Mike:

Yup, you got it.

The pads are actually rubberized animal hair (not usually horse hair anymore). The are molded to make the actual seat shape and aren't available from anybody but Benz (or the actual company that makes them). Not a bad price for something that can last 30 plus years if kept dry....

Junkyard seat pads are often fine (and often rotten, you just have to look).

You can "soften" up the seat a bit by putting a half inch sheet of "memory" foam on top of the pad under the seat cover when putting it back together -- Mb uses cotton padding, and it squashes down with age and gets pretty hard. I used some 1" polyurethane foam in my seatcovers, makes the 280 MUCH more comfortable.

Peter

__________________
1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!