I finally got the passenger seat out. It takes two people, one to hold the side handle up and one in th rear pushing the seat forward. When it goes it exposes the two 10 mm bolts in the rear. the front ones are easy to find.

I have put a series of 20 pics describing the whole process on webshots

http://community.webshots.com/scripts/editPhotos.fcgi?action=viewall&albumID=318395900

I replaced the horsehair with polyester filing - similar to scrubby pad material.
I used pool noodles to keep the seat springs stiff as recommended by the forum.

The poly filing worked well. The passenger definitely sits alot higher now. There is very little compression when weight is put on the seat. It feels different then the horsehair, but 100% better, no more sliding off the front onto the floor.

I have now to do my driver side.

I hope this helps.

Materials:

polyester filing $10
Pool noodles x 2 = $3.25
time: 4-5 hrs - including screwing up
feeling on ass:priceless

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1977 280 E
1994 C280
1992 190E (sold)

"Jump in the hatch and turn on the key, pop in the clutch and let the wheels roll free"

can't get it
needs a log in ID

oops

maybe I copied the wrong URL

it should work now, click on

http://community.webshots.com/user/hos280


then select the seat album

__________________
1977 280 E
1994 C280
1992 190E (sold)

"Jump in the hatch and turn on the key, pop in the clutch and let the wheels roll free"

Nice job.
I took the liberty of adding it to our DIY section:
W123 Seat Repair

__________________
Bill Wood - Retired Webmaster
My Personal Website
1998 Mercedes E430
2010 Toyota Sequoia
My Photo Albums

Thanks for the pics. That's better than most repair manuals. I'll appreciate it when I tackle the seats on my 280.

T

How is the Tex held to the frame? Are there special attaching clips? (I seem to recall a special name for them, can't remember exactly) If the attachment of the Tex is anything special, can you provide some pics of that part of the process?

Great article and pics! I had to read it since I didn't know what the hell pool noodles were.....

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MB-less

the system is really simple. you can actually remove the tex and replace the horsehair pad with removing the whole seat. however, with so much horsehair in the carpet below and years of rain, snow and crap, it deveops quite a stink. I wanted to really clean out below the seat.


the tex is attached by just a rubber (or cardboard) strip that is sewn into the side along the front and rear. there are no clips, just one long piece that fits into the groove folded in the spring frame.


If you turn the seat upright and sit on it, you can just pull the tex down and pull the strips out of their grooves. this can be done with out taking the seat out.

i also forget the name, but the term "bucket clip" rings a bell


I have had several german friends, who are well aware of the MB seat problem, test my new seat, and they love it, so it passes the deustch test.

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1977 280 E
1994 C280
1992 190E (sold)

"Jump in the hatch and turn on the key, pop in the clutch and let the wheels roll free"

The are called "Hog Rings" and are used on most cars...but not sure about ours.

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
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Section 609 MVAC Certified
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Repaired my driver seat with the "noodles"; left the horse hair pad and put some foam between the pad and the springs, was afraid to loose the shape of the seat when using just the flat foam. Stuffed the bottom with "noodles", it made the seat so firm I almost broke my back when I first jumped in the seat!

Had to take some of the noodles out to make it more comfortable; the seating experience is great, feels like a new Benz.

The only thrown back is it raised the seat an inch, making it a little claustrophobic with the lower roof of the coupe. I feel the head liner touching my hair.

But a great solution, an upholstery guy quoted me $200 to fix both seats...you saved me some money, thanks.

When I went to Toys 'R Us I forgot how the noodles were called, wandering thrue the store I could not find them, asked a store employee if they had the "swimming pool worms", he started to laugh and pointed in the direction of the registers: thousands of noodles were waving at me!

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1979 Black on Black, 300CD (sold), 1990 Black 300SE, Silver 1989 Volvo 780, 1988 300CE (vanished by the hands of a girlfriend), 1992 300CE (Rescue).