The MB Tex on the driver's seat in the 1998 C230 is beginning to wear through! At one of the seams the Tex has worn out, and the dealer says the only "permanent" fix is to replace the seat bottom. That's $700+


I went to an upholstery shop, and they found enough material to bring it back together and re-stitch it, but can make no guarantee as to how long it will last. It's a $200 hit. Much better than $700+!

The MB Tex in all my W201 cars was much older when I sold each car, and held up WAY better than the Tex in the C230.

MB has managed to turn my wife off their products, and they're working VERY hard lately to make me an "ex" customer too...

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John Shellenberg
1998 C230 "Black Betty" 240K

http://img31.exs.cx/img31/4050/tophat6.gif

The 'tex is allways a problem on the drivers seat, I dont think I've ever seen a merc more than a few years old without wear on the outside edge of both the base and the back. on a previous car (124 series) I found a part number just for the tex , thats the cloth only, I ordered for the base (about $50) and fitted it myself then kept the old tex for an upholstry shop repair on the back.
My present 98 E300 has a slip cover just on the drivers seat, I dont like having to do this but at least there's no wear .

dieseldave

MB must have changed the type of material in later years because my '91 TE seats look brand new. No wear, spots, tears, etc.

There's no doubt that this is not the same material that it was in the 80's and early 90's. I ruined the armrest cover in my 99 by trying to clean some stubborn dirt with 409. Now the finish is gone and the whole thing is a sticky gooey mess. The Tex in my 204D and the 86 and 87 models I've owned previously would stand up to anything.

My personal opinion is that this has something to do with being friendly to the environment. Just like they don't use solvent based paints anymore. Of course the cynics will say it's a cost cutting maneuver.

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Rick Miley
2014 Tesla Model S
2018 Tesla Model 3
2017 Nissan LEAF
Former MB: 99 E300, 86 190E 2.3, 87 300E, 80 240D, 82 204D Euro
Chain Elongation References

Is there anything to fix the cracks and holes on MB Tex?
I have read a lot about products to fix leather, but never a product for MB Tex.

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1999 Porsche 996 Carrera Convertible
1994 420E - SOLD
1986 300E - SOLD, what a car
609 Certified

I've seen "Dr. Vinyl" do very good repairs on cracked/torn Tex.

Update:

I took my C230 into an automotive upholstery shop this morning. They took out the seat, took the bottom Tex off, fixed the offending piece and checked the rest of the material. He reinforced the worn part and restitched the seam. Then reinstalled the seat.

Total cost: $220.

The fix looks great, and the seat looks like new again. While I am happy now, it still worries me that the quality of the material has fallen.

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John Shellenberg
1998 C230 "Black Betty" 240K

http://img31.exs.cx/img31/4050/tophat6.gif