When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
i had a w204, exterior white and interior black MB Tex.
Now i want a w205 with black exterior and beige MB Tex.
I never had a beige leather and my question is
Is easy to preserve the beige mb tex? to keep clean, new, etc?
Or ill stress, and black mb tex is better?
I've got the beige artico in my new black 205...
I've had beige before in a Boxster and an Alfa Spider. Unless you're keeping the car for a long time I wouldn't expect any problems. When I was deciding on getting leather or not my dealer said "well every car in this showroom apart from that S Class is synthetic go take a look – we've never had any complaints" Seemed like a fair argument.
I think I'll go with the beige interior. Having said that it seems that 90% have black interiors. I guess it follows the concept that if you can't see the dirt it can't be dirty. I have a black interior in my present vehicle and it seems very closed in. A lighter interior will give a more open, airy feeling, particularly if you live in a northern climate where winter and darkness are present for far too long.
I too have had both and now have the W205 with Black leather.
My W204 had a beige MB Tek interior and it was outstanding for wear and tear and yes it can get marked up a bit, but any cleaner will get you back to new.
I think the lighter colour interiors make the car look more luxurious imo.
If you look at the showroom C400 most are Grey MB Tek /leather with the fine line wood.
I did not have a choice in my car but if I could have gotten the grey leather I would have taken it without a second thought. The AMG Black Leather interior is not a very dark Black so it looks great with the double stitching.
Beige will look very classy against black exterior.
The Faux leather Mercedes calls Artico is Vinyl.
You can make vinyl look like thick hide leather and you can in part make it feel like new thick hide leather. Thats what ARTICO does. But you can't make vinyl feel or look like like quality soft leather.
Vinyl is cold and stiff to the touch. It smells synthetic. It is not a material that can breathe. It doesn't get better with age, and it is not a very tactile material. No animals were hurt in the process or making vinyl.
Real leather has tiny pores and can breathe. It smells fantastic, and it is very tactile. It also gets much nicer with age. Obvioulsy, Animals were hurt in the process of making real leather.
If you are in very cold climate, after a few years, MBTex/Artico (as they call it in Canada) cracks. It just doesn't fare well with the cold.
I have grey, and although it gets dirty, it's very easy to clean...usually with just a wet paper towel, or sometimes (when really dirty), Armor All Orange Cleaning Wipes (which, I found by accident also clean fabric stains really well in the car).
The advantage of lighter interior in winters is also that on black, you can really see salt stains on the floors, whereas lighter interiors, you cannot. That, and as someone also mentioned above, if it's dark out (winters), do you REALLY want a dark interior?
I'm never buying a car with a black interior again, after owning one with beige, and currently with black.
If I'm going to keep a car longer than 4 years, I'd also stay away from the MBTex/Artico junk (at least in colder climates).
Knowing most people parial to what they personally spent their money on, has anyone seen in person the beige with dark espresso? In photos the beige seems to go better with it, and has the stitching on the dash. I know this color is available in the E, S, and many of their suv and I haven't seen it there either.
I also noticed a sea blue with the lixury version of the C, which also would be interested to hear if seen. Something different than black on blank, or beige on black. I saw the red on black C300, pretty sporty colors....to me looked a touch sportier than the car and felt smaller inside. I'm sure it would grow on me. Also down here in the sun, black is HOT 8 months of the year. Nice to have several options.
Light colors require more cleaning than dark colors, regardless of the seat material. Usually, periodic treatment with a leather/vinyl cleaner is all that is needed. I've had more trouble keeping light colored carpets clean than seats.
Leather smells and feels great ... no argument. But, MB-Tex is a very high quality synthetic that is soft to the touch and does breath. Most people can not tell the difference unless it's pointed out to them. MB-Tex does smell like plastic so, if the leather smell is important to you, you will be disappointed with MB-Tex when the car is new. After a while, neither have much odor left, so it's probably not that important.
All the leather seats I've ever had in cars show at least some wear over time .... typically in the form of creasing and small cracks. This in spite of the fact that I always use a conditioner on them. I don't know how well this latest version of MB-Tex will do, but I've been told it should show very little wear over time.
Knowing most people parial to what they personally spent their money on, has anyone seen in person the beige with dark espresso? In photos the beige seems to go better with it, and has the stitching on the dash. I know this color is available in the E, S, and many of their suv and I haven't seen it there either.
I also noticed a sea blue with the lixury version of the C, which also would be interested to hear if seen. Something different than black on blank, or beige on black. I saw the red on black C300, pretty sporty colors....to me looked a touch sportier than the car and felt smaller inside. I'm sure it would grow on me. Also down here in the sun, black is HOT 8 months of the year. Nice to have several options.
I don't know about the US market but in Canada the beige interior comes with a black dash and steering wheel as well as a black headliner and black carpet. The back of the seats is also a black plastic I believe.
That's an interesting part of forums, hearing the variations of the cars all over the globe. I haven't seen the car yet, but here's some pics from online of expresso/beige and sea blue/grey. Nice variation from standard black dash. Only avail on the luxury version in the C. Here if you get luxury or sport, you get stitched dash. Expresso combo comes in MBtex or leather. The expresso I saw in an S class, very warm and inviting look. I'm sure it wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea...leaning opulent over sporty.
Last edited by floridadriver; Oct 12, 2014 at 11:15 AM.
Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 S Is Extremely Rare Example Modified by McLaren
Slideshow: A one-of-one U.S.-spec Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster became even rarer after a factory-backed transformation at McLaren's headquarters.
