dadangman

hey guys,
I recently found there was a few small cracks on my leather seats.. luckily MB was able to replace it under factory warranty, but it makes me wonder how bad the quality of our seats are... my car is a 2009 model and the leather is already cracking and peeling? Also, does anyone use any product to take care of the seats?

Domm

I have MB-tex which is faux leather and they're holding up fine. Have you been conditioning your seats? I know for leather seats, you need to condition them at least once a month to prevent cracking.

dadangman

ooo really? yeah i think i have MB-tex also, but what do you use to condition ur seats?

Domm

Some say water and soap is fine and some use vinyl conditioner (since mb-tex is a vinyl). I used vinyl conditioner on half the seat to see if I can see a difference and I've never conditioned my seats before. The seat definitely had a more moist look and feel. It kind of made squeking noises as you move in and out of the car but I'd say it worked. I used lexol vinyl conditioner and bought it on amazon.

RLE

Piffle!

My 2008 C300's beige leather interior is showing no signs of wear anywhere. I clean the driver's seat periodically with Leatherique Prestine Clean but don't bother with their Conditioner. I used the same product in my 1995 and 2001 MBs and the leather interiors never cracked or split.

It does depend a lot on exposure and if my cars sat out in Phoenix or Dubai in summer things might be different.

Lexol is old hat, BTW.

dadangman

great! thanks for the advice, but didn't realized that you need to condition it once a month haha...

Domm

"Leatherique Prestine Clean does not contain any harsh chemicals or silicone to dry out fine leather. Instead, it contains a conditioner that gently lifts dirt and oil out of the leather while softening it. It takes care of stains that you may have given up on. Ink, perspiration, dirt, and body oil will all disappear!"

I'm not sure if you use the same product but I got this from their website. Maybe your leather has been holding up because it contains a conditioner?

And yeah, it does depend on exposure dadangman. The more your vehicle is exposed to UV rays, the quicker it dries out. I'm not sure if you have mb tex or leather but you don't need to use vinyl cleaner as often as leather but it doesn't hurt.

Do you recommend any of vinyl cleaners RLE? I just got lexol because it is the top rated product among vinyl cleaners on amazon

acr2001

MB-Tex does not REQUIRE any conditioner or maintenance to stay in good shape. The stuff lasts forever and still looks new! Not sure what caused yours to crack and peel, but something is wrong. Either you've somehow mistreated it or you got a bad run of MB-Tex. Or you actually have leather...?

dalazernet

*sigh*... I consider myself a HUGE Mercedes-Benz fan, but I'm absolutely disgusted with my driver's seat. I have black MBTex interior and it started getting tiny cracks on the side bolster on the seat (not back portion - but where you sit)... I brought it up to my dealership and they said there was nothing they could do about it because I was just out of warranty (even though I have the full extended warranty for 6 yrs, 100k miles).

Fast forward to today with an extra 12k miles on the car and the seat now has enormous cracks and the seams have ripped apart in the middle of the seat.

For the record. I'm 6' and weigh 180 lbs so we're not talking about any extreme conditions here, plus the car was garage kept and parked under cover during the day while at work so no excessive heat/sunlight/etc.

Either the '08 MBTex run was utter crap or they've cheapened their MBTex so much that it is disgusting, especially a vehicle with the three-pointed star. Photo coming soon because I know you are all curious.

dalazernet

Photos -- because I know you are all curious.





- Eric

MBfinatic

I tend to condition mine every 2 weeks.

lickem66

I love the Vinylex product from Lexol. It is hard to find. I used to get it at any auto parts store but now all they carry is the Lexol Leather products. I was going to order some Vinylex online but I was at the Toyota parts department the other day and they had Vinylex there..

Domm

Yeah, I realized it did a wonderful job on my seat. I need to finish conditioning my entire car once I have the time because right now its extremely noticeable that only part of my seats are conditioned. It looks like someone smeared oil onto certain parts or something. I also tried applying it to a small area on the passenger side dashboard and it made a huge difference as well. Theres a noticeable darker spot where I applied it so I'm going to apply it to all surfaces that has the MB-tex.

0331Marine

My 08 has 56xxx on it and the seats look brand new. I clean/condition them a couple of times a month.

ferrariyellow44

My ML is at about 65,000 and I have a hugeeee crack in the MBTex and I condition all my cars seats about twice a month. Then again, the leather seats on my E are absolutely perfect with no signs of wear or cracking at 28,000.

My Audi A4, which comes standard with leather, has a pretty significant crack in the drivers seat

dadangman

oooo boyyy, that's EXACTLY where my peeling was also, and i'm 5'5 155lbs. and sorry to hear man.. i'm glad i saw the crack b4 my warranty was over ... and kinda disappointing that the material is made with such cheap quality

dalazernet

Its really paper thin when you look at it. Like a thin vinyl coating on some type of mesh or pellicle fabric. *sigh*

dadangman

yeah... it is really paper thin, they went cheap on our model...

BAPHA

So, are you guys saying cracks in the leather/vinyl are covered under the factory warranty?

RLE

For the original warranty yes, but extended warranties regardless of who issues them have a lot of exclusions. This is likely one of them.

AkaSigFreak

I think the problem is You guys are too damn skinny!
I'm 6-3 and 290 lbs, and my MBTex is (knock on wood) in perfect condition. I do wipe it down with a damp cloth and use Zaino Leather in a Bottle. Its amazing and actually makes it smell like leather.
http://www.zainostore.com/Merchant2/...ory_Code=Zaino

BAPHA

Yes, I still have the original warranty and have a crack similar to the one in the pictures above (on the side bolster) but honestly never thought this would be covered.

Thanks for the info

dadangman

so.. basically, everyone is going cheap on new luxury cars??

hahahaha, i will condition my car more often from now on...

go get it replaced! use the heck out of the warranties before it's over

Glyn M Ruck

In sunny South Africa the local leather used on SA production Mercs way outlasts MBTex. Yes it requires some maintenace. I use Maquiar's Rich Leather Cleaner Conditioner CREAM about once a year.

8 year old leather seats on my C240.

dalazernet

I'll swing by McDonalds on my way home -- thanks for the tips!