Benzwood,

I hope everything turns out ok. I finally found a company that sells the solid nylon cording. I bought an exact match blue for my car today. I took the cover off and into the store. My dad says it will take him about 15 min. to replace it in the morning. I'll try to get some pictures up in the a.m. also.

BTW the cording cost $5.00 even

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Brandon



2008 S550
1957 Dodge D100
1967 VW Microbus 21 Window
2001 Suburban
2004 Beach cruiser bicycle
-----------------GO DUKE!-----------------

"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religion, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For that reason alone, people of other faiths have been afforded freedom of worship here." Patrick Henry 1776

An update, and a question...

A guy from GAHH called me back (he'd been out of the office) and addressed my concerns. The color mismatch he felt would go away if I put some leather conditioner on it, apparently that brings out the hue.

As to the other issues, he offered to take a look at it if I sent him the whole armrest. So I'm happy about that.

But, I don't know how to detach the armrest from the seat, and couldn't find any good instructions with a search. Has anyone done that ('92 300E or similar)?

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1992 300E Sedan (Sold)
1999 E320 Wagon (Sold)
1995 E320 Sedan
1995 E320 Wagon

I just read a very detailed description of taking off the armrest on this site the other day. Search and you'll find it.

I remember reading the post briefly, and recalled that the screws for the armrest are underneath the seat back. So naturally, you have to take off the seat back first.

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

Final update!

First, the armrest on my car (1992 300E) slides over a couple of threaded rods sticking out from the side of the seat, onto which a couple of sorta-locking nuts are attached (difficult to turn even when not tightened). You get to the nuts by removing the little plastic cover where the armrest shaft attaches to the seat. Easy job once you figure that out. Luckily I gave up on removing the seatback before I destroyed it.

So I detached my armrest and sent the whole thing back to GAHH with a recap of my concerns.

I got it back today with the cover installed. They reused the same cover I sent back to them, but sewed it on permanently on the sides.

This resulted in a much better fit along the reverse seam, and hides the interior foam where it was visible before.

Still can see some raw leather edges unlike the factory version, but much better than before:

Attached Thumbnails

 

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1992 300E Sedan (Sold)
1999 E320 Wagon (Sold)
1995 E320 Sedan
1995 E320 Wagon

In addition, they apparently put a little extra foam in at the tip of the armrest to get rid of some of the bagginess there.

And they did something to make the cording lie straighter along the upper drivers side.

Finally, I put some leather conditioner on it per their suggestion, and it did help bring the color and appearance a closer to the factory original.

Overall quite a bit better than before. Still not perfect, but you've probably figured out if you've read this far that I'm a bit of a perfectionist.

I'm pleased that GAHH stood behind their work and did the alterations at no charge, and would recommend them based on that.

If you're considering recovering your armrest, I would suggest that you ask GAHH if you can just send the whole armrest and have them do it. Might be a little extra charge but worth it.

Anyway, here's the final result... and hopefully with a little time it will blend in even better.

Attached Thumbnails

 

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1992 300E Sedan (Sold)
1999 E320 Wagon (Sold)
1995 E320 Sedan
1995 E320 Wagon

Okay, I just recieved my new seat covers, headrest covers, armrest cover, horsehair pads and spring set from GAHH.

Question for you. How did you deal with those plastic inserts on the seams? they seem impossible! did you open up the large black insert some to loosen it up? I'm having difficulty with mine at the moment. Thanks

The covers are beautiful and Im very pleased. AS you can see I ordered the Brazil colored piping for no extra charge.

Attached Thumbnails

 

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1995 E320 Sportline Wagon "Bernard"
black on black leather

http://i.imgur.com/BdZ7jM3.png

this is the pain in the a$$ thing i was talking about!

Attached Thumbnails

 

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1995 E320 Sportline Wagon "Bernard"
black on black leather

http://i.imgur.com/BdZ7jM3.png

closeup

Attached Thumbnails

 

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1995 E320 Sportline Wagon "Bernard"
black on black leather

http://i.imgur.com/BdZ7jM3.png

Those covers do look nice! Did they put the clip on your armrest correctly, i.e. matching the original?

I know what you mean about the tricky plastic clip. I had my assistant mechanic (aka wife) help compress the foam in the armrest to give me a little more slack while I worked on the clip but it was still a major pain. And mine kept popping off afterward until GAHH sewed it on.

If your armrest removes easily like mine, I would take it off for installation so you're not performing back seat calisthenics (not there's anything wrong with that in other contexts). If all else fails, try profuse cursing.

You might also give GAHH a call and see if they have any suggestions, maybe there's a trick to it.

Good luck, keep us posted!

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1992 300E Sedan (Sold)
1999 E320 Wagon (Sold)
1995 E320 Sedan
1995 E320 Wagon

benzwood! thanks for your reply. i actually haven't even started to put it on yet.

the clips DONT match the original. they are actually reversed from the original so that what was on top is now on bottom. im glad i noticed before i began cutting a hole.

i have to CUT the hole larger to fit the whole for my button that locks the armrest up. they say that's normal. odd. did you have to do any cutting?!!?

eric

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1995 E320 Sportline Wagon "Bernard"
black on black leather

http://i.imgur.com/BdZ7jM3.png

They seem to be a good company. I would definitely let them know so they can fix it (send it back) and change the way they're making the covers.

I might be going by there tomorrow, so I could stop in. Depends if I can get off work early enough. Do you have a contact name? I can point them to this thread.

Craig

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1994 E420, Pearl Black/Black. 2.82 rear diff., AMG front spoiler, painted lower half. SOLD

1972 & 1974 BMW 2002tii's.

thanks Dcraig. i've been talking with jake and we decided i would go ahead and try to fix this on my own, if not then i can send it back. after trying to put this armrest cover on, im thinking i may have to send it in. i had to cut the hole larger for the button mechanism to fit in.
thanks anyways!

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1995 E320 Sportline Wagon "Bernard"
black on black leather

http://i.imgur.com/BdZ7jM3.png

I also had to enlarge the hole on mine to fit the button, but that wasn't a big deal.

However, the clip was upside-down on mine too, and it can't be flipped over because the shape isn't symmetrical. I'm not sure why they are making that way... they certainly know about it from when I inquired about it.

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1992 300E Sedan (Sold)
1999 E320 Wagon (Sold)
1995 E320 Sedan
1995 E320 Wagon