Mercedes W204/W207 Owners: Seat Repair

[RNajarian]

I didn’t realize I need a separate account to access Peach Parts to post this Mercedes repair. I’ll post the repair here until I create an account there.

PROBLEM:

MB Tex stinks. Right about when my warranty expired my driver’s seat began to peel and tear. Black duct tape slowed/stopped the damage but was esthetically unacceptable.



I tried using a seat patch/repair kit which actually gave a good result but under the weight of the driver, and location the repair didn’t last too long.

There are replacement covers available between $210 (vinyl) to $250 (leather). The problem with this solution is you need to use your existing seat frame and remove the seat heating element and install it in the new cover. Ultimately my main drawback from using a cover is you basically need to reupholster the seat, not for the feint of heart.

Working with an eBay seller I verified the E350 coupe seat bottom (W207) was the same seat bottom as my C350 coupe seat bottom (W204).



The seat bottom I sourced was the same style/color as my original MbTex (vinyl) cover except this seat was the MB Anthracite full leather.

Cost $218 + shipping/tax= $270

The beauty of this project is you can remove the seat bottom separately from the entire seat by removing only 2 T30 torx screws and unplugging the seat heater connection. No need to remove the seat from the vehicle. The side airbag is housed elsewhere, so no AirBag light.

The process took 30 minutes, overall I am very pleased, the car looks 100 times better. To the concourse eye, yes there is a little difference. However, for a daily driver this is more than acceptable.



I have not verified the functionality of seat heater, but I will worry about that when winter rolls around.

Since I now have an extra seat bottom frame I can practice reupholstery for my Porsches.

[RANDY P]

Good job- not an easy car/ seat to work with


rjp

[dw1]

Thanks a lot for this info. It is really much appreciated.

I also have a W204 coupe showing driver's seat wear and found that the "paint on" patch kits had poor durability.

However, while my driver's seat lower outside bolster doesn't look at bad as yours probably did under all that duct tape, my seat back side bolster is also showing wear and I haven't found a good solution short of reupholstery. Oh, and I have the beige interior which means color and texture mismatching would probably show more than it would with a black interior.

[RNajarian]

Beige is a tougher color to match. . . I found a passenger seat back on eBay, likely MbTex.

If you removed your seat you may be able to swap out the seat back for about $300. Not sure how much down time would be involved.

What I liked about my seat swap project was that I still had the original seat as a back up. I have not seen very many complete W204 driver seats on eBay. The ones I have seen are usually sold as a complete interior.

I absolutely love my 2012 C350. Reliable with minimal maintenance. I can get 36 mpg on the freeway. I just turned 100,000 miles, if I could get another 100,000 I would be happy. I plan on keeping this car as long as I can. If my back bolster was going bad I would either

1) Keep searching eBay for a complete seat to swap (real leather seat preferable)
2) Research what is involved to swap out the seat back (You Tube has everything)
3) Get a quote from the upholstery shop.

[slow&rusty]

Did you lose the deviated white stitching with the replacement?

[RNajarian]

Originally Posted by slow&rusty

Did you lose the deviated white stitching with the replacement?

No. The replacement stitching is white, not as pronounced as the MbTex.

Though, yes you can see a difference.