w123 seat springs and foam
 

Are the internal parts of all w123 front seats cross compatible?

My 79 240d has collapsed springs and the foam has turned to dust. It feels like sitting on a chain link fence.

I have some seats out of a 83 or 84 240d that have a lot more spring and cushion to them, but they are the wrong color.

I can tell the style of the tex covering is different between the two, and the headrests are different, would the innards be movable from one to the other? Specifically the bottom part, but the back is pretty bad too.

Otherwise, maybe I should just get some foam cushion pads to put over them.

Thanks.

Yes you can use the box, they are the same.

another option
 

Go to your local pick n pull and start checking out seats. usually the pass seat doesn`t get the use the drivers seat does and will have good tight springs. I just did this on the 85. I had 2 broken springs.

I also read the 126 will fit also. they are electric and can be tricky to remove unless you have a battery and a jumper wire to move the seat to expose the bolts.

Charlie

x2. Just carefully swap the correct color covers to the better frames & cushions (as long as they are in acceptable condition) and switch the headrests:)

That seat looks exactly like mine, only my horse hair is no longer a pad, it is just a pile of dirt under the seat :eek::mad:

When I want to take the covering off, will it be apparent how to do it without ripping it to shreds trying to pull it off?

Also, can you take the arm rest off once you have the covering off? I will need to swap the blue arm rest onto the better seat (the arm rest itself is fine)

I sat in the back to check it out, and it is horrible too. Honestly, there is no horse hair pad left. It is just metal springs in your back through MB tex. Is there any info on how to dissemble the vertical back of the back bench?

Back seat
 

I replaced the pad in the back saat with the foam also. I used two different thicknesses for more contour to the seat surface. Some of the material used to hold the seat together was bad too, so I had to get a few pieces of scrap sewn in at a local upholstery shop. ($20) I put it back together using hog rings. Looks good.

I've found some decent Saddle-tan seats with good springs and padding, at a couple of salvage yards, including the Virginia each Pick-N-Pull, which charged $12 per seat.
Saddle seems to be the most common W123 interior color I've seen at the salvage yards.
Otherwise, if you plan on repairing your original seats with foam padding instead of the 'horsehair', I suggest a liner over the springs to prevent them from cutting through the foam.
I used thin indoor-outdoor carpet - the felt-mat type that's availible at home-improvement stores, as a spring-liner on the seats I refurbished for my '57 DKW.
Felt-type carpet padding might work as well here too.

Happy Motoring, Mark

I think the llater 123 have the foam pad, I replaced mine with a newer used one and used some stuff called batting my wife get from the yardage store to fluf it up.

the seat back is held on with 2 bolts on either side, gently pop off the plastic side pieces.
The seat back is held on with 2 screws at the bottom. remove them and slide the back down.
The arm rest is held in with a large nut.

The seat cover bottom is held on around the lower edge in a folded over piece of metal. push down, compress the seat and pull the fabric down and out of the slot. there is a stiff piece of cardboard sewn along the lower edge and folded up into the slot.

then snip off the hog rings and the cover will come off.

Do it once and you will be an expert:).

Charlie

These people have the stuff. For a price.
http://worlduph.com/mb16.htm