I purchased a 98 E300D a couple of months ago. It was cheap and had issues and I am gradually going through them one by one. Today I tackled the Multi Coutour seat issue.

The side bolsters didn't inflate. I found that an airline had become disconnected on the back of the driver's seat, reinserted it and its working great.

Before I jumped into this I searched this forum to research the problem.

Here's the deal. All of the postings state that if its equipped with the multi contour option it refers to both of the front seats.

Mine only has the driver's seat installed. I took off the back of the passenger's seat just to make sure it was not equipped. It's just a regular MB W210 leather seat.

Did someone before me swap out the seat or were there models with driver's side only?

I'm truly greatful for all of the options on this car, heated seats, Bose sound, headlight washers, xenon headlamps, etc. but I was just wondering.

Is there any evidence of hookups being there, for such a seat on the passenger side?

The car is 14 years old. Many cars have stories to tell by that age. There are much bigger issues you can stumble across, once a car reaches that vintage.

As a general observation, I wouldn't think about it too much.

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Mac
2002 e320 4matic estate│1985 300d│1980 300td
Previous: 1979 & 1982 & 1983 300sd │ 1982 240d

“Let's take a drive into the middle of nowhere with a packet of Marlboro lights and talk about our lives.” ― Joseph Heller, Catch-22

Zach: You're most likely right on in this matter. In fact the more I think about it, most of the postings regarding these seats come from the AMG forum and its quite likely that as an option in a regular 210 it was driver's side only.

No evidence of passenger's side installation. No extra lines for an extra seat, no control pod.

This car keeps suprising me with things, (almost all of them good), and I am greatful.

Glad you feel that way. If that is all you have to worry about, a few months into the experience with any car, you're in a good place.

Certainly I've had the opposite experience... wanna buy a rusty 'California' Coupe?

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Mac
2002 e320 4matic estate│1985 300d│1980 300td
Previous: 1979 & 1982 & 1983 300sd │ 1982 240d

“Let's take a drive into the middle of nowhere with a packet of Marlboro lights and talk about our lives.” ― Joseph Heller, Catch-22

This rises to the level of possibly being " ripped off " how? Did the seller tell you that the passenger seat had Multi Coutour when it didn't?

Did the passenger seat have functional Multi Coutour when you did your pre purchase inspection then the seller changed the seat before you took ownership of the car?

Mercedes or not, it is a 14 year old car. . .bought cheap. . had issues . .

Post was more to the purpose of determining what should have been on the original manufacture. I'm very happy with the car, just would like to know if it should have a passenger's side multi contour. If it can be determined that it should have, I'll keep an eye out at salvage yards.

I feel certain that after dealing with the seller (wholesaler in NJ), that he most likely was ignorant that it even had a driver's side multi contour.

A more neutral less antagonistic title / post would have been.

" I just bought a 98 E300D , should it have Multi Coutour seats on both sides?"

" I fixed the non functioning drivers seat Multi Coutour ( a hose had become detached ) and discovered the passenger seat is lacking any hook ups / controls. It's just a regular MB W210 leather seat.

Did someone before me swap out the seat or were there models with driver's side only?

I'm truly greatful for all of the options on this car, heated seats, Bose sound, headlight washers, xenon headlamps, etc. but I was just wondering. "


While I'm not targeting you specifically, this list does have a alarming tendency to treat mechanics, garages and dealers as if they are out to get them.

As a example, someone on this list bought a older car, took it to the dealer for non transmission related repairs. When they went to pick the car up it would not move ( transmission failure ). The title of their post was " Should I seek legal advice" ( or very similar ). The title should have been " My transmission quit, how do I determine the cause ? " , then if sufficient evidence was presented that the dealer was at fault then they could have taken a run at them.

Instead they offered vague descriptions of work performed, list members chanted rip off, too expensive and so on. Without a detailed line item account of work performed ( and the results of such work good or bad ) a accurate assessment of the dealer visit could not be performed.

Point taken 97. Sorry if you were offended.

If you post the VIN of said '98 E300, maybe someone will pull the datacard and post the build/option codes. IIRC, there are seperate option codes for drivers and passengers multi-contour seats, so it would be possible, though very odd, to have only one.

- JimY

Here's the VIN. Thanks for the thought. Thinking in that direction, is there any way to find what service may have been performed on it through MB dealers?

WDBJF25F1WA519734

OK, looks like your car has a delivery date of Sept. 11, 1997. Engine number: 606962 12 014263, transmission number: 722608 00 576077

Car is paint code 744 (brilliant silver) with anthracite (black) leather, interior code 201A.

In terms of options, you do indeed have only option 404: multi-contour seat, front left. Other options on this car appear to include: 345: rain sensor, leather (mb-tex was standard - I had one), 873: seat heaters, 612: xenon headlamps, and 600: headlamp cleaning equipment. I can't recall if the sunroof is optional or standard on this car, but you have one .

Cheers.

Wow! This forum is truly amazing. Kind of like having my own genie in a bottle. Ask any question and there's an immediate answer.

Thanks so much for the effort on my behalf. I will print this out for a permanent record.