tron786

It's sad that premium cars nowadays have compromised on some materials like leather for seats.
I knew things were going downhill when the seats offered real leather on the parts you touch and fake stuff on the backsides.

Here South Africa the standard seats are now covered with artico man made "leather"
I know in USA they have MB-Tex. Is this the same? What is the durability of this material versus genuine leather.

rbrylaw

It's extremely durable. While to me, there's nothing like the "new leather" smell, in most cases it's hard to tell the difference. It will ultimately last longer. Certainly longer than one will most likely own the car.

trincap

That's it! You just solved a mystery for me. I was wondering why the new car smell was so lame in this car. MB-tex.

rbrylaw

You're welcome, I think? It is true though. My C300 Sport with leather still has that new leather smell after a full month. Our GLC with MB-Tex after a couple weeks, doesn't.

Sivanevets

very high quality synthetic leather last just as long as real leather, but may lack the traditional sense of "luxury" that many people prefer. Design wise the leather option has a nice "stitch" appearance factor which I like. But we didn't go for leather, both are fine choices i guess.