glj12

Hi all,

I have a 2008 C300 and would like to replace my driver's side lower seat cover as it has torn. I would like to replace it myself and wanted to know if there were any visual instructions around depicting how to remove the lower seat cover?

The dealer gave me a quote, but the item number did not indicate if it was heated or not. Do the heating elements come with the seat cover itself, or does the seat cover rest on top of the heating elements? My seats are currently heated.

Thanks!

Plutoe

If you gave your VIN to the dealer he knows what seat cover to sell you---a heated one, however if you just walked in and asked for a seat cover---who knows what you got---if you want to confirm---post your VIN.


FYI I doubt you have the skills and tools to remove the seat bla bla without going to startekinfo.com for the removal\install instructions.


Additionally have you spoken with an auto upholstery shop!

glj12

I did give my VIN to the dealer, but mistakes do happen. I noticed that they selected one that said without heated seats. Do they all come that way?

If anyone else knows how to replace the bottom seat cover, please let me know.

psbenz12

You mind sharing the price you were quoted? I need to replace mine as well.

From experience with other cars, the skin does not include the heating element- theres the metal frame, then the cushion and the heating element on top of that, then the skin goes over it.

Was the dealer going to sell you the entire bottom including the frame and everything or just the skin?

glj12

That's great information, very helpful. The dealer quoted me for the following part number, which I believe is only the cushion itself: http://www.mboemparts.com/oe-mercede...20491079468k59 which I was quoted $413.40 for the part alone. It's weird though, that "8K59" at the end is not found anywhere on any of the parts sites if you're just browsing for it. What's also odd is that it doesn't indicate the color, which is beige in my case, let alone if it's heated or not, AMG or not, etc.

Either way, regardless of our assumed ability for replacing the front lower seat cover, I'd rather be the judge of that and see how it's done.

Thanks in advance all.

Harv72b

I've just been going through this exact process. The final 4 characters of the part # indicate the color, just for some reason the color isn't mentioned on that particular page.

If you have any doubts about whether or not you can do this swap on your own, don't try. Get the part online and then take it to a trained mechanic for installation.

glj12

I appreciate you signing up just to tell me that, thanks! So I suppose I will order the one I linked and at the very least, take it to a repair/body shop to install it for me if I have my doubts. Thanks!

dchar

I would check with an auto/boat upholstery shop. They may be able to cut out the entire torn/damaged section and replace it. May be able to save a little, especially if it's just the bolster.

glj12

I think that this thread addresses all of my concerns for anyone else looking.

https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...er-s-seat.html

My only concern here was to make sure that I do not need to disconnect the car battery (as as long as the car is not in the "on" position), and if it's easy enough to just pull the cover itself off of the lower seat once the seat has been removed and disconnected from the heater connector.

IGB

For the driver's side seat, and with the exception of the heater element, neither the seat cover nor the cushion assembly is connected to any electrical at all. The heater element does come up and is implanted into the cushion but does not come in contact with the vinyl/leather cover. Since I do not have heated seats I cannot say for sure, but I suspect that there is a modular plug that would allow it to be disconnected.

If you don't have heated seats, then the entire bottom cushion on the driver side is wire free. The passenger side, however, does have the seat occupant sensor which is wired down and through the frame. The sensor pat is implanted into the seat cushion, and it is then wired to the smal flat box which is riveted to the bottom of the passenger seat (see red square in image below).



Aside from this part, the driver's side cushion is identical to that on the passenger side cushion.

In either case, the bottom cushion is not integrated into the airbag/seatbelt system, and accordingly, you are not likely to trip the SRS warning light (unless you mess with the wire harness that it at the bottom of the seat but you have no need to do any work in that area at all. So disconnecting the battery is not needed.

For what it's worth, when I replaced my driver side bottom cushion, and since I do not have heated seats, and had no need to find a cushion with the heating coil, I replaced the entire bottom part rather then just the cover, simply because I was unsure how difficult it will be to slip the new cover back on and have it fit and be aligned properly.

At the time, and not wanting to spend the $400+ for a new cover, I kept a watch on eBay and ended up buying a used one, and lucked out to receive what turned out to be a cushion that is in great shape. As an example (not affiliated with the seller) here is one for a 2013-Mercedes-C300-W204-Front-Passenger-Lower-Seat-Cushion-Black-Leather for $175.

And rather than hassle with pulling the cover on, and off and back on again while attempting to line it up right, it took me less than 10 minutes to remove old cushion and replace it with one I had just received. And by the way, if you plan on doing what I did, (replacing the entire cushion) and assuming you

For those who have purchased or plan on purchasing the cover, I hope this set of instruction will make the job a little easier:

glj12

Thanks so much for the reply and helpful information. Unfortunately, I could not find my seat as a whole, given that mine was the Luxury trim with the beige interior. If I am following these steps correctly, it looks like the seat cover is not a simple slip off and on, but more along the lines of removing staples and whatnot? Maybe I'm misunderstanding and reading too much into this, though.

IGB

Removing the old cover is not going to be an issue because I am assuming it is already torn or damaged which is the reason it is being replaced.

What I envision to be a real challenge is slipping the new cover onto the cushion, and have it be positioned just right for each edge to fit in its own fold and each corner to reach its intended end. I imagine the new cover may even be slightly tight or righter than the old that has been sat it for quite some time.

Once you have fitted it properly, the edges of the cover itself are reinforced with strips of hard plastic that simply snap into a channel on the metal base of the seat cushion so as to lock them in place.

You should be able to remove the two torx screws that are at the bottom from of your existing cushion, flip it up and you will see exactly what I described above. Snap them off and back on to get a feel for how they are secured. But like I said, that might end up being the easy part whereas the challenge, is going to be getting the new cover to slip on in such a way where those snaps will reach to where they are supposed to.

IGB

The green arrows are pointing at the plastic snaps I referred to above. Those snap off to allow you to fold back the sides, front and back of the cover as you begin to remove it. Now, whether there are additional wires running through the cushion so as to allow you to secure the seam of the cover to where they must be for the cover to fit properly, I will be honest to offer that I did not get that far on my old cushion.






If your old cover is torn, you should be able to slip your hand under the old cover to see whether there are any wires securing it to the cushion or not.

Good luck... Once you have it done and finished, you'll be glad you went through the trouble of replacing it, because honestly, it looks horrible when it's torn!

Colin G

Good timing. Marked for future reference.

glj12

Thank you IGB! I am waiting for the seat cover to arrive and will work on replacing the cover as soon as I can. I'll follow-up on here with my end result. Thanks again!

Nicholi2007

What size Torx for two clips under front cushion? T-35?

Nicholi2007

What size torx or tool??

SECOND TIME asking. Why can't someone respond.

Kelvin Bellrose

This is a really old thread. Too bad he didn't share what he did.

alynch

BrianC300

I've done it again; signed up with a car forum using the current model name of the car I drive. Oh well, maybe when I get the S550, you all will forgive me for having the wrong user name for the car..

Anyway, I just bought a seat bottom cover from the dealer, and this thread has been a big help so far.
The sales counter guy said I needed some strange named pliers. I asked if he meant "needle-nosed" and he said sort of like those, but for upholstery.


Thanks

Nicholi2007

Any idea how to get the front to attach? I've got all sides but the front won't stay attached.

atul

Just completed the driver's seat cover replacement on my W212 2013 E350. I found useful information on this W204 forum. So, I'm sharing my findings here.

I found the following detailed video that was extremely useful. The audio is not English. I just turned off the audio and watched all the steps carefully. The procedure should be similar for W204. Note that the video shows removal of the entire driver's seat from the vehicle which is not necessary. Just watch the relevant parts.

mrbungle25

Good find. Looks like the hard part is just getting the cover to snap back in place.

atul

Thanks. I did exactly what the video shows starting at 22:30 - fold the plastic edges down towards the metal starting in one corner of the front edge. It helps to also fold the plastic on the adjacent side edge down at the same time. Once a couple of the tabs engage, then it gets easier; just continue along that edge. I did the rear edge last.

T T

Hey Atul - Thanks so much for posting the video of the driver's seat cover installation. I'm about to do my own driver's seat cover replacement. One question for you - your message explained that it's not necessary to remove the entire seat from the car. Could you elaborate? Did you leave the seat mounted to the car? Is that possible? Thanks.