The main difference between MBtex and leather is, MBtex is made out of Nauga hide and leather is made of cow hide.

Those little naugie's are harder to find than cows in Germany...He he sorry couldn't help myself.

Actually, I'm a bit of an expert in leather. I was a manufacturer's rep for a leather furniture manufacturer for over ten years.

MBtex is a very high quality vinyl. It is engineered by man to stand up against sun,heat and abraision for a long time. You can generally tell if a MB car has MBtex because the seats have channels sewn into them that run all the way to the end or edge of the seat bottom and back.

Leather is engineered by God, to protect an animal from sun, heat and abraision...while they are alive. You can generally tell a leather seat because the channels or perforated panels are framed by mitered unperforated panels.

The easiest way to tell though, is if a car over ten years old's seats still look good, is almost certainly MBtex.

This is because durnig the tanning process, the natural oils and nutrients in the hide are extracted due to the chemicals used. Modern processing can artificially replace most of those oils and nutrients. It's a process called "fat liquoring".

Anyway, in the harsh environment of an automobile, those oils and nutrients will begin to diminish causing the leather to , tear and generally look bad. You can slow this process down by "feeding" your leather seats, Lexol, Leathertique are specially designed for this purpose. The best thing you can do to protect your leather is put UV film on the windows.

Mtex is the most durable material used in the auto industry, it's one of those rare instances where the cheaper alternative lasts longer and is easier to take care of.

This might e more info than you were looking for, but what the heck.

Mr. BILL

90 300SE leather
85 300D MBtex
84 300SD (sold)