NickySTHLM

Hi I have a C200K with Avantgarde package (Spots package in the US?) with sport seats. My car also has leather interior. Therefore my question is primarily aimed at the people that have the same combination (sport seats and lather) - what do you think about the queality of the leather. In my car the leather looks fake - feels more like plastic or something... I also have an Audi TT with leather/alcantara interior and the feel of the leather in my MB is light years away from the Audi (to Audi's advantage)...

trench

I have essentially the same thing, leather-wise. I think the factory leather in my car is pretty nice. It seems that MB uses pretty thick cuts of leather which give a much firmer feel. If the leather in your TT is softer and more supple, this might be the reason it has better "feel" than your C200K. I recently sat in one of the new Infinity G35s - it had probably the softest, supplest leather car interior I've ever seen (the feel of the leather quality was similar to my nicest leather coat). However, the first thought I had was, "Wow, this leather is so soft it's not going to hold up very well." My guess is that the thicker leather in the MB will hold up for a long time.

Cheers, BT

CRB

Yeah, I was looking at the quality of leather in a lot of cars recently at the San Jose auto show and the C-class Mercedes leather was pretty poor. (Obvious phony, stamped graining, waxy surface) But, I will admit that it matched up well with the textured vinyl. In fact, I couldn't tell the difference.:p

Mercedes does have good leather in the designo packages, but they want an arm and a leg (and your firstborn child) for it. I think it ranges between $3K and 9K depending on model.

One positive thing about waxy, stamped-grain leather is that it tends to wear better. My sister has a Volvo C70 with the full/soft leather option and it is nice, soft, high quality leather, but, it has been abraded on the seat bolsters. So softer leather has bad points too.

MarkL

I ditto that. I went to drive a G35 sedan demo. It had the light beige leather which was very soft, but it was already deeply crinkled, especially on the bolster areas. I don't think it would look good 2-3 years down the road. But, if they all look that way when sold, I guess there's no disadvantage...

Mike T.

I'm the wrong guy to ask about leather. I hate the stuff, at least as a seating surface in a car (it's OK in a house - I have leather furniture in the living room). Why don't I like it in cars? See below:

- sticky in hot weather (necessitating ridiculously complex cooling fans and perforations in über-market Benz seats)
- freezing in cold weather, thus seat heaters are required
- M-B leather looks and feels like cheap French Renault 5 vinyl from 1972
- slippery in corners (necessitating ridiculously complex dynamic air-bladders in some new E-Class cars to prevent the driver from sliding around too much on corners - and you sound like you're farting when you do slip on the seat)
- in North America, leather has some sort of snob-effect, just as do some M-B cars

For me, the M-B cloth seats are by far preferable. Here's why:

- no extra cost (leather seating surfaces are one of THE most profitable options for carmakers)
- no expensive/unreliable techno-gimmicks needed to keep driver cool, warm or in place in corners
- M-B cloth has a very high wool content, indicating high quality, good wear capability and excellent insulation properties
- you don't have to look at the patterns if you don't like them, at least when you're driving

Eh, that's it.

fcdry

I have the avantgarde model as well which comes with grey leather. Leather only covers the top portion of seats. underneath (u can see it when your companion is seated) are cloth. So I would say half leather. The leather feels synthetic to me. Overall though, its quite comfortable and tough.

regards

DtS

Well, I agree with everything MikeT writes, even if it doesn't help alot answering NickySTHLM's question....

When I bought my car I considered getting full leather - just because - and try to look beyond all the things I didn't like with leather. But I didn't find the leather in the C-class very appealing. The "plastic" look-and-feel made the desiscion alot easier.

Förresten - välkommen till MBWorld. Kul att se någon från samma världsdel och till och med samma stad här!

taylor192

I didn't want leather, took a vehicle optioned with it to get one sooner, and have not been impressed with MB leather... its hard, cold, and I slide around on my seat so much I find myself adjusting the rear-view mirror during longer drives as I eventually slide down into the seat more...

I will say there are 2 pluses for leather is when it comes time to sell it:
1. MB leather is thick, it'll hold up well, and
2. I couldn't imagine buying a luxury car without leather, and after 4-5 years, if there was a $500 price difference between 2 used models, I'd take the one with leather.

I used to drive a Jaguar... leather in that was amazing, but after 8 years it started to look really bad.

NickySTHLM

Well the funny thing is that the leather used with standard seats is seems to be of much better quality - at least if feels much nicer and softer. Another thing - about durability - the leather in the middle of the passenger seat (which is hardly ever used) is already cracked - that is not very durable in my book - considering that the car is 1.5 year old. I've had my Audi TT for 3.5 years now and the leather still looks new...

Tackar, tackar - vet du om det finns en svensk forum för merca-ägare?

DtS

Nja, det finns ju några klubbar som har, vad dom själva kallar, diskussionsforum på sina siter. Tyvärr verkar det inte vara någon speciell stor aktivitet på dem och dessutom verkar allt vara fokuserat till gamla "klassiska" mercor. Jag har själv letat ganska noggrannt efter svenska och internationella forum - och MBWorld är det i särklass bästa jag hittat hittills. Om du kan tyska kan jag rekommendera "ralifs db-forum". Men som sagt, det är extremt tyskt och dom svarar inte gärna på frågor skrivna på engelska (det är i alla fall min erfarenhet).

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Sorry everyone (except NickySTHLM) for typing in Swedish. I was too thrilled by getting the opportunity to type something in Swedish here at MBWorld - and actually have someone understand, so I just couldn't stop myself

VoyagerDude

Sorry Mike T, I'd have to disagree on your every point regarding the leather in the C230K, well maybe besides the last one

My previous car was cloth and I'm glad to say that with the MB leather I don't suffer from excessive heat during the summers (it was almost +40C a few times last summer).
In the winter the leather feels no colder/warmer that cloth IMO (and why would it, you dont sit on it with bare *** ), nevertheless I have heated seats
'72 must have been a good year for Renault 5's

And absolutely no sliding around in corners. The seat holds you very well.

tberry

I do agree about the lack of softness of the leather on MB (it feels firm and tough...seems to be easy to clean hopefully will last longer). My audi a4 had leatherette (no charge option) and it feels smoother softer and seems to grip better....no one knew it wasnt real leather. Audi's kick *** in interior and customer service not to mention aftermarket tunability. MB just got the name going and the C230coupe was a good buy for me for a german car with decent perf/handling+decent accessories pkg.....my next ride prob go back to Audi or Porsche

happydays

I don't usually notice these things but my wife also thought that Audi leather is better than the ones on her brand new C320. I do have to point out that my Audi is almost 3 years old so the leather is broken in. When it was new, I thought it was like plastic too. Now it feels really good.

When we were looking for leather sofas, the saleswoman said that cheap leather are hard because they put a lot of coating on it. I forgot the details but there were also thick ones and thiner ones. There are different grades in each kind.

I agree with what Mike T. has to say about leather too. However, it looks odd not to have leather on a luxury car. Imagine having steel wheels and covers. And of course, it will hurt resale value.

NickySTHLM

unfortunatelly the only real or at least good quality leather i can find in my car is the leather around the gear lever...

avro

That’s right! It has a small rip on the passenger side (any solutions?). Also, I do have the JAVA leather interior and it stains terrible – what a pain to get the marks off

Goggles Piasano

The leather in my coupe is so tough that I thought it must have come from a "Mad Cow" diseased animal. Although one of the reasons I didn't go with a BMW was that the sales person didn't know that "leatherette" and vynil are one in the same. I guess the longer your *** moulds the hard MB leather seats the more comfortable they become.

JustinTRW

I was at the dealer today and felt the leather inside a SLK320, I thought it was pretty much unacceptable (it might have been faux). My car has nappa however, more soft than that in the Infinitis.

S_kLaSse

I think, Mercedes' Leather is the lousiest. My brother's BMW X5 leather are alot better. And I used to own Audi A4, they are good.

FrankW

all the Bimmer with premium pkg and leather comes with Nappa leather. But the driver seat leather is almost gone to hell after 6 yrs of my bro's ***.

anyway, although MB's premium leather is a little harder and sometime looks like plastic. It will last a longer then Nappa leather.

NickySTHLM

Hey - i rather sit on good stuff that also pleases my eyes for 6 years and then change it, than 12 years on something that looks and feels like s**t. And i only keep most of my cars for 3 years anyway so - extreme durability is not on of my priorities - in my opinion a car that costs about 40000 $ should feel like a car for 40000 $ especially when it has an MB-star on the hood.

Outland

I like the leather in the C-Class. I also like the fact that the seats are firm. It makes long drives more tolerable. I remember driving an older W202 that had over 200K on the odometer before I got my Coupe...the salesman suggested we take it for a drive...it still drove rock solid. Anyway, when we got out, he asked me to take a look at the seats...still the original leather. A little wear, but not bad at all...even more amazing considering the mileage.

I had very soft leather in my last two cars...it wears like *****. 6 years? You won't get 2 before the wear is very obvious.