DalBenz

Have a 2"x3" discoloration in the center of my driver's seat back, about 4 inches up from the seat. Can't tell if it is a worn area or dye transfer from, what my dealer says is my pant's belt. They say it's from sliding in and out of the car and that it is a common problem with light colored seats.
Is that true? any one else have this problem?

Dealer says the only fix is to redye that area of the seat back. Is this the only fix?

Seems that the Benz should have better quality to resist this type of wear?
Car is only 1 year old, 14kmiles.

(This is similar to my C5 Corvette seat bolster problem. The wear was terrible after only a few thousand miles. Chevy replaced the seat while under warranty, eventually changed manufacturing to use vinyl instead of leather.)

DWP

The problem has been reported before, usually with blue transfer from denim. Search this forum with keywords "dye" and "blue." Haven't noticed any dye transfer on our Stone seats after 18 months.

jameson75

I also have the ash interior and have experienced discoloration of the seats. Its has been quite easy to clean it up. I use meguires upholstery cleaner first then wipe it with the conditioner, so that future discoloration stains will come off easier.

good luck

steph280

Sometime I wished I didn't get leather. When we sold our last car, the old MBTex was still as good as day 1 after 8 years. It actually fetched more dollar than the same car with leather since MBTex didn't wear at all, making interior look much newer.

I hear people praise how soft the Lexus leather is. Go take look at a 5 years old Lexus, the leather is probably all wrinkled and worn, looking like an abused 20 years old leather sofa. Hopefully the W211 leather will wear better.

lig

ahhh... I have a 12 year old Lexus. Regular Lexol application has kept the leather in pretty darn good shape. The leather certainly is not wrinkled. It is showing a bit of wear on the driver's side bolster from ingress and egress but that is about it.

TPAbnz

Look familiar?

I must hold the record for early failure of the Stone dye. The attached photo depicts this problem with fewer than 2,000 miles and 8 weeks of use.

Denim has never been worn in the car - - - only suits and business attire. I've tried the recommended cleaners; it's not a stain issue; the color is worn off to the unfinished leather color below.

konigstiger

Has this issue been addressed with the dealer and/or MBUSA? Separately, was that your question about CDI mileage that was answered in WSJ this morning (mecar@wsj.com)?

DalBenz

TPAbnz: This is just about what the area looks like except focused only on the center of the seat back.
I've worn denim, no sign of blue just the worn area.

konigstiger

Has MBUSA been involved, or just your dealer?

Stricks

Had it in three of my previous cars and in my current E, never had a problem.

JimPurdy

I had the problem with my belt leaving its dye on the ash interior of my previous C280. Thank goodness I was able to remove it with leather cleaner.

Jim

RJC

Certain belts and clothing can easily cause dye transfer. I will never buy stone or ash again because of this, plus it's a pain in the a$$ to keep clean!!!

DaCeptak0n

Mine is happening that way and I told my advisor and he said if they couldn't fix it, they would replace the leather...

marksatex

My salesman warned of such a potential which, in additin to his claim the lighter colors show every scuff, I took the charcoal.

Fastbuck

Ash interior 1 yr old 12k miles, looks like new. I don't wear belts though!!!

jim256

Ash interior, 29 months, 28k miles, I wear belts, also looks great. I used Leatherique Pristine Cleaned a couple times to remove general dirt mostly on the slide-in bolster. Maybe someone got in the car once with something that actually scraped the leather surface? In that case, maybe light colors may be better than charcoal. Leatherique has products to fix any leather issues.

vinceC

Dye wearing off? Unfinished color showing through? When have you seen a blue cow? Unfinished leather is a very pale flesh color.

jangy

WOW!! I'm just glad I have charcoal. For those of you that have new or unharmed seats, you may want to discuss treating the seats to ensure that the dye does not come off. After that, you should be able to clean any dye that comes from belts or jeans off. It is obvious that lighter leather will need more care to keep clean, but there is no reason why your dye should be coming off.

Lastly, I am not accusing, but I wonder if any of the people that are experiencing these problems may have treated the leather with any cleaner, etc that could have compromised the leather's ability to retain its dye. There is a fine line between cleaning and stripping.

Just my cent.

DalBenz

I have since tried cleaning the area using a couple of different suggestions found on this forum. It's not a dye. It's definitely a loss of the stone color.

Dealer suggested waiting a year or so, but while still under warranty, have the area redyed. Before the warranty is up (or unless the area enlarges severely sooner), I'll definitely have the area redyed or pursue a new seat from the dealer or MBUSA.

Barry45RPM

Stone interior, wear light blue "Wrangler blue jeans" EVERY day. Damp wipe the seats every week - 10 days. Like new.

I also have diluted in a spray bottle, a mix of 1 part Lexol Leather Cleaner to 4 parts water, that I spray & wipe occaisionally if the damp white terri cloth towel doesn't seem to do the job. Have NEVER used a full strength leather cleaner or any leather conditioner on the seats.

larryssf

My previous car (Lincoln) had a light color leather like Stone. I was able to avoid the issues discussed here. For my new car I chose Charcoal because I had concern on the light color and I wanted a change. The difficulties with Stone are surprising, as I thought MB would only use the best quality of leather that would match the balance of the car. Hopefully, with more awareness and care the problems described can be avoided or effectively dealt with.

I do not intend to do anything for the first few months. I do want to retain the soft color of the leather and avoid a "shinny" look that often results from "cleaning". I purchased the Mercedes Leather care so I hope that can be achieved. Any comments regarding that product or others that may be better? I will also visit the Detailing Forum.

vinceC

Well, I am surprised a dealer would warranty it. Think about it - it always happens in the same area. That means that a whole bunch of hides would have to have a bad spot and it would have to be in exactly the same place (relative to the seatback) on every hide cut. It is coming off our clothing folks. It happened on the Parchment in my 1999 E430. The spot is brownish, because I generally wear brown or cordovan belts. And it only happened on the driver's seat, because I never ride in the passenger seat. My wife doesn't wear belts and her side is perfect. And dyes like used in belts won't clean off. I think the moisture that forms between our backsides and the seatback wicks the stain into the leather. I think using the seat heaters (when fitted) probably makes it worse. I don't think I will get another light interior. I like the old saddle and cognac colors. They were rich in color, produced a light airy interior and didn't show the dirt/stains/etc.

levind

My car with premium ash interior now has 6k miles on it. I have severe discoloration/wearing at the point my belt contacts the seat, and on the seat bottom. It is not dirt, it is the ash dye wearing off. I believe there must have been a bad run of dye at the factory within a certain date range. I am pursuing getting new seats. The dealer said they would try redying them, but I don't like that idea. This is my fourth MB with light seats, and non have shown this kind of wearing.....even at 160k miles!

krispykrme

My front seats is already greyish. You are not alone. The only difference is that my car has 8 times the mileage (16K). But it appears very early and has gotten progessively worse.

BTW, the trade in value of W211 is really bad. Two infiniti dealers that I went to gave me less than $40k for 04 E500. They are still holding firm on close to MSRP on the new M45. So i am still stuck with E500 for probably couple more month. When the M45 hype dies down, the E500 will go.

krispykrme

I have bought the mercedes leather care. The problem still occurs. Although my occured at much later time than the original poster. I did not notice it until about 8 month later when I passed 10k. (I thought the mechanic that did the 10k service did not cover the seat when working with the car). Then i noticed that problem was on both front seats.