PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post

haasman · #4 12-29-2005, 01:24 AM

Been there, done that: The seat must have the "horse hair pad" that is in good condition to start with. The pad unto itself is actually remarkable. It is firm, but flexible. It takes many, many impacts yet stays firm. BTW, I don't believe it really is horse hair any more, instead is a cellulous product that is sprayed with a flexible glue.

It performs several functions; most importantly it distributes the load across the seat springs. That is why when it fails it feels like you are going into the floor boards. The pad also locates the padding above it and helps keep the assembly from shifting.

If it were mine, I would find a new pad. Best, either OEM or an exact replacement. Used ones are just that, used. New ones, especially on say a driver's seat are wonderful change to any older car.

The torn fabric can be dealt with in several ways, depending on how far gone. The fabric is important because it is the backing to the top seating pad and it is used to attach it to the "horse hair pad". Often if the tears are not too bad, you can use fishing line and a large needle and sew the pieces providing a bridging support. You can also sew in new patches or simply have an auto seat shop do this for you inexpensively.

One car I used a hot glue gun and it worked quite well. The repairs lasted over 100k miles.

As a further note, there are hog rings that hold the seating pad to the horse hair pad that are simply C rings with two sharp ends. They should be carefully removed, saved and reused when putting the seat back together.

I have found the high density closed cell seating foam, low density, some density etc all are only fair substitutes for repairs.

The plastic swimming pool noodles are temporary to help keep collapsed coiled seat springs from bottoming further.

There is simply nothing better than a well repaired Mercedes seat. If it is a poor repair, you'll know it (your butt will tell you immediately).

Haasman