ajm0623

i'm thinking about buying a new ml (don't know 350 v. 550 yet) but like the look of the aluminum trim and the alcantara seating inserts better than i do the wood trim with the standard mb tex.

therefore, i would like to avail myself of the biggest benefit of forums like this one: experience from real world drivers. as such - for those of you that have/had the alcantara seating inserts for a period long enough to comment on its durability/quality in wear, i'd love to hear from you.

thanks in advance!

frizz2112

I have an ML 500 with 30K miles on it and the Alcantara inserts all look brand new. I bought the car used with 24K miles on it, so I can't speak to what kind of use the seats were getting before I owned it, but even the driver's seat looks great.

I had the same concerns as you do since although the Alcantara looks great, it seems pretty delicate, like a suede jacket that you have to throw away if it gets rained on. I've had mud and snow on the Alcantara (I've got 3 kids) and in cleans up easily without leaving any marks. I'd be interested to hear from people with more miles on their cars, but so far I'm impressed with the Alcantara.

socaljint

I've only had mine for 2 months and as you would expect no issues yet. From what I've read the material is very durable -

Alcantara® combines comfort with functionality, luxurious aesthetics with rugged durability for wide-ranging applications:

And the look is fantastic with the brushed aluminum, go for it.

soapy

I had the alcatara seats in my 2006 ML and they held up fine for the year I had the vehicle. I have a 2005 Dodge SRT10 pickup that has alcatara seats adn they have held up great in over 3 years of use.

red00lght

Anybody ever add the inserts after buying the vehicle? I bought used and mine didn't come with them. I imagine it wouldn't cost too much (at somewhere other than Mercedes Benz of course.....)

mercman66

I have an '06 ML500 with Alcantara seats, with two kids and two dogs...no wear or problems and I'm at about 40,000 km and 2.5 years old. I also have an 08 ML550 with premium leather, and I actually prefer the 06 ML500 Alcantara seats. Here in Canada when it is cold not having the cold leather is great...although the ML550 seats are the ventilated climate seats with heating and cooling...so they work great too. I would not hesitate on getting Alcantara.