I picked up a pair of clean seats for my 126 on eBay a few weeks ago and put them in over the weekend. I was outbid on the door panels and rear seat or I'd have bought the whole package.

I like the lines of the seats on the 91 and plan to have my back seat recovered to match later on. The leather on my old seats was in rough shape and the springs were worn out on both seats. Sheepskins covered up the ugly leather...



But seats springs were really bad. For what I would have paid for new springs, I got these seats and the springs in both are very firm.

I went for a drive this afternoon. On curves that would normally have me leaning way to the left or right, suddenly everything was as it should be. And they look great...



I haven't gotten the trim installed on the passenger side yet...



I also picked up a new 3rd brake light and a couple of other trim pieces from this same car and installed them.

As I was swapping the seats out, I noticed that the back panels from the 91 will fit on the older seats. If your seats are in good shape but you prefer the leather pouch on the back of the seat to the older cargo-net style, this would be an easy upgrade if you can find a pair in the boneyard.

It's been a busy year for the Benz. I put a new stereo in and euro headlights last month. Tomorrow, I'm replacing the old rims with 15-hole replicas. Next, she's getting new front shocks, motor mounts and some climate control work.

__________________
_______________________________________
1988 MB 560 SEL 138k - Desert Taupe w/ Cream Beige Interior.

Mods:
Euro Headlights w/Smoked Corners
New seats from a `91
ASA 15-Hole Replicas
Sony HU, JL Audio 400/4 Amp, JL Audio 2-way Components on rear deck, JL Audio 3-way Components in door & dash.


2000 BMW Z3 2.3 Roadster 33k
2002 Toyota Rav4L 50k

Looks good!

__________________
1988 W126 420 SE

beware of fundamentalists!

i would love to do this on my 1984 W126! how do the electric pugs match up?

__________________
1993 Mercedes Benz 300D 2.5 205K (ex wife's)
1984 Mercedes Benz 300SD 320K (SOLD)
2004 Mercedes Benz C240 75K
1995 GMC Sierra 2WD 5.7L 188K
1983 Mercedes Benz 300SD 239K (SOLD)
1987 BMW 325i 220K (SOLD FOR SALVAGE)

609 Certification

On my car, the plugs were an exact match. Depending on the seat, there
are 5 or 6 plugs. Two coming from the seat backs which will already be plugged in if you get a seat in 1 piece. Mine had the backs removed and shipped separately.

The driver's side wiring looks like this:



Here's the passenger side:



If you have heated seats, there are two more black plugs shown here:


I did lose having heated seats because the new seats came from a 420SEL that didn't have them. I'm in Texas, though, so I wasn't worried about it.

As I understand it, seats from any 126 are interchangeable except you can't put power seats in a car that has manual and vice-versa.

Bill

__________________
_______________________________________
1988 MB 560 SEL 138k - Desert Taupe w/ Cream Beige Interior.

Mods:
Euro Headlights w/Smoked Corners
New seats from a `91
ASA 15-Hole Replicas
Sony HU, JL Audio 400/4 Amp, JL Audio 2-way Components on rear deck, JL Audio 3-way Components in door & dash.


2000 BMW Z3 2.3 Roadster 33k
2002 Toyota Rav4L 50k

seats look real good gigtime! thanks for the pics.

you can use SEM flexible color coat spray (NAPA stores) to change color or match any interior item if you need to.

__________________
1993 Mercedes Benz 300D 2.5 205K (ex wife's)
1984 Mercedes Benz 300SD 320K (SOLD)
2004 Mercedes Benz C240 75K
1995 GMC Sierra 2WD 5.7L 188K
1983 Mercedes Benz 300SD 239K (SOLD)
1987 BMW 325i 220K (SOLD FOR SALVAGE)

609 Certification

Thanks for the tip on SEM spray. I don't need it for this project but it might come in handy in the future.

Bill

__________________
_______________________________________
1988 MB 560 SEL 138k - Desert Taupe w/ Cream Beige Interior.

Mods:
Euro Headlights w/Smoked Corners
New seats from a `91
ASA 15-Hole Replicas
Sony HU, JL Audio 400/4 Amp, JL Audio 2-way Components on rear deck, JL Audio 3-way Components in door & dash.


2000 BMW Z3 2.3 Roadster 33k
2002 Toyota Rav4L 50k

hey gigtime, i wonder if W124 (300E, E320, E420) seats will work (match up, same size) in W126 cars? you see alot of good condition w124 seats around.

hey gigtime what year did the W126s go to the horizontal leather pattern vs. the vertical? how is the difference in feel between the two? are the seat springs a diffrent-stronger design than the earlier frames?

i think i may have a line on some 1990, 1991 560 sel front seats.

__________________
1993 Mercedes Benz 300D 2.5 205K (ex wife's)
1984 Mercedes Benz 300SD 320K (SOLD)
2004 Mercedes Benz C240 75K
1995 GMC Sierra 2WD 5.7L 188K
1983 Mercedes Benz 300SD 239K (SOLD)
1987 BMW 325i 220K (SOLD FOR SALVAGE)

609 Certification

I don't think 124 seats will work in a 126 but I could be wrong.

It was `89 when the new design came in. They went to the narrow slant pieces on the door trim panels and the horizontal pattern on the doors. I don't know if the frame design changed that much. At a glance, the springs look the same but I didn't really think to check.

There's a huge difference in the feel but I think that's due to use versus design. The PO of my car probably tipped the scales at over 300 pounds. I didn't meet his wife but the passenger side was in worse shape than the driver's side.

The new seats are nice and firm. I also like being able to drive without the sheepskin covers. They're comfortable but I don't particularly like the way they look on seats with adjustable headrests. I have the sheepskin covers for the headrests but they don't fit like a glove. I think sheepskins look better on a seat with a one piece back when they're snug.

Btw, today I got 15-hole replicas put on the car and what a difference. $99 bucks each from Tirerack. Other than the MB part number, they look exactly like the OEM wheels. Well, except that they don't have caked-on brake dust and the clearcoat isn't eaten away. Btw, the new wheels include center caps and lug bolts although the bolts are short. They fit but don't extend to the edge like the OEM models. I already had a new set of bolts so I used those instead.

Pics are here: New 15-Hole Replicas on my 560 SEL

Bill

__________________
_______________________________________
1988 MB 560 SEL 138k - Desert Taupe w/ Cream Beige Interior.

Mods:
Euro Headlights w/Smoked Corners
New seats from a `91
ASA 15-Hole Replicas
Sony HU, JL Audio 400/4 Amp, JL Audio 2-way Components on rear deck, JL Audio 3-way Components in door & dash.


2000 BMW Z3 2.3 Roadster 33k
2002 Toyota Rav4L 50k

Gig is right about the pattern change for US spec - Euro spec changed in '88.

__________________
1988 W126 420 SE

beware of fundamentalists!

So 420SE, is your 88 a Euro?

__________________
_______________________________________
1988 MB 560 SEL 138k - Desert Taupe w/ Cream Beige Interior.

Mods:
Euro Headlights w/Smoked Corners
New seats from a `91
ASA 15-Hole Replicas
Sony HU, JL Audio 400/4 Amp, JL Audio 2-way Components on rear deck, JL Audio 3-way Components in door & dash.


2000 BMW Z3 2.3 Roadster 33k
2002 Toyota Rav4L 50k

Sure is!

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/vbpicgallery.php?do=view&g=33

__________________
1988 W126 420 SE

beware of fundamentalists!

Great looking car. Now that you post the link, I realize I've seen it on the forum a few times. You've got that distinctive looking driveway that's hard to miss.

In the photos, it looks like the armrest is on the left-hand seat. Is that true? Or it is just the camera angle? If they switched everything else to the right side, surely they did the armrest, too.

Bill

__________________
_______________________________________
1988 MB 560 SEL 138k - Desert Taupe w/ Cream Beige Interior.

Mods:
Euro Headlights w/Smoked Corners
New seats from a `91
ASA 15-Hole Replicas
Sony HU, JL Audio 400/4 Amp, JL Audio 2-way Components on rear deck, JL Audio 3-way Components in door & dash.


2000 BMW Z3 2.3 Roadster 33k
2002 Toyota Rav4L 50k

No, all the RHD cars have the armrest on the left seat.

It has a 2 stage lock so that if the passenger reclines the back, you can drop the armrest down a notch.

I'll wager that the LHD have it too, just few know about it.

BTW, that driveway is designed so that you can get up it without slipping. I have a 13 meter (39 foot) drop from the road to the bottom of my block (I live on the side of a hill). Many get scared about coming down our driveway but we've even had multi wheel trucks be able to get up and down. Not to mention it drains really well through the pebbles. Pads of concrete. Bugger to construct - but very effective.

Cheers

__________________
1988 W126 420 SE

beware of fundamentalists!

i found a cool set that would be great to replace my failing mbtex horsehair ones from my 84 w123, this year i got into the engine, drivetrain and front end, now i just have to replace the dash, rewire and new interior and im super happy. so i found these w124 seats that look like they would fit, the rear im not so sure of but i want to try it. any thoughts? i have not found any info on this out there anywhere..

I don't think W124 seats will fit properly in a W123......


I have installed 1991 350SDL seats in my '82 300SD though, I even had to fully convert the seats from memory to non-memory, it took a while but was not all that difficult for a master solder-er like me.

__________________
-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)