Hello everyone,

So after owning this car for 3 years, I now started to notice my driver's seat middle seam splitting. I've read on the forums that this seems to be a common issue? I'm so surprised this even occurred, because I'm a little petite lady who's only 5'3 and 115 lbs...thinking did plopping down into my seat every time I sit lead to this??

Please see the image below.



Has anyone experienced this extensive tear and been able to repair it through an upholstery shop and if so any recommendations for here in Dallas, TX? Or any idea what a new seat would run me? I'm already way out of warranty...

Any advice would be appreciated!

 

I would also like to know this.. I have a separation in the same spot.

 

Im located near Austin, Texas and called the Benz dealer there. They told me I would have to replace the whole seat...let me know if you find a place in Dallas please, I wouldn't mind driving up there if I can save a few hundred bucks.

 

The seam is not ripped, the leather has split. Any decent shop can replace the one panel.
Alternatively, a backing piece can be used. It all depends upon what your expectations are.

 

It is not leather, it is MB-Tex. the graining and perforations would probably be very hard to match.

 

I have some tearing on my drivers seat in a different area, I believe I was quoted $75 to patch it up and like $150 to replace the whole section. He said the patch job would not last more than a year...and if I wanted to keep it from tearing again, patch job or section replacement, he would teach me how to sit down properly in my car.

 

Interesting. I know how I messed mine up, larger item in the back pocket (which I forgot to remove..) caused the material to stretch apart. Quite annoying. The material at that seam is likely weak because of all the perforations

 

Had a small tear on the side of drivers seat. Dealer replaced seat under warranty.

 

I've seen this on many Mercedes across the models that have MB-Tex. Along with the cracking at the bolsters from getting in and out.

Modern day MB-Tex sucks compared to old MB Tex (pre 90s).

 

You can always be very 'uncool' & fit a fitted sheepskin seat cover.

From new I just threw large heavy 'shorn' sheep skins over our front seats ...the MB Tex is absolutely as new . The sheep skin is cool in summer & warm in winter & the seats are protected from sun damage & no worries from penknives in the back pocket.

Otherwise get the death adder out of your pocket & buy leather.

Young John.

 

I have the exact same issue almost identical to your picture... have you found a good solution for repair?!

 

I paid about $250 total to have my driver side door mbtex cracks repaired and my driver seat portion replaced with nearly identical synthetic leather. Looks almost good as new, but the patch job on the door is noticeable if you look for it.

I had it professionally done and it’s still lasted for years.

 

A timely bump of this old thread! I noticed recently that the driver's seat on my wife's '14 C250 is starting do the same thing along that same stitching, and I was thinking I needed to come search here for what others have done about the issue. Much like trammm, the OP of this thread, my wife is petite, so I was very surprised to see such damage on the seat considering the car only has ~44k miles on it!

I found a good upholstery shop a while back to do another project for me, I'll probably do as Rodpwnz did and see what it would cost for that shop to replace the center section of the seat with more durable material.

 

I found this company that matches factory colors for any car , cracks in leather I’ll post it seatdoctors.com

 

I've had this issue on our 2014 Driver's side as well back in early 2020 and was able to fix it myself.

I found for my seats that the driver and passenger side looked to have the same lower fabric and cushion, so I purchased a whole passenger seat in the correct fabric from a local dismantler for <$200. I found that the bottom cushion and metal frame was easily removable without needing to remove the seat from the car by loosening the 2 screws and clamps that hold it to the crossbar at the front. Then the metal "bucket" that held the cushion was able to be pulled up and out. It looked like I could just swap the passenger side cushion and fabric into the metal "bucket" from the driver's side, but I ended up swapping the original driver's cushion as well. MB uses clips for the fabric, not hog rings which made that easy. By swapping it out, I also did not have to have the occupancy sensor in there either. I did this back in May 2020 and it's been fine ever since. I even sold some parts off the passenger seat to cover the cost of the seat itself to bring my out of pocket down to near $0.

I did not take a lot of pictures, but here are some:

Seat "Buckets"

Seat Cushions. See differences

Seat cushion test fit

Screw and clamp that needs to be undone to remove bucket

Parts Seat

 

If anyone needs a new (aftermarket) leather lower seat cover in Almond Beige, I can hook you up. https://mbworld.org/forums/market/861103