What is MB Tex
 

My 300SD has leather seats but I keep reading about MB Tex seats. What is MB Tex?

Vinyl! Good old plastic/vinyl that wears like iron, lasts forever.

Hide of the nauga, that is.

Hard to tell the Old Tex from leather , but a good test is to shoot it .. if the bullit goes through , it is leather.......

Like leather, vinyl is manufactured in many grades or qualities, and MB-Tex is as good as vinyl gets and is probably the most durable automotive seat material ever devised.

Most who ride in my car think it's leather and remark at its excellent condition. In the past I tried to explain MB-Tex, but now I just let them believe it's leather. ;)

Duke

Definate Space Age tech material of that era..
It is very common to go to a junk yard and see old Benzs piled up, rotted to the door sills , no windows ,open to the elements , etc . and yet the seats still look new. !!!!!

Amazing stuff.......................

wasn't it designed for mb taxi's and often called taxi leather?

it is amazing how well the stuff holds up. looks brand new in my sons 17 year old 300e

Seems to me that I remember seeing a reprint of a 1960s 113 body ad that referred to it as MB Textile. Whatever the real name there has apparently been at least 3 distinct generations of it, if not 4 by this point. What do you want to bet that the latest generation is not as good as the ones that came before. I doubt it's all still in production but it is still widely available from Hirsch Automotive in New Jersey. I think their customers are pretty much limited to those who have sat down with a screwdriver in their back pocket.

<<<want to bet that the latest generation is not as good as the ones that came before.>>

Correct.........

The original can be told b/c the backside has a screen texture pattern to it.. reinforcemnt in case you hit a tank or land mine.

The new stuff is no where near as durable, but still good looking

MB Taxi...
 

Hi there,
I read that it was indeed developed for taxi use, and when I got the new leather seats for my 450SL the Upholstery shop warned me that MB-Tex would last significantly longer than the leather I ordered. The wife wanted leather, so that's what we went with.:)

Richard Wooldridge
'82 300D/4.3L V6/T700R4 conversion
'79 450SL
'75 280C

I have the mbtex in my 94 c class. best interior I have ever had and still looks new! also had it in my 1974 220d, springs were worn when I got it but tex was in excellent shape. Leather would have been worn out!

A good interior shop can order the stuff and I swear regardless of the make of vehicle I have, if it needs seat cover repair/replacement work its getting MB-Tex installed!! :)
Chris

have both
 

have an MB tex driver's seat and a leather passenger's seat and never even knew it till my upholstery guy pointed it out while going into my driver's seat to replace a regulator. I Never even noticed the difference. If you look real close the leather is a very smooth finish while the tex has a bit of a ripple finish. The tex seems much softer and more pliable. Now that I know they are two different seats it is driving me crazy. Prefer the tex.

MB Tex -
 

Not sure what it is made of, other than Vinyl, but it's tougher than woodpecker lips...

bnc

leather inserts
 

So when you see the new Benzs described as having "leather inserts" I assume that the rest of the seat is made of leatherette aka MB Tex?

It's funny to see car ads where the MB has MB Tex but the ad states that it has leather interior. At least on the C Class the way I can tell is by looking at the door panel. Other than that it is virtually indistinguishable!