carpersn

Just wondering if anyone who has looked at GLs with TEX and GLs with real leather has noticed if the dash (stitched on both, i know) is actually different in each. I know they want you to think it's leather in both, but i wonder if it really is if you order the real thing on the seats?

Kar don

people say its leather if you order leather interior... I didn't see a difference. Only one I saw a difference in was the Premier edition, that has a nappa leather dash and door panels, beautiful.

Nevada Jack

This is from the catalog and indicate the dash is not leather.

LEATHER SEATS WITH PREMIUM
INTERIOR LIGHTING ]
The interior upholstery can be upgraded to fine,
hand-fitted leather on all seats, door panels and the
front center armrest. Premium interior lighting accents
add a soft, warm glow to the cabin while illuminating
door handles, dashboard controls and footwells.

carpersn

ANother option i don't know why we can't order separately...

jenz

so i spent sometime at the local dealer this weekend to once and for all understand the difference between MBtex and full leather on the GL.

my 0.02. apart from the abundant new leather smell, you really can't tell a difference between MBtex and add'l leather option. the standard GLs have leather on the *seating* surfaces (2 squarish inset panels on each seat), but MBtex everywhere else (outer seat panels, dash, doors, center console).

i spent probably 10 minutes judging the 2 interiors next to each other, and even being somewhat type A, i had to admit that the difference is negligable. if MBtex is truly more durable +1,600 in savings, i'm definitely changing my mind and deselecting the leather option on my spec sheet.

re: ambient lighting, it is not nearly as impressive as what you see in the S class. basically you have a faint orange/yellow glow from (a) behind the door handles (b) in each footwell and (c) from the rearview mirror pointing down. given i live in a city environment and will likely not be in complete outer darkness driving, i can live without this as well. now, if it mirrored the ambient package in the S class, that would be a different story.

dcrna

One other difference is the burlwood that comes with the leather option. I liked the way that it looked over the standard wood. This was a hard decision for me when I ordered mine, but on a $70,000 vehicle, to me, the extra $1600 was not that big of a deal breaker.

Nevada Jack

Correct...the Burl Walnut (intsead of Birdseye Maple) and also the Ambient Lighting is included in the Leather option. I agree the $1600 is not a major factor when you are into a $70K package.

But jenz has his reasons and if the Tex meets his needs then he will still have a very nice SUV...:-)