Why did MB put such lousy seats in the W124s
 

There is no lumbar support at all in the seats in the '94 wagon. So bad in fact that it caused Sciatic problems for me after one year of driving. I've bought lumbar suppport thingys and they help a little but my leg still goes numb and then throbs on long drives. Very uncomfortable. Recently I had the wagon in for repairs (duh) and I was given some POS Chevy Trailblazer as a loaner but what I noticed was no back pain at all. It had a lumbar adjustable support 'wheel' and was very comfortable.

I need help solving this problem. I don't want to give up the wagon but the seats are terrible and are causing me much pain. What are my options? I can't believe that the trailblazer was more comfortable than the wagon!

No problem my friend! AMG has a solution for you! Here is there there way for making up for Mercedes' lousy seats for the W124:

http://img29.exs.cx/img29/2772/seats1.jpg

http://img29.exs.cx/img29/3861/seats2.jpg

Or you could go all out and consider these:

http://img29.exs.cx/img29/921/ferrari3.jpg

Now that's what I call proper support!

These were for sale on Ebay recently:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7963995384

There are more....many more...and all are still cheaper than what I've been quoted for new leather covers for one of my cars.

It depends on whether you want to spend hundreds or thousands. For maybe $250 to $300 you can buy some nice sheepskins and some foam to go underneath. Foam comes in different densities and different thicknesses (1/4", 1/2" etc). You can laminate it with spray contact cement and attach it underneath the sheepskin with the same. You can carve it up with a kitchen carving knife into any shape you want - just a matter of how much time you want to spend on it. The biggest investment is the sheepskins - which I happen to like but not everyone does.

Do the sheepskin covers stain the leather over the years?

In defense of Mercedes, the W124s are great seats if they come in the original CLOTH upholstery. My previous 300TE came with standard cloth seats and by far have been the greatest seats I have ever sat in.

The cloth seats, I don't know why, are thickier, better upholstered and provide much better support than the lousy leather covered units that my E 320 T have.

Also, for back issues, Mercedes did offer an electric lower back cushion for the W124 front seats, which was an extra cost option at all markets except the U.S. It is similar to the one installed as standard on W140 models.

dtf

With amount of miles on your wagon I would definitely consider replacing at least the seat padding if not the seat springs.

Haasman

I would agree with Haasman. MB seats are usually considered very good but after many years and high mileage they will obviously suffer wear to padding and springs.

I find the seats (MB-Tex) in our '90 300TE to be extremely comfortable, even after 14 hour interstate journeys we often travel. The driver's seat does have the pneumatic orthopaedic option though which can be altered throughout the journey.

I find that getting the seat correctly adjusted is important. On the first long journey I travelled in my '90 190E Sportline, I initially found the seat uncomfortable. After continually fine tuning the adjustment, I found a position that was comfortable. Now after journeys of up to 8 or 10 hours in that car, I find the leather Sportline seat comfortable. With that car now showing 230,000km, I do notice the driver's seat has settled more than the passenger's seat. I have considered the possibility of switching the front seat cushions to even the wear. Does anyone know if that is possible on a W201 with manual seat adjustment (ie. without electric seat adjustment)? This is probably the topic for another thread.

I'm quite surprised by this comment. My 88 300E has leather seats. I don't know if they are any different than MBTex, but they are the BEST and most comfortable seats of any MB, or maybe any car I've ever owned. This includes my 210 that I bought in 96 and ordered with heated, orthopedic seats.

Not only are they extremely comfortable on long trips, but they have held up perfectly in the 278000 or so miles that it has traversed.

I wonder if maybe the seats are just not a good fit for your particular body size and shape?

Best of luck,

I think its all subject to the butt that sits in them......the most comfortible seats I have ever sat in are the leather seats of my '96 saturn.......they fit my body perfectly......problem is a seat can't fit everyone equally.......any seat is going to be uncomfortible to someone....while being the best thing since sliced bread to another.

Never happened to me.

I agree with Larry. My old 124 is one of the few cars I can drive that does NOT cause me back pain.

Hi Larry and guys, I think it could be a combination of my body size (6'1", ~170 lbs, thin) and 240,000+ miles on the seats. Can the passenger side be swapped over? I never let the wife in the car :D . I'm thinking about checking for the MB orthopaedic (sp?) seats to swap in as I plan on keeping this car a long time.

I just had the driver's seat out of my 260E yesterday. There are coil springs along the front & rear edges. Then there are the typical "couch" zig-zag springs, for lack of a better word, across the middle. These fold back in a sharp angle that goes down to the frame. At the fold is some pretty hard twist (torsion) as the angle changes. Three of mine had broken right in this twist. All were on the left side, so I sat with a list to port. I rolled up a piece of scrap outdoor carpet and stuffed it into where the angles should have held the seat up. I have the scratches to prove it. :wreck: I put a similar piece on the unbroken side and another roll across the front

While I was in there, I put a flat piece of carpet between the zig-zags and the horsehair padding.

Dramatic difference. Now, it feels good to sit on and I don't do the old "slide up hill" motion t when I get in the car.

My seats (all manual, no power) have a knob on the side of the back cusion, that makes them push up in the lumber area. On a positive note, I did find almost $2 in change under the seat. :D

my 124s seats are great. i get out the car with no problems after 6hrs in the seat.

must be your body preference.

I find the seats in my 1995 E320 firm yet comfortable. No back pain after hours of driving. Arm rests on both sides are also well positioned.

My family has owned several W124's and we've always been impressed by the seats. Very comfortable on a long trip. I think the W124 seats are better than the W210 seats.
Both my wife and I have back problems and we've never had an issue with the seats in the W124.

Are you sure your seats don't have another problem?

They appear to have nothing 'wrong' with them. Meaning I don't list to one side when sitting in them or feel a spring poking up through and I don't sink in the seats. One thing I've noticed about my driving style is that I tend to sit straighter than other drivers and maybe that curved my lower back area out to cause the sciatic. I've also noticed that MB seats in general are oriented in a lower sitting position than other cars. When I first bought the car I was driving ~ 700 miles a week for 2 years - enough to cause the sciatic I guess. I'm going to make my own cushion for now and look into the MB ortho seats.

I've owned and driven litterally hundreds of MBs and have never found the seats to be worth a *****. The big old living room seats that were in the old 220SECs were fairly comfortable. The seats in the $65,000 flagship 560SEL I used to own just killed my back. A very good friend asked my advice a while ago about what he could do to help his son in law. He has a long daily commute in a 123 chassis. He took my advice and bought a nice pair of Toyota seats from a bone yard and made them fit. The guy is so happy. Those fancy seats that Lino posted have two problems that I can see. First they are way too expensive for an average car and secondly those side bolsters are way too radical. They become a pain in the ass as you get in and out of the car each time. You can get a nice pair of Toyota seats for dirt cheap, have mounting brackets fabricated, and drive comfortably in some of the finest seats made.

Peter

Why does it seem that '80's W124's of whatever mileage have more confortable seats then '90's W124?

I thought it had to do with age difference or mileage, but that isn't the case. The early W124's were very comfortable. The late model W124's are like sitting on granite.

how to stiffen sagging seat springs
 

To
all concerned: Try hog ring clips on sagging and broken springs. coil or flat. By clipping these together, you will stiffen the seat substantially, try it it works (and lasts). Abe G

Super Seats
 

This is the most comfortable and supportive seat that I have ever had the pleasure to sit in. This is my favorite seat of all time. I just can’t believe that someone would complain about these awesome seats.

What a great seat
http://forums.mbnz.org/gallery/pics/W124_56350.jpg

I went from a 2000 Grand Cherokee Limited, to a 90 300E. I thought what in the helllll just happened????? My Jeep was like sitting in a 900 dollar ezchair. you could falll asleep. My Benz was this, hard, no padding, i thought whats the big deal about MB????? i have had the car two years, and let me tell you, they fit like a glove. Awesome seats! it took awhile to get used to them, well the whole car for that matter, but now, i will never drive another car- i hope

dtf,

I am also 6' 1", but slightly heavier than you at 175 pounds. My car has 278,000 miles and the seats are still as firm and functionally as new.

Mercedes INTENTIONALLY puts firm seats in their cars. They have always done this and they claim that a firm seat is less fatiguing on long drives.

Have a great day,

BMW says that their seats are firm so that drivers don't fall asleep during long drives and obviously to be anatomically seated correctly. I read that in some of my old early '90s sales brochures.

Well, the seats on my W140 S 500 L are by far the GREATEST seats I have ever had the pleasure to sit in, and I have driven ALL types of Mercedes, BMWs, Volvos, Lincolns, Cadillacs, Oldsmobiles, Pontiacs, Chevrolets, Lexus, Infitinis, Mazdas, Toyotas, Citroëns, Peugeots, Seats, Alfa Romeos, Fiats, Maseratis... ... ...

The infinite adjustment settings provided by these seats combined with their huge size makes them unique and perfect.

My only regret is its leather upholstery. As I said before, Mercedes seats are much more comfortable when they are upholstered in their standard CLOTH or optional VELOUR. The problem is the market heavily penalizes the value of a W140 when its not upholstered in leather (a shame!).

Here's an eBay picture of tha seat frame from an early 124. seat


My mistake, no coils in the back. You can see the vertical "angles" along the edges. These would be tough to "hog ring" back together. It's right in the sharp point of the angle that they break.

HTH,

The problem might not be due to the seats but the combination of sitting position, and stresses.

First my former TE had multi-contour seats and I found I liked them less than the traditional W124 seats. At the time I had the TE I thought there was a defect in the seat as being in it for more than an hour caused my leg to hurt. So I had the seat pad replaced, the seat springs rebuilt and…….the problem persisted. The guy who did the work on the seat pad said at the outset there was nothing wrong with the seat, springs or pad. Even with hundreds of different seating positions, accompanied by an almost infinite adjustment due to the multi-contour seats, there was no solution. Well I was on a vacation, driving a non MB and after about an hour, lo and behold, the same problem occurred! It was after that i turned to a doc who found I had a minor nerve pinch at my leg.

After about a year of exercise that problem went away. Well, about a year ago (several years after the issue above) another problem started where after about an hour in the car (now a 400e) my lower back will get sore and then numb, my hip hurts and the pain extends downward to my knee. If I get outta the car and walk for 5 minutes the pain is gone, but will come back after another hour in the driver’s seat. Again I tried all different positions offered by the power seats. Here’s the odd part, when I drive my SUV, never a problem. So I asked a doc about this, he did some tests and found that I have the early stages of arthritis in my hip, and when my seating position is just so (as it is in the 124) the seating position puts stress on the hip. Well it isn’t the hip exactly. Between where the hip bones come together to form a joint there is what’s called a bursa. This is a fluid filled sack that acts as a cushion that allows the tendons to move over the bones. When the bursa becomes inflamed (due to seating position, amongst other things) the discomfort appears.

So the long and short of it is that, in my case, and I suspect the initial author of this thread is that there might be a medical malady which is the source of the discomfort. A book I found has gone a long way to alleviating the discomfort. The book is called The Healthy Back Exercise Book

Welcome to middle age…………………….

A. Rosich,

Admittedly I haven't spent much time in a W140. Maybe those seats are better. I agree that velour is tha way to go, but as you say not popular in the U.S. It is warm in winter, cool in summer, and extremely durable. It is also very quiet. It doesn't make all the strange noises that leather and MB Tex do.

Lebenz,
You may have hit on something. After an hour or so of driving, my left leg starts falling asleep. My back gets so kinked up that I get out of the car like a cripple. It takes a few seconds before I can stand up straight. All I ever drive is MBs so maybe the seats are just not right for me. I don't recall having this problem a few years ago on vacation in Europe. We rented a Renault for 2 weeks. Maybe I should consult a Doc.

Peter

Some people get very different reactions from these seats. I think they are extremely comfortable, well bolstered. Others who sit in them find them to have no lower back support. We have had Volvo's for years, and really they have exceptional seats. The Range Rovers have very nice seats too. But the Benz is comfortable. I prefer power seats over manual. Velour is nice to sit on, but not as nice looking as leather. Our 1982 Volvo has blue velour, and the seats are like new. They are also very comfortable. Ford makes crap seats, by the way. Our Limited Explorer with leather has complete junk for seats.

I've been on long trips in the W124 and have always been impresed by the seats. I also really like the optional orthopedic seats on the W210, which never hurt my back. My dad, who has some arthritic problems, also loves the W210 seats. Our old E38 7-series BMWs had the optional 16-way power adjustable 'Comfort seats' option. Those seats were just about perfect if adjusted correctle, but it certainly took awhile for each individual driver to find the correct position for them. The memory seats on those cars were a very often-used feature, since there seemed to be about 1 million uncomfortable positions and only 1 that was just right. But, when adjusted properly, those seats were excellent, with the best feature being an independantly movable upper portion of the backrest, which could be adjusted to aid shoulder support.

Overall though, I absolutely love the seats on my current daily driver, an '85.5 Porsche 944. They seem to support my frame just right, although larger passengers have complained that the seats are too narrow. The seat frames were built by Recaro, and hold you in place during aggressive driving, but are still comfortable enough for long highway trips. At a 944 gathering last summer, I opted to sleep inside my car instead of pitching a tent- the seats are that good!

W124 seats are very good. They are ten times better than the seats in 05 ML350.

Hi Tracey, Thanks for the tip on the book. Since my sciatic went out because of the seats I bought 'Spinal Stabilization' which is also an excellent book. Shows a lot of exercises using a Swiss ball and stuff too. I think my seats are quality seats but it is not a good fit for my body style. Having absolutly no lumbar support on these seats did me in.

Sorry, I couldn't help myself
 

Good luck with your back. Be careful about listening to doctors that tell you to take it easy. I am not a real doctor and I don’t play one on TV, but I am very knowledgeable about exercise and fitness. I truly believe that rigorous exercise is the only answer for solving problems with repeated back spasms. You have to start gradually, but you have to get STRONG to stop the cycle of spasms. Now this may not apply, if you have bulging, herniated disks or fuzzed or broken vertebrae, but many issues are simply the result of weakness and a lack of flexibility. Note that you should not kid yourself into thinking that it is just stretching. You absolutely have to get STRONG! It aint easy, but it is a fact! That means you have to train abdominals and your back. It also means your hamstrings, i.e., the back of your legs. (semitendinosus, semimembranosus, biceps femoris) Don’t let clowns in the gym give you stupid advice. Ask them if they can name the muscles of the quadriceps (front of the leg is easy), before you even think about listening to them.
:ban: