When I swapped in the 83 pass 240D seat to my 80 240 drivers side, I decided to not install the Arm Rest. maybe some day I will.

Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works