refreshing seat parts and leather

[ebennz]

who has replaced their seat leather?

what all did you do at this time?

did you replace seat or spring pads?

how do you know if springs are shot?

is this a huge pita?

i've been wanting to do this for quite awhile.
my driver seat is tired looking and has a hole [damn blue leather] in side bolster.

my wife is a tinge chunky* and she just kind of flops in. what can you say and still keep peace in the valley?

the seat feels flat and worn down, it no longer has the springy feel the passenger seat does.

should i try to change seat pad only or buy a new or used set of springs [about 200.00!]?
what does the maual say regarding doing this?

what have you all done to refresh/update seats?

thanks

[230/8]

First suggestion: don't let your wife read your post!

Second: seats only look simple, a decent upholstery shop (auto) should be able to fit the new cover to your seat at a reasonable cost. As to springs and pads, I've seldom seen or heard of anyone needing to replace springs unless one is broken, but the pads are another story. They frequently need to be replaced to reestablish the proper seat contour and fanny feel.

230/8

[ebennz]

Originally Posted by 230/8

First suggestion: don't let your wife read your post! 230/8

no chit mang!

i need to be more specific on this, my wife is really only a little bit heavy, we don't need any ramps or pulleys here.

she does kind of seem to fall in. she is a great lady,i have very FEW complaints, but she falls in

[psfred]

Matched leather is available from several sources, including MB.

If the seat feels squashed, it is, the springs have collapsed (the ones on the driver side of the 300D are gone). Spring set is about $200, you can call FastLane here. Adsit and World Upholstery both sell matched covers.

Covers are easy to change, and you may not even need to do the back if the hole is only in the seat (or vice versa).

I highly recommend using a good leather treatment (NOT saddle soap!!!) regularly to keep the leather in good shape, else it will crack badly. MB leather is not dyed through, so cracks show tan. Leatherique is good, there are others. Even the stuff at the autoparts store is better than nothing!

Peter

[400E]

Outboard side bolsters always take a lot of abuse. I have a small hole in mine from years of belt loops rubbing against them on entry.

If you want to do an EASY cosmetic fix, look at colorplus.com . I've ordered dye from them which comes in common MB colors without needing to pay extra for custom color matching. The gray one, at least, is a perfect match. Every year or so I retouch the side bolster on the driver's seat and it looks like new. This year I need to fix the hole. It's easy. You put some canvas behind the hole, and glue it to the back side of the leather by contact cement. You then cover the patch and the hole with a flexible patching compound (colorplus sells this) and when dry you redye the area.

ebennz - I had the same problem with my 126 and for years I wanted to put new springs on. I was going to have an upholstery shop do it but they wanted $1300 ($700 parts, $600 labor). Last summer I couldn't take it anymore and I bought a pair of new springs and pads off of ebay for a total of $200 including shipping. It took me about 3 days for the whole project (that includes and entire day of vacuum and shampooing the carpets).

You should give it a shot. Best thing I ever did for my car.

Peter
1988 420sel


BTW - I'd say it's about a 4 on the difficulty scale and I consider myself an intermediate DIYer. Good luck and let me know if you need any help.

[G-Benz]

Originally Posted by ebennz

my wife is a little heavy and she just kind of flops in.

Note: Despite your correlation between seat wear and your wife's alleged size, women, in general enter the vehicle compartment less gracefully than you might think!

I won't comment on my wife, but especially in the SL, she has a tendency to launch herself onto the seat...and because of the high lumbar supports, they take the most abuse!

I'm looking to slowly resurrect the aging parts on my W124 (replacing the console next week) and I am looking closely at the condition of the seats...I will wait and see how others respond as well...

[MikeTangas]

I did the front leather on the 560 using good leather from a wrecked 420. My task included sewing the heating pads from the original leather to the 420's leather. Most difficult part was all the hand stitching. My job was made easier due to instaling used leather, I imagine trying to stretch new leather would be a royal pain. The upholstery is retained in small channels by means of a cardboard/hardboard slat wrapped in the leather cover.

You may be able to determine if there are any broken spring prior to removal, but note that I wasn't able to. Only after the seats were removed was I able to find the broken spring.

It basically took me three days to do both front seats. Try a search on "heated seats" by me, I think I posted some of the pictures in that thread.

[Ethan]

I think there was an article in the MB club STAR magazine a few years back about rebuilding seat pads - looked rather simple - may be able to go to the MBCA site and archive the story.

Also the most recent issue of Mercedes Benz Classic magazine on the newsstand (Barnes & Nobel ) now - page ninety has an excellent story on leather care, repairing hole, relacquering seat - not that you would do the work yourself but a good guide.