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MB-Tex is infinitely more durable than leather. For those who rent their cars and then return it after a 2-3 year lease end, then no worries. But if you intend to keep the car for the long term, the leather will not likely hold up.
My C320 was bought new with cash money in 2001. It has Leather inserts in the seats and MB-Tex for the bolsters. Here's a photo of the driver's seat after 17 years. The perforated leather insert is shot, hidden by a seat cover when the car was 12 years old (circa 2013). But the bolsters look fine, even near perfect.
BTW, I took religious care of these seats and the interior, as evidenced by the looks of the OEM floor mats. I gave this car to my live-in daughter in 2018 when I acquired my E350... with MB-Tex seats.
Do you agree that they have downsides or do you just mean that they don’t really work?
they don’t work. The fans are small cpu cooling fans and just don’t move much air. They pull air from vents on the back of the seats and up through seat and back. The cooling function is only as good as how cool your cabin air is. It may not even be possible to retrofit this in.
Most seats are just ventilated these days, meaning they move whatever air is in the cabin - even if that air happens to be hot. My issue with the system in the E-class is that, as KEY notes above, these things just don't move enough air to matter. Our Macan seats are much more noticeable, even though they are just moving cabin temp air as well.
Also the first thing I noticed after returning the test drive E350 and picking up mine was the difference in the minimum seat height and cushioning. It is not the same. So if that is really an issue for you then you should definitely pass on the system. The vented seats are harder. In general, the E-class feels like you sit ON rather than IN the seats. I'm not a huge fan of them in general, but the MB-Tex seats were more comfortable position/softness wise. I'm sure the same would be true of non-ventilated leather ones.
I agree, the ventilated seats could use some more "oomph!" but they accell on long trips for me. They do a lot better at keeping my "undercarriage" dry and comfortable than the MB-Tex that was in my R Class. MB-Tex did always looks better as it is basically impervious to stains since it's just plastic/vinyl.
MB-Tex is infinitely more durable than leather. For those who rent their cars and then return it after a 2-3 year lease end, then no worries. But if you intend to keep the car for the long term, the leather will not likely hold up.
My C320 was bought new with cash money in 2001. It has Leather inserts in the seats and MB-Tex for the bolsters. Here's a photo of the driver's seat after 17 years. The perforated leather insert is shot, hidden by a seat cover when the car was 12 years old (circa 2013). But the bolsters look fine, even near perfect.
BTW, I took religious care of these seats and the interior, as evidenced by the looks of the OEM floor mats. I gave this car to my live-in daughter in 2018 when I acquired my E350... with MB-Tex seats.
W212 M276 DELA 30 ; W211 M113k, W126 M117, W126 OM617, W211 OM642 ; R107 M117 X2, Sierra 1500 LZ0
Originally Posted by KEY08
I just looked and would have to say the only leather in there is the seat surfaces. The console seems to be skinned with a material that is ironclad and not MB-tex. The door inserts appear to be MB-tex also. The handles are the same material as the center console cover. Once again, it seems more tough than MB-tex, but it might just be MB-tex. Whatever, the only leather is the seat/back surfaces of the actual seats.
My 15 definitely has a stitched synthetic mb-tex dash, may have become standard on E400s and above on the 15s. I do have designo wood, but I don't think that influenced the dash.
W212 M276 DELA 30 ; W211 M113k, W126 M117, W126 OM617, W211 OM642 ; R107 M117 X2, Sierra 1500 LZ0
Originally Posted by DFWdude
MB-Tex is infinitely more durable than leather. For those who rent their cars and then return it after a 2-3 year lease end, then no worries. But if you intend to keep the car for the long term, the leather will not likely hold up.
My C320 was bought new with cash money in 2001. It has Leather inserts in the seats and MB-Tex for the bolsters. Here's a photo of the driver's seat after 17 years. The perforated leather insert is shot, hidden by a seat cover when the car was 12 years old (circa 2013). But the bolsters look fine, even near perfect.
BTW, I took religious care of these seats and the interior, as evidenced by the looks of the OEM floor mats. I gave this car to my live-in daughter in 2018 when I acquired my E350... with MB-Tex seats.
mb-tex used to be way more durable. The mb-tex in my w126s still looks flawless. The mb-tex in my 07 W211 ripped, and many owners of the W212 with mb-tex have had that as well. I ended up getting leather in my 212 just to see if it lasted longer than mb-tex in my w211 (ripping in the driver seat around 100k).
That said, My other W126s and R107s with leather are also incredibly strong and in near perfect condition without much in the way of upkeep.
Thank you all very much for the advice and experiences with the various seat types. It is very valuable to know about the issues with the vented seats not going as low and being harder. I'm currently looking for a suitable set of front seats to become available. If anybody sees some, I would greatly appreciate the tip!
I have received a used rear seat assembly including all of the headrests, the side bolsters, and the buckle trim strip. I'm reconditioning it and hoping to have it fully installed this week. One small challenge is that the middle seatbelt retractor is locked and therefore I need to replace it with the seatbelt from my old rear seat back.
I also have ordered a set of used 2014 E63 AMG door panels with the inserts and armrests in Nappa leather. I realized that this is likely the only way that I will be able to obtain Nappa handles and inserts since non-E63 AMG W212 with Nappa leather are vanishingly rare. Streamliner's Seashell Grey E350 Luxury is the only example that I've ever seen. I couldn't find a single listing or VIN of a W212 with a Silk Beige Nappa interior. Since the beige E63 AMGs were not all beige, but black and beige (like this), I will have to do surgery on the door panels to remove the donor inserts and armrests and install them into my existing door cards. It should a time-consuming but fun winter project with most of the work doable indoors.
On my 2003 C230, the MB-Tex seats sometimes emit a hint of chemically smell. I think from the plastic in the vinyl. But they do still look new.
On my 2016 E350 wagon, the beige ventilated leather does show a bit of wear on the bolster and piping. I had also come to the same conclusion as some of you that leather was only on the seating surface and the door panels, armrest and headrest are MB-Tex. Additionally, I have 3rd row and it is MB-Tex despite the car having "leather" option. I think MB only makes the 3rd row in MB-Tex in beige or black. This may be the real reason why E63 wagon doesn't come with 3rd row seat from the factory. E63 get standard Designo/Nappa seats that are in different colors than the standard MB-Tex colors 3rd row bench. And if you order Nappa seats on E350 wagon, MB forces you to take it with contrasting (i.e. black) carpet and black 3rd row bench.
I've finished the installation of the leather rear seat - lower cushion, left and right backrests, all three headrests, the buckle trim strip, and the two bolsters. It wasn't a terribly hard process except for the buckle trim strip which is clipped in incredibly tightly. I'll take some pictures and post them soon. I do think that it is a bit more comfortable than the MB-Tex bench, maybe I'm imagining it but I think that it might be a little softer.
I've received two of the E63 AMG door cards with the Nappa inserts and armrests and have them soaking in some leather conditioner. I'm waiting on FedEx to deliver the other two.
Also keeping my eye out for the Nappa leather center armrest cover. This will likely be almost impossible to find since the E63 AMG version is different due to the shifter and I'd have to find one from a non-AMG car optioned with Nappa. New from MB is over $1k
