23 replies and the top thread on the W212 forum!

I guess we never get tired of a good MB-Tex debate.

I keep checking in like the motorist curiosity factor at an accident site.

MB plastic seats are better than their pastic seats.

Anyone want to set an over / under for the number of pages this thread reaches?

 

Please. Don't go there. Let's not let this convo rear into the utmost of childish classless banter just yet.

I'll happily drive in a leather or MB Tex E, considering both have their perks, and IMO aren't so far off in the feel department. Now if we're talking Nappa? Then I'll deal with the shortcomings (low durability/quick aging factor) for that ultra refined/luxurious feel.

It's all preference. I don't get why it's so hard for some people to wrap their heads around that. To some, the leather option isn't worth it, or maybe they think the tex has more benefits (after all, as an actual functional material, it's more impressive than leather), or maybe they don't like to sit on dead animal skin (be it covered in plastic coating or not), etc. Some need that leather feel no matter what, etc. etc. All preference. I don't think one is "superior" to the other in an absolute sense (i.e, "both have their perks").

 

haha, you only quoted what you didn't like.....
I did say tex will proabably outlast leahter in the long lasting department
and I also said it's an opinon too........

different seats for different needs

and while I can't say for sure that the leather in my AMG is nappa, my 550 had the nappa tags on it at delivery

 

The leather and the padding it comes with in the e350 seemed harder to me. I like the mb-tex.

 

Well, I did like everything else but that snippet.

The E550 had Nappa tags? That's weird as from what I know, the W212 leather is nowhere near Nappa soft, nor is it supposed to be Nappa, unless they changed it at some point or something. I think in your AMG it should be Nappa.. I'd assume it's a noticeable softer feel of leather than your E's?

 

Opinions? You made me feel bad, thank you

 

Nappa on 550 means it's a Designo.

 

I think some should take in consideration the amount of off-gassing from the sea of pleather in most MB products.

You can see it on the inside of your windshield. Outside of MB dealers trying to brainwash their customers that MB Tex is better than leather, I think buyers should look at this closely.

Leather seats are more comfortable than MBT. I've had enough MB vehicles to know that I'd never buy another with vinyl. Yeah sure it may hold up like iron, but I'm not keeping it for 20 years.

One should cross-shop Audi, BMW, and even Lexus. I cannot fathom why MB keeps pushing this vs. equipping their cars with leather seating surfaces.

BMW does this in a package or stand alone option. You will not see an F10 on dealers' lots with vinyl cars. They know customers that are spending 50-75k on a car want leather, not plastic. For some reason most dealers that service my area just get leather. Or, they feel customers are too stupid to notice that they aren't getting leather. I had a sales guy that mentioned that most people think it's leather to begin with.

MB's W212s are awash in plastic. I'm more sensative towards off-gassing and cabin odors. MB's cabin filtration seriously lacking compared to BMW.

I remember a few years ago about in the Korean market the "mouse fur" used in all of our cars. Guess what, those 2mm strands do get circulated around the cockpit. A quick swiffer of the car will show it.

MB is not showing the quality control nor quality innovations that they advertise. This is my opinion. If you like the vinyl, that's fine. But it's vinyl.

Pretty lame for a car company that you need to purchase a massive package just to get xenons and you do not get leather, at least on seating surfaces.

 

I don't know about that one but the leather on my E550 is perforated. Yes, it feels stiffer than the MB Tex that I just drove but I feel like my body can breathe better with the leather - I'm not sweating when I sit on it in this 95F weather we have in Dallas.

 

I am in agreement that the MB-tex will last longer than leather. I'd bet for a thousand years, kind of like how a Twinky will out last it's wrapper by about the same amount of time.

Other than that, it's all subjective preference. I like leather and that worked out ok with me because at the time I bought I did not have an option, that's all they had on the lot. So it worked out. My last three cars also had it. Time will tell if the MB leather will hold up as well as the other brands I have owned.

 

to add a littler twist to this thread, my MBTEX is beginning to tear on the driver seat, i dont get it between the condensation in my head light and this i cant explain how upset i am, hopefully this will all be a good will fix, just been so busy cant get to the dealer, the tear is at the seam of the seat right where the end of your knee to thigh are would be on the seat.. 20k on the car

 

"Good will fix"? Unless you tore the material or did a headlight modification, both of these things will be covered under your MB warranty.

 

My 2011 E350 has MB Tex while my 13 E350 coupe and Porsche have leather. My *** can't tell the difference and given a choice, I would not pay more for leather.

This is all hypothetical in Canada since all E350's (W212 & w207) now come standard with leather. Our entry level E class is now the E300. Next will be the Taxi Pack with manual windows,burlap seats and a 4 cyl diesel.

 

Thankfully this thread has retained some degree of civility in stark contrast to previous ones on this subject.

Different strokes for different folks. I bought my 87 300TD last summer from its original owners and it has Palomino MB-Tex. For being a 25 year old vehicle the seats look brand new and have no outboard bolster edge wear, wrinkles, rips, tears, or stains. The driver's seat has not worn any more or less than the other seats and I haven't experienced the shiny/oily/"unnatural" feel that others have described elsewhere.

For me (and at the end of the day, my own opinion is the only one that really matters) I prefer MB-Tex over leather for two primary reasons:

• Ultra low maintenance. For people who have pets or small kids and/or dine behind the wheel it is a logical choice. I had a minor drive-thru mishap last week involving a Coke handed to me with a loose fitting lid. The spill wiped up quickly and easily with a damp napkin.
• "Eau d'MB-Tex" aroma. Not 100% sure if the source is outgassing (still?) from the material itself or from the horsehair pads underneath, but I love that old German car fragrance. It's distinctively different from the smell of leather. Every time I sit in it and close my eyes I swear I'm 17 and sitting in my (Leatherette-equipped) 76 BMW 2002 or my granny's Karmann Ghia. I don't experience the interior window greasiness and fogging described by others.

I haven't sat in a recent model with MB Tex. Do they still come with this Crayola-ish smell?

 

The three cars before my Bluetec had leather seats but,so far,I'm very happy with the vinyl.However,unlike most here,I'm a huge fan of cloth seats...always have been.Much,much,*much* more comfortable in all weather conditions.Of course keeping them *looking* good is a problem....

 

I'm new to this board. I joined seeking information on the seats in the new SL, and that brought me circuitously to this thread. I need to get my post count up to add some gravitas to my remarks, so I thought I'd wade in here with my humble opinions.

I've been around MB cars for five decades. My father, long deceased, was a career Army infantry officer who made a point of buying at least one Mercedes every time he was stationed in Europe in the 1950s & '60s. The dollar was then worth a lot vis-a-vis the deutsche mark, and Mercedes automobiles, all of them, were relatively affordable. Thus, I grew up with Mercedes sedans and SLs the way some kids grew up with Fords and Chevrolets. And I've been fortunate to have owned a few of my own over the years since.

WRT to the leather/MB-Tex debate, permit me to go back a few years. it may add a bit of perspective.

The first Mercedes my father bought with leather seats was a '60 190SL. The seats, black leather in a red car (looked fantastic), were magnificent to look at. Mercedes had absolutely fantastic build quality in those days, and the aroma of those seats cannot be described adequately in mere words. You opened the car door and the heady aroma of quality, expensive leather swept over you. Great smell. And the seats wore like iron.

Unfortunately, as others may have mentioned in another thread, in the 1960s Mercedes leather seats were hard as concrete. Neither the seat structure nor the leather had any "give" whatsoever. If there were ever a term for MB leather seats in the 1960s, that term would be "industrial."

As a consequence of that experience, my father chose MB-Tex for all of his SLs after that. He would have chosen the superb cloth seats that Mercedes offered as an option for the "S" sedans, but cloth seats weren't available for US spec SLs.

Which was/is "better"? IMHO, the MB-Tex, without question. As others have stated, MB-Tex shares none of the tacky, cheap feel of the sorts of vinyl/cheap naughyde seats found in automobiles now. (And, yes, I assume that one can find quality naugahyde seats in some cars. Please feel free to take me to school if I'm overlooking a good example.) MB-Tex, however, is unique in this regard. It has a feel of substance and quality to the touch, it is soft and plyable, and it's durable. I'm sure you can find those qualities in leather seating, but -- probably because we Americans want "soft" leather -- what we get here is not very high quality leather. It's thin, wears poorly and looks like hell in no time. And spending more for a so-called "premium" leather, such as nappa, seems to exaggerate the negatives of the leather availabe in U.S. spec Mercedes.

So, since Mercedes doesn't sell E's or S's with cloth interiors -- I did say that Mercedes "cloth" is superb, yes? -- MB-Tex is the next best thing, IMHO.

 

I see that you have the AMG wheels i just got the AMG wheels with my new 2013 E do you ever had any problem with them ?

also what is the tire pressure you will recommend on those ?