The shop manual says to remove 4 bolts & take the seat out. One set of bolts loosens the rail but it doesn't come out of the lower bracket. There's a bolt in the middle of the rail. I took both sides lose & the rail still doesn't budge. I loosened the bottom bracket but can't find where the harness unplugs. There MAY be something under the carpet but 1/2 the interior needs to come out to get to it. It can't be this difficult. How do you get the front seat out? The fronts are so uncomfortable they NEED to be fixed.

I ran in to something similar with my W123. I think they use the same type of mounting system. The 4 bolts screw into a nut that is held by a clip on type device to the raised bracket attached to the floor pan. Three of the 4 blots came out without problem. The last one would turn but not come out. I got enough clearance to cut that bolt with a hacksaw blade. Once out, I found that the spring clip had failed and allowed the nut to turn. Relaced with a part from PNP. Even a small amount of rust would cause these to happen.

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Charles
1983 300D, bought new, 215k+ miles, donated to Purple Hearts veterans charity but I have parts for sale: http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=296386

I unpluged the wiring, and removed the 4 bolts holding the seat base; then take it out of the car. Then remove the 6 bolts for the rails (back and forth).
I've done several and cannot recall removing the rails in the car, it could be possible ??

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Bill

'82 300SD 195K
'84 300SD 199K

The 87's were probably similar to yours... There were 2 bolts in the front and 2 in the back. You had to move the seat from front to back to get the front ones, and move the seat back to front to get the back ones.

The electrical connections were under the front part of the seat. There were several large plugs. The 87 may have had a couple extra for the headrest and memory. They were tight coming out, but I believe you just pry them up.

Again, on the 87, there was a bar that ran along the console side pf the seat bottom that attached with the seatbelt. I think you had to slide the entire seat forward to get that seatbelt bracket off the bar. If I remember I took out the back seat bottom and removed the front seat out of the back door. It is heavy, you may want help to prevent damage to the interior or your back.

Removing the back of the seat from the bottom wasn't too difficult. Take off the trim in the corners and it unbolts.

I found an entire bottom seat spring assembly. This bolted to the motor assembly (both in the bottom of the seat). I had to move the spring assembly back and forth to get access to a middle bolt. I hauled the seat bottom back to the car and plugged it in to move with the seat switches.

Good luck. The springs made a huge difference in seat comfort. Well worth the effort.

I found it. I ended up taking the 4 bolts out that hold the frame to the floor. There are 3 main plugs. 2 of them are the flat kind typical of MBZ with multiple female connections coming at righe angles to the wires. Third is a 2 wire connector. They're located at the motor end of the wores. It may help to raise the seat before disconnecting the connectors. Now to figure out how the MBtex comes off the seat.

That's the easy part. Now, before you can begin removing the MBtex, you've got to separate the seat frame from the track mechanism. There are three phillips screws that secure the frame to the track. One at either end and one in the middle. Unfortunately, to get a phillips screwdriver on all of them will require the seat to be in one precise position. This won't be the case and you'll need to return to the vehicle (or rig up 12V to the seat motor) to move the seat slightly until the one of the holes in the frame aligns with the head of the Phillips screw. Additionally............and this is important............get a #3 Phillips screwdriver............do NOT attempt it with the typical #2...........or you'll strip it..........and will then be in a world of hurt because you cannot drill it out.

Once the tracks are removed from the frame, you'll need to remove the seat back from the seat cushion. The plastic side pieces need to be carefully unsnapped from the frame (use a wide flat blade) and you'll see the four mounting screws.

The tex comes off by compressing the seat cushion and sliding the edge off the frame...........no fasteners are utilized.

Good luck.

Bottom springs can be removed and replaced with the seat in the car. Remove cover and pad, release springs from medal tabs on seat base.

You'll need to explain the following issues to accomplish that task:

1) How do you remove the seat back with the seat in the vehicle? You can't get the bottom spring out with the seat back in place.

2) How do you remove the Phillips screws that hold the tracks to the seat frame. You'd need to drill holes in the floor pan to access the screws from the bottom of the vehicle.

If you're talking about a W126, I don't think that your procedure is physically possible.