walee112

so i just bought a car from a good guy down south in LA, and i was wondering if the upholstery is MB-Tex? i wanna know what type of material it is so i can prolong it's life.

here are some pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/david.c....IST3L_Qmf-lJQ#

im pretty sure the door panel has some leather on it but im suspecting the seats and most everywhere else to be MB-tex since its so smooth.

also another question on the side, sorry, so the car smells really good right now :P its got a nice new car smell to it. "the classic mercedes smell" what is this attributed from? cabin filter? or some oils they use on the insides? nontheless i love it and i wanna keep it smelling fresh any comments on what it is?

RW C55

Its all genuine leather man!

FrankW

Napa Leather and suede.

MercedesFTW

Haha, MB-Tex...that's that Nappa ***** man.

Smell might be attributed dried and shredded coconut husks in the seats? At least, I read that somewhere...thought my memory isn't the best, and the internet isn't the best source of information! Might just be all the carcinogens.

walee112

I just found out from "research" that MB-Tex is the equivalent to Articco "Leather" it's called mbtex in America and articco everywhere else in the world I beleive not sure about Napa leather.

rockjock

Nappa comes from napa Valley herds that drink only the finest of Cab's, Merlot's, and Pinot's-MB Tex is made with German Stout (thats why its tougher to the feelers)-
new car smell is from the perfume the hookers had on the night before you bought it

moosejaw

Artico or MBtex is not a pleasant smell in summer months.
I didnt enjoy it in my C230. If i could, i would order the $2K premium leather in a heartbeat to escape that acrid smell
it lingers like that crayola crayon smell in VWs

RLx02

I don't even want to christen my back seats in fear of staining my leather

walee112

shredded coconut husks? REALLY? lol dude so if the smell is in the seats does that mean its probably not going anywhere? do you guys have issues with your cars not smelling great anymore?

FrankW

what you are smelling is the plastic, adhesive, and material MB used in the car. pretty much all W203 would smell similar one way or another. and all MB smells similar also.

iblaho

I run the AC all the time. When I forget, I get old sock smell.

walee112

my friends actually commented on how its smells slightly like crayons. LOL i called the Dealership and they said the cars Nappa Leather and that the smell is just how the leather smells and with aging (sun damage, overheating) the smell will eventually fade.

So anyone have recommendations for leather conditioners and cleaners?
would this be the right stuff to use?
http://www.leatherique.com/

rockjock

Zaino leather cleaner and conditioner-had great reviews from locals that looked and sat in my car (I smoke in it) and they said it looked and smelled like new-
but I love Zaino for everything.....

moosejaw

Wow you get teh crayon smell with the AMG leather.
I dont have that problem at all with 66K miles in SoFla sun all day long

In fact some one commented how my leather smells like it came from Rooms to Go showroom.
Better than VW Jetta/Golf. I nearly barfed while going to lunch in my secretary's car.
I took a cab back to the office.

walee112

Care to share? whats your secret?

moosejaw

i eat mexican at least once a week
no seriously my car is garaged like 90% of the time, be it my house or work or the mall. Anything to get out of the sun. I have black so it fades quickly like the mars red. Black is the best color but most difficult to maintain

lowryder363

Is the dashboard and interior "door borders" (the surface perpendicular to the window glass... are they also Nappa leather?

I'm just wondering if I should also apply leather cleaner and conditioner on them.

mrobinso

Just thought I would chime-in to say that this "crayon" or "crayola" smell is very common in early 2000s Volkswagens, particularly the Jetta. I experience the crayon smell in the summer months in my C55 (which my girlfriend loves to make fun of me for), and unfortunately, I don't have the fortune to store my car in a garage when its needs it most, which is while I am at work.

Last summer I did some Google searching and came up with this thread:

http://www.myvwlemon.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/001119.html

These guys have a couple different theories on where the crayon smell is originating. I personally don't believe it is coming from the leather and that it is coming from some type of sound deadening spray material or adhesive (as another forum member has mentioned) that emits this smell when its heated up from the car sitting out in the heat.

wawy

I've recently started using Zaino leather cleaner and conditioner. Love the smell and it does a good job of cleaning and conditioning everything.

loudandheard

My leather no longer has that new car smell, I've been using leather conditioner and the smell has not returned. My wife's c55 does have an amazing smell and I wish my car smelled like that. I'm assuming the sun is what has caused the smell in my car to disappear.

lowryder363

So are you using Zaino leather cleaner and conditioner on your dash and center console as well?

Anybody here using Lexol? Feedback?

DrewZ9266

My ML has a mixed smell of poop/smoke/grease and a maybe a tiny hint of that "MB" smell.

The C32 smells like pee pee

wawy

Yes, I've used it on the interior plastic parts as well!

sm00thguy88

Where do you buy your Zaino?

Are you also using the cleaner first (Z9) before you apply the conditioner (Z10)?

wawy

Since I'm in Canada I buy it online from Zaino Canada. On the leather I always use the cleaner fist before the conditioner. On the plastic its mostly just the cleaner. Unless I'm feeling overly ambitious then I do both . On a side note, Zaino works great on leather furniture also...