Need input from people who own new E.
Difference b/w leather v/s inserts.

Cosmetic, practical or just mental satisfaction?
($1440 difference on 320 I believe)

Any informative input will be appreciated.

 

I have leather seats in my E500 but I would have gotten them if they were an option too. I love leather seats. I have always found them to wear well even with kids and I like the way they feel and smell. Having said that there is a big price difference and from what I hear the MB inserts are very good and are close to leather. The money savings may be worth it to some but IMO I'd go with leather.

 

My first look and drive in a '03 E-series was in a car with the leather inserts. I was not aware that all the E's did not have leather as standard and thought that it was "the" leather. I was very, very disappointed and turned off. I was pleased to find that I was not looking at leather.

This is of course only opinion and we all very just like we do with the car color and interior. I would not get this car without leather. I have the E-500 so did not have to order separately.
Be sure you check out what options you are ordering and compare with the standard 500....you may be surprised how fast you get close to the E-500 price.

The 320 and 500 are both excellent cars and you can't go too far wrong whatever you order.

Ed

 

I thought with leather seating inserts, the part of the seat that you actually sit on is genuine leather, while the side bolsters, door trim, and map pockets are MB-Tex. Is there really that much of a difference? I drove a 2000 C230K sedan with java leather seating inserts, which I thought looked great. The mix of leather and MB-Tex was indistinguishable, at least to me. The interior of the M-Class (at least the pre-2000 models) uses leather seating inserts too.

 

My only concern mixing the two is that the real leather and MB Tex may wear at different levels making the seats look a little funny and the difference in the materials more obvious.

In Australia leather is standard in the E320 but I would have gone for it anyway.

 

Yes its true. In the E320 the part that you sit on is real leather. While the side parts of the seat is the inserts. So with the E 320 the seat is half leather half inserts. As for the door pockets and other things, I don't know whether they are real or fake leather.

 

I had the "insert" or "partial" leather interior on a 2001 C320. I believe on that model the entire perforated "seating area" is leather, including the seating section of the non-perforated upper side bolsters. I can't be 100% sure but it behaved the same as the center perforated section when I applied Leatherique, absorbing it equally with the center inserts. I think vinyl/MB Tex would have reacted differently. What it did not have was leather on the backs of the seats, the headrests, and the doors. I believe the new E is similar.

If you can, look at the door of an "insert" standard model. I never liked the flat, uniform vinyl appearance of the door panel when I compared it to a similar C320 with full leather. That had nice gathered leather panels on each door.

That may not bother you, but when I ordered the E320 I specified the full leather just to be sure I had the better appearance on the interior of the doors. I doubt the option will return anything at trade-in down the road but it sure has a nice look.

 

my opinion:
30K honda's come with full leather....and i feel that when you step up to the plate for a car that cost 50k it needs to be full all the way.....cant be a cheap skate when it comes to paying that much. 30k would not bother me to have inserts just my peer opinion.

 

A leather lover myself - I didn't only go for premium full leather - I went a step further and got the Nappa

 

I regretted at first on not ordering leather after placing my order for the E320. I called my salesman to talk about adding it. He didn't think it was worth it, so I wound up not getting it. After receiving the car, I'm okay with the inserts. Most people wouldn't know the difference unless I told them. Spent the money on the nav system and cd changer instead.

 

i think mb should raise the price ($46950 + $1440) and provide full leather seat as a standard upholstery for 2003 e320 -- it is shame that mb "reduces" its 2003 e320 msrp by getting rid of real leather seats. (come on, it is only $1440 and it is standard for 2002 e320 model. as EmMtEe said, for a car more than 50k, leather seats should be there -- don't even think of creating this option.)

 

Thats a good poit. But you have to think about how many people like the option because they can save that extra thousand dollars get get something else.

 

Another good point, and price points in introducing new models are important. They were actually able to come in under the last W210.

jdhoang is absolutely right: "Most people wouldn't know the difference unless I told them." The "insert leather" is what is accepted on nearly all US luxury cars at or near this price range. I don't know of any volume models that do the headrests, backs of seats, and doors in leather like the "full leather" Mercedes. And the MBTex/vinyl match on my C320 was excellent.

In the '98 model when the wagon first came out and they were still producing a diesel, both of those models had full MBTex, yet were up at the $45K range with options. The $50,000 market is getting crowded with all sorts of transportation choices.

 

The local dealership in Northern California is advertising new redesigned E class with all the pluses and they end the ad saying: Did you know new E class costs 1500 less than 2002?

They have done a good marketing maneuver by eliminating full leather as standard and offering 1500 discount.

Unless one compares the two vehicles side by side, it might be hard to comment.

 

Personal Preference. Make you're own comparison. The full leather is probably unnecessary but it is very nice.

Its good to have the choice. Why spend the money if its something you don't need.

 

I believe the BMW 5 series comes with leather standard. The Lexus GS definately comes with leather standard, so the competition seems to dictate that leather should be standard.

To my mind leather is the standard and leather inserts are cheap. I will admit that most people would not know the difference until they looked closely.

 

if new e320 msrp were $29990 (car below 30k !!!) without power windows, power lock, power seat and no side air bags, cloth seats, no rain sensor, no ... etc. would you buy it? all the "unnecessary" features become either packages or options. well, i think mb has to maintain the image of its cars -- lower price may be good for attracting customers but image is more important this is why e500 or e320 with a sport package does not offer this "leather insert" option. (frankly, it is not difficult to tell the differences between "real leather" and "leather insert").

 

For example,in Australia,Mercedes Benz has reduced the price of the W211 320 Elegance by about 7 thousand Aussie dollars over the old W210 320 Elegance.

Full leather seats were standard in both models but the new W211 did lose the standard sunroof in that cheaper price (sunroof option AUS$3,300).

This brings the new model saving down to about 4 thousand dollars with the same spec as the W210,which is still fine by me.

That extra 4 grand allowed me to get Thermotronic,Heated front seats and Power folding mirrors!!

 

Callaway:

What is Thermotronic?

 

It's standard on the 500, optional on the 320.......its the 4 zone climate control (for front and rear seats).

 

Correct, there was no way I was going to spend that much on a prestige car and not have a digital readout on the climate control.

Heck,my wife's 2001 318i even has a digital readout and that car was nearly one third the price.

In Australia,the three main extra features you get as standard equipment in an E500 over an E320 (besides the larger engine) is a Sunroof,Thermatronic and Air Suspension.

So,with my E320,I guess two out of three ain't bad!!