190E Seat Lowering?
 

I have a 1988 190E with 30,000 miles that I would like to drop the drivers seat down another inch or so. I'm 6' 2" and I have to practically drive with the sunroof open to keep my head from hitting the roof. Anyone ever tried to modify the seat brackets to accomplish this? Is it even doable? Thanks for any assistance.

I could sell you my seat bottoms, you'll find that extra inch in the worn horsehair pads! :)

While it's probably possible to modify the existing mounting points on the seats go get them lower than the lowest setting with a custom frame, you might also want to consider a custom driver's seat, like a Sparco or Corbeau with custom brackets.

:confused:

I'm 6'1" and had a 1987 190E. I had no problem with my car. There was a seat height adjustment, but I can't for the life of me remember how this worked.

an 88 with 30,000 miles wow. who owns these cars? super. hows the body? As for lowering the seat, interesting question, the seat comes out easily enough, just four little bolts (standard 10mm I think) the back passanger side bolt is a little tricky to get to. the chair will slide off the rail -for the safety belt- on the right with the cap off and there are elecrical plugs underneath, two or three that unplug and the seat comes out. with it out though (and its a little heavy and cumbersome), as posted above, there is a very thin layer of horse hair and then springs. I would bet that the springs would be the only place to really gain any height, but you don't want to cut them out... maybe you could compress them somehow, but they are kind of delicate. check online for aftermarket seats and see how they compare, perhaps you could swap yours.

cdt

glwells,

I have the same problem. I too am 6' 2". You have manual seats, right?

I assume you're familiar with the sliding height adjustment. The problem is that with the adjustment all the way back, I can barely reach the steering wheel and accelerator/brake. And the front-to-back adjustment isn't flat. So when you move the seat foreward, you loose headroom -- very annoying.

I've sat in a 190E that had POWER seats -- and it had plenty of headroom. So I'm considering converting to power seats. But I'm told that the conversion is not easy. It would be a breeze if the controls were on the seat instead of in the door.

If I can find some seats, switches, and wiring harnesses for a decent price, I may give it a whack. If I do, I'll post back with info.

Jeff Pierce

Thanks everyone! Great comments. It is manual seats and I have the seats all the way down. To get the extra headroom, I too have to put the seat further back than what is comfortable. I'll probably have to soften those hard horse hair pads! Thanks for the suggestions.