I really love my car, but everyday I regret not getting the leather option! I’ve had leather in both my previous cars (since 1994) and I didn’t know how much I needed it, until ... well, Oct 08 when I bought my new C300.

Does anyone know of a leather steering wheel cover option that doesn’t look too lame? I guess if I ever wanted to upgrade to the leather seats, I could get some out of a wrecking yard huh? Any ideas out there for me?

Thanks C-Class crew! I really appreciate it! J

I think you can actually switch the steering wheels with the C63 ones.

I actually don't mind having MB-Tex at all. It still looks almost as new as the day that I bought it and no trouble at all. I can't say the same for my dad's SUV however...the leather was mostly alright but there was a tear from an air bubble on the driver's side.

you can always just reupholster like I did

Or you can get a custom seat cover made. I've seen some at SEMA that are so well made that you couldn't even tell it was a cover.

AZN300: Reupholster... how much did that cost? Did you have the mb-tex before?

MB300AMG: I don't mind the look of the mb-tex, just the feel of it.

Prices really depends on what you want done (design, stitch, pattern), quality of leather, area of coverage, and region you're in. Could be anywhere from $1-3K depending on all those factors. Capital City....that's Sac right? I have some contacts in the industry up there and can probably find some good upholstery shop there.

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Does anyone know of a leather steering wheel cover option that doesn’t look too lame? [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]

I think you will find that you already have a leather steering wheel. I understood all 204"s came with one. I have MTex & a leather wheel.

Did you not feel the seats before buying ?

I think everyone should take at least 8 hours to look over a new car . Not all at once but say 3 to 4 visits to the dealers to sit in & test drive. Saves disappointments later. After all, it is a major purchase.

All the North American steering wheels are leather. A lot of people have thought it was not as it tends not to be the softest leather...but leather none the less.
I really love my MB Tex. It's "hand" is obviously not as nice as leather, but it requires only a minimum of care. In my last few cars, I always had to worry about bringing an extra towel every time I went to play sports, work outside, etc, etc as I didn't want to get sweat on the seats...now I really don't worry about it as long as I am not dripping into the perforations.
I agree about putting in more time inspecting and researching a car before buying. A depreciating asset is something you should at least fully enjoy as it is chewing on your wallet.

I love leather on steering wheel, I think new ones look and feel too soft. I have M3 with Nappa letter, it feels good, but I also love MB-tex, it looks like brand new and feels ok, rubbery sometimes. The letter gats bad really fast and no cleaner conditioner can bring to same level as before.

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Yes, and when I took the MB Plant Tour in Sindelfingen, Germany as part of the EDP for my 2009 C350W they showed a film of the process for making the steering wheel cover.

It seems that the task of fitting and stitching the leather onto the steering wheel is a difficult task that can only been done by hand, and is set aside for a few very highly skilled workers who have gone through long periods of apprenticeship and journeyman level training. I really don't know why it is such a big deal, but MB spent about 3 minutes showing this process.

I can recommend the factory tour as it you will it will give you an opportunity to appreciate the, for want of a better word, "precision" and dedication to the job shown by the fabrication and assembly folks at MB.

+1 on MB Tex for seats....

If you don't care for the leather on the steering wheel, covers can feel better but the look is never quite what was desired....

Consider this:

http://www.performanceproducts4benz....4-chassis.html

It allows you to simply swap your air bag hub, so its about half the cost of a C63 wheel where you also need a new smaller air bag hub.

I have both the leather and wood trim options (2009 C300 Sport 4matic). I love the look and feel of both of them. Sadly, I wish both BMW and MB (Audi?) included leather seats as standard equipment. Any car costing more than $40,000 should not have vinyl as standard seat material. It seems cheap to me...

The MB-Tex in our car has been very durable in withstanding against the wrath of our 3 year old he has done everything a 3 year old would do in the rear seat of a car but by keeping it clean weekly it has held up very well. Most of our passengers couldn't even tell that it wasn't " real " leather You're best bet is probably taking AZN C300's advice and to take your car to one of the many nice mod shops there in Cali. Good luck !!

IDK if you know this or not but the leather will look horrible down the road while the fake leather will still look good. It is more durable and wears a lot less.

Leather smells better and feels better, but in a year or so it will show wear. Cloth and fake texture stays almost forever.
I remember old beat up MB taxis in Middle East so old, but their MB tex stayed like new. I was always thinking why luxury
and expensive car like MB uses vinyl on seats, but now I understand. It is durable and nowadays looks great too.

As far as steering wheel letter on our cars, it is perfect in my opinion. I like it more than newer sooth leather covers, it will be more durable in the long run.

I swear my steering wheel in NOT leather, my car was bottom of the line. It's full on rough feeling rubber. But thank you all for your insights! I've been ruminating over all of your posts. I agree I should have test drove it much more, but going in, I really didn't think I wanted Leather, I was only concerned with having the Leather 'look'. Only after driving it 15Kmiles, do I miss the Leather 'feel'.

But I will take all of your great feedback and feel good that my mb-tex will look good forever!! Thanks for the suggestions, comments, opinions and moral support, what an awesome C-Class Crew!

Angel

The dealership gave me a base C300 to test drive, and I would swear it was not leather. It felt like garbage, but I'm way too used to my wheel at this point.

I think the MB-Tex is the best feeling synthetic on the market! It feels better than BMW's Dakota Leather option in my opinion. BMW is not known for having soft leather though anyway.

You sound like the freakin "Princess and the Pea"...glad to hear your tastes are soo refined that you can't take anything but the best...

Seriously though, it is one of, if not the very best vinyl seating materials out there and really isn't anywhere close to garbage...in my common man's opinion I suppose...

I thought the steering wheel & shift knob are genuine leather even if you have mb tex?

I have the fake aluminum knob and would love the black leather knob to match.

Via car-part.com you can source complete W204 in leather.

Prices vary but I'm sure anyone of those recyclers would love to sell all leather seats and panels at reasonable price.

Could you shre some pictures?

...and what did it cost?

I'd like the black gear shifter knob in leather too. If anybody has a link, it'd be appreciated.

If you do decide to buy the complete leather seat and it's not the 2008 seat, be sure that there won't be a coding problems for the airbag and other electronics.

At one time I was going to get a later year seat as I found my MB seats fairly uncomfortable. After 2008, the other models were more comfortable. One of the issues was that of coding the replacement seat. I decided to not bother.