mdchaser

Hi, just picked up an 05 c230 and love the thing. I've got a couple coats of zaino on it already and the exterior looks great. I'm not sure what type of materials are used on the interior, can someone help me out? There seems to be some soft touch materials (vinyl?) and some faux leather but I'm not positive. Any advice on cleaners/conditioners to use would be great (and which parts of the interior to use them on of course)!

B189s

I use Z9 & Z10 on them, love the leather smell..

nrg_mike

Depending on what you purchased, you've either got MB Tex (sym leather) or Leather. I got the leather option and don't use anything other than meguairs gold class... http://www.meguiars.com/estore/produ...ectionID=12201
doesnt hurt that they sponsor our company cars though.. lol. yay for freebies

mdchaser

How do I tell which the car came with? It seems to be in perfect shape which leads me to believe it's the sim leather...

nrg_mike

If you have the reference card or sticker form the car it should say. Mine also says so on the bill of sale.
https://mbworld.org/forums/glk-class...s-leather.html

mdchaser

I have the sticker that came with the car, says it has "Front Leather Seating Inserts" and "111 Black Leather Inserts N/C." Sound like sim leather? If so should I use vinyl cleaner on the entire interior?

nrg_mike

Sounds like MB Tex w/ leather inserts. It's pretty common as a standard feature so it's ok. Just take care of it similar to leather. =-D

mdchaser

Thanks! What about the dash/doors? Are they just soft touch vinyl?

quadoptix

Mothers car care products FTW! =)

nlpamg

For the dash and doors and other vinyl stuff, I use 1Z einszett Cockpit Premium http://www.detailersdomain.com/1zein...itpremium.aspx

Probably my favorite interior care spray. I use it on all my cars and it's matte, none of that nasty shiny Armor All look.

johnand

+10000000000000000000. Cockpit Premium is all I use now too. Just like Phil said, it has a natural matte finish and it smells pretty damn good too. I even use it on the MB Tex seats.

mdchaser

Thanks, I'll put that on my list of things to buy!

SeaCoupe

I haven't heard of that. I'll have to try it. For whatever reason, even with dull finishing protectant products, my vision seems to get pulled to the image thrown up on the dash. I'd like to find something that would protect the dash, but not shine.

I'll give another thumbs up for the Mequiar's Gold Touch Leather Cleaner. That stuff just seems to grab any dirt out of the seats. Allow me to explain. I went a whole Lobster season of bringing salty nets in and out of my hatch and back seats. I went to use the Lexol two step and quickly realized that this was going to take a LONG time to clean up. I grabbed some Mequiar's Gold Class Leather cleaner on a whim. Towel for Towel, the Mequiar's simply pulled up more of the leather. Each pass giving the seat material a cleaner appearance.

In fact, on some of the scratches I have on the drivers seat, it blends in "scratch" marks. I get the scratches from sitting down with pens or the odd mounted accessory on my belt.

I have a box of Zaino ish that I got and really feel like I was taken. I should put up a For Sale Thread with all the old detailing stuff I ahve bought and found unusable.

Nokiemon

It sounds like you have the MB Tex material which is super easy to maintenance. If needed for basic upkeep, you can just keep clean with occasional wiping off with a damp rag, as this is a synthetic product which does have an outer coating, but does not have the care-taking issues that real leather does.

If you do decide to use a cleaner and/or protector, I agree that Einszett Cockpit Premium is the way to go. Absorbs easily into MB Tex, does not leave a gloss or film and adds UV protection and durability too. Einszett products on any MB works very well, and Cockpit Premium is great stuff, as is their "Tiefenpfleger" (Vinyl and Rubber Care) product for interiors.

Try for a water based as opposed to a solvent based product for the interior.

SteveAustin

With the 2005, standard option was leather inserts with MB Tex as previously stated. The door panels are also leather (perforated), so use leather cleaner on them. You will notice the middle section of all the seats is leather and those sections are perforated. It's too bad Mercedes stopped that after 2005, I really think the leather seating surfaces are superior.

mdchaser

Wow thats exactly what I needed to hear, I have a hard time telling the different materials apart! I'll use a leather treatment on the doors/middle of the seats and a vinyl treatment everywhere else (all recommended on this thread of course ).