tspeier

My front seat on my 1984 500 SEL US Spec is in need of a rebuild. Does anyone know where you can purchase these rebuild kits I have read about?

Also, my front seat will only a go backwards, it will not go forwards. Bad servo???? It tilts both ways though. Any help would be appreciated.

I am fairly new to MB's. I have been a long time Rover and BMW fanatic.

donbryce

You'll love this article then. Apparantly the Range Rover switches are way more $$ than MB units! http://www.rangerovers.net/repairdet...atcontrols.htm
Your power seat problem is 90% in the switch, from what you describe. As for rebuilding the seat (bottom?), A new spring assembly and/or horsehair pad from a donor passenger side seat will freshen it up at minimal cost. I've actually had good results by inserting coil seat springs to firm it up and re-attaching the failed wires together with split tubing (or brake line - I used both I think) crimped over the wires. You can freshen up the feel with upholstery foam too, between the pad and the upholstery ribs.

jay123

I've read different threads about using the split tubing. Unfortunately, I've been unable to find any to repair my seat. I've asked the guys at NAPA, and they don't know what I'm talking about. Where did you get your split tubing at? Can you post a pic of some split tubing for the seat repair? Part numbers and where you got it from would also be helpful. I'm in Florida.

Thanx Don...

donbryce

Well, here's the story. My driver seat developed that typical sagging, especially on the left side, so I removed the seat and put it upside down on the bench. I found that 3 of the wires had broken. So, being the inventive type and also having no access to any local parts cars, I decided to MIG weld them back together. The welds held for about 30 seconds, long enough to sit on the seat and bounce once! A friend told me that you can't successfully weld spring steel. I thought he was nuts. He wasn't.
So, back to the bench, flip it over again, and find a new way to tie the spring wires together. I found some brake line tubing that was a nice snug fit over the wire, cut short lengths to fit about 1" over each end, slipped them on and crushed them tight with vice grips. That worked great, and no worries about burning the whole thing up from welding sparks either!
As for padding, you can remove the upholstery on the seat bottom very easily by pushing down on the cushion and pulling the cardboard strip out of the trough its wedged into. You might want to use a flatblade screwdriver to open it up a bit, then tap it in tight when it's time to put it back. I used some leftover 1/2" foam and ticking to restore the bolsters and put a bit of extra under the leading edge where your legs are. The leather pleated top is thick enough so you can't tell it's been done at all. I also added a couple of coil springs from an old seat (a '40 Pontiac, but any will do, even from an old sofa) to the front corners for extra support, using wire to tie them to the existing spring assembly.
Hope this is useful, as it's definately the lo-buck approach for those that like to frig with this stuff themselves. I've seen springs and horse-hair pads on EBay, they are available from the dealer and probably aftermarket too, but if you're going to do yourself anyway, why not take the seat out first and see if all it needs is what I've described? Good luck whichever approach you decide on.

jay123

Brake line tubing. That's different from split tubing. I can get brake line tubing. I have like 3-4 springs broke on the driver's side, and two on the passsenger side. My pads are fine. Just the springs are broken. Willl try this. If I would have known it was brake line tubing, I would have done this a while ago. I was told split tubing, just as you mentioned..

Thanx...

donbryce

Sorry, I remembered after that I used both. The split stuff came from a scrap bin. I have no idea where it came from, except that I didn't have enough and tried the brake line, which worked fine.

rickyfanmdr

I had my driver's side seat rebuilt when my 1985 380SE was about 11 years old and had 68,747 miles on it. It was also due to broken springs. I like donbryce's solution. It was expensive and a pain to have it done professionally. I don't recall having any other problems with my seats in the 17 years I owned the car.

MR500SEL

this sounds like a great solution for my front seats. Is there any advice you can offer on an easy way to remove the seats so that they can be worked on? Should I unbolt them from the tracks, or take them out by removing the bolts from the floor? Any tips, pics, or pointers would be great. Thanks.

donbryce

Pretty straightforward. Move it all the way front, then up in the rear and remove the bolts into the floor at the rear, then move it back, then up in front, and undo the front bolts. Unplug the wiring harness. Slide it off the seatbelt rail and remove. Sometimes easier to undo the rail at the back.