Look at my earlier post in this thread which shows pictures of your seat cushion and why it is so uncomfortable. Basically to get the air through they are using a springy honeycomb material that is very hard and that does not have much give.

Guessing most manufacturers use a similar design and after seeing this I will avoid air cooled as they are not comfortable.

 

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I stopped driving my 2011 E350 long distance due the painful seats. I thought I was alone. The back seats are also very uncomfortable. Even my teen boys complain about the rear seats. We bought gel cushions front and back just to have some comfort. But it makes the car seats look stupid. Time to take this car to the seat experts.


My 2000 BMW 740iL has great seats. I can drive 17 hours and it feels like I'm sitting in my living room sofa. Even for such an old car, it is very comfortable.

 

no issues with the seats on my car but when you are old anything you can sit on is comfortable

 

It was the first thing I noticed when I drove my 2012 E350 with ventilated seats. It is a pretty terrible seat design.

 

I would not get the ventilated seats. My seats are normal. There has been a lot of people complaining about the ventilated seats. Most of them took them out and had them redone at an upholstery shop

 

Never had a problem with my 2010. It has leather but I don't think that makes a difference. I will pull my wallet out of my pocket if I have to driver more than a couple of hours. Other than that, I don't think I have driven a more comfortable car. I do have the dynamic seats, massage, dynamic side bolsters, etc. etc. That may make a difference too.

 

I'm curious how this has worked for people. I have a 2014 E550 with the ventilated seats and they are much too hard for me, but I suffer from some back issues. I like everything else about the car but not sure I can keep it unless I do something with the seat. I also have the drive dynamic seats, but I don't think that makes any difference in the bottom cushion.

 

Ordered 1 to tryout. Went on a 10+ hour trip and found it helpful.
Ride is firm, but quite comfortable. I just ordered a 2nd cushion
for my wife. We can move it from car to car.

 

glad to hear, I'm still using it and its comfortable, it's just too bad we have to use a seat cushion to be comfortable in a MB

 

I guess it is all relative - both in how the seats fir our backsides and how we perceive the seats.


I think that the ventilated (leather) seats in my E-Class feel a lot like the seats in my 190-Class of 1988. Not huge leather armchairs (Cadillac?), not soft (Lexus LS), but for me, very comfortable. I'm not a large person (only about 5'8" tall), about 160 lbs., so maybe the seats fit smaller folks better.


The only thing I have to do is, like mnje350 said, I take my wallet out of my pocket and put it into the storage bin under the seat. Just don't forget it and go into a shop or restaurant if you need cash or cards from your wallet. (That makes me feel like an airhead, saying that I have to go back out to my car to get my wallet.)


Oh, BTW, a word to the wise. If you keep your wallet in the storage bin under the seat and you are stopped by a trooper, when he asks for your license be sure to tell him that it is under the seat and ask him how he wants you to retrieve it. No sense having a nervous trooper blow you away thinking you're reaching for a weapon.

 

Which size did you order?

 

I have the leather ventilated seats and they are comfortable to me. I've never noticed any issue and have taken a few 2-3 hours trips. Also my DD is about 45-1 Hour each way. I'm 6'2 and 190 so not sure if a different build type makes much difference. I will say that our Murano's leather seats feel much more comfortable then the Benz but they are only heated. I chalk it up to just being a roomier vehicle and being higher up, I think you sit more with legs bent meaning less pressure on your buns lol.

 

My 2014 E250 replaced a Volvo S70, which had extremely comfortable seats. Especially on trips of more than an hour in the E Class, I get cramps in my right thigh. I never experienced this in the Volvo, nor do I experience it in my wife's ML250. It could be a seat cushion issue, but I find that changing seat and leg position - and especially by positioning my leg more vertical when using cruise control - the problem is minimized.
So, my conclusion is that it's a matter of the geometry of the seat and of your body size/length. The design is probably fine for some people, but not for me. Since I can "control" the problem, I won't sell the car for a while, but this will definitely be an issue when it's time to trade!

 

My 2014 E250 replaced a Volvo S70, which had extremely comfortable seats. Especially on trips of more than an hour in the E Class, I get cramps in my right thigh. I never experienced this in the Volvo, nor do I experience it in my wife's ML250. It could be a seat cushion issue, but I find that changing seat and leg position - and especially by positioning my leg more vertical when using cruise control - the problem is minimized. Maybe adding an extra cushion would help, as that would raise your body and change the angle of your leg. I haven't tried that yet, but probably will.
So, my conclusion is that it's a matter of the geometry of the seat and of your body size/length. The design is probably fine for some people, but not for me. Since I can "control" the problem, I won't sell the car for a while, but this will definitely be an issue when it's time to trade!

 

YES......that's why I got rid of my 2014 E350 (or will in Dec.) and got a E550 and oh my are those seats comfy.

 

I just received mine today. I got the 20"X20" size and it fits the seat almost exactly. I have not had a chance to try it out yet, though.

 

thanks Dan, based on your recommendation, i went ahead and purchased one, hopefully this does the trick

 

I had a new 2016 xc90 with the R-Design seating including power articulating front thigh. Suppose to be some of the best seats in the biz. Well for me they were horrible (as was my experience with all of the recalls, hence the swap to my Merc).

For me my E350 is far more comfortable. Straight through drives of 7.5 hours and no back or leg pain what so ever. Both cars equipped with adaptive cruise so equal in that respect.

My older W211 was great also on long trips and both my Mercs are MBTex. So I guess a lot of it has to do with physiology.

 

I test drove a 2012 E550 yesterday and found the seat uncomfortable. I felt like I was sitting on top of the left side bolster. This is a problem I've had with my current car (Cayman) and I've lived with it for 8 years. I though it might just be my imagination or just because I hadn't optimized the seat position in the E550 but, from this thread, I see that owners are experiencing the same things. The seats were the ventilated leather ones.

Does anyone know if the E63 has completely different seats?

 

 

Yes I believe the e63 has upgraded Napa soft leather ...atleast my old 211 e63 had it

 

No, I and my wife find the seats in our 2014 superb.

Our E350 has the "regular" leather seats ...so no other options other than it being the porcelain leather color. We've done round trips from LA to Washington, LA to Santa Cruz several times, LA to San Diego, and innumerable 2-hr drives within the greater LA area for one of our grown kids: superb seats! Comfortable in that they are supportive and firm. And the long jaunts to Washington and Santa Cruz are definite confirmation that these seats do the job right.

FWIW, we also have owned many Volvos in the past, not to mention an Odyssey, and currently a Suburban. The E350 has the firmest seats of them all (except for my '95 911 which are spot-on perfect!), but their shape and firmness are what make them comfortable long-haul seats. Perhaps folks want soft ...I dunno, to each his own.

Edward

 

 

Do you know where the trim shop they used was? THX