premium leather vs standard
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Dec 2003
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From: OC
i drive them all, fast and hard
premium leather vs standard
whats the difference, more importantly why the hell dont merc have top of line leather ina 100000 car,
bloody ridiculous
bloody ridiculous
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Aug 2003
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From: Las Vegas, NV
2011 E350 Cabriolet..White and Almond Mocha
Originally Posted by vdubpower
whats the difference, more importantly why the hell dont merc have top of line leather ina 100000 car,
bloody ridiculous
bloody ridiculous
If you don't want to spend the extra grand or so, then the standard leather presents a great appearance and is certainly in keeping with a great luxury look.
Strictly a buyer's choice and preference...
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From: GMT -8 hours
Mercedes-Benz
dont get upset. The Premium upgrade is WELL worth it. You get semi aniline leather which is higher grade than nappa... very soft and thick. The standard leather is similar to the std leather on the V220 S430. Grainy but soft.
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 6,279
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From: OC
i drive them all, fast and hard
our w220s regular leather actually is pretty decent. its a non ventilated seat. I wonder if that makes a difference
i drove a w221 again today, car seems real big. and the leather is dry, i think is a good way put it.
i drove a w221 again today, car seems real big. and the leather is dry, i think is a good way put it.
Member
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 102
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From: Atlanta, GA
2018 S560; 2021 C300
I have premium leather in my car, and I would say it is well worth the up-charge. The difference from the standard is that it is much softer and does not show any grain. I'm sure either choice is of high quality. As far as the "best" goes, each car manufacturer establishes what they consider to be top of the line, so it is difficult to compare amongst the different makes. Many argue that the hides used in Rolls Royce vehicles, perhaps Jaguar as well (Conolly?) is the best. Regarding leather on the doors, outside of Europe where they offer Passion Exclusive leather trim, or Designo, I don't believe MB uses leather on the S550 door panels, only on the arm rests. Very sad, although not enough to warrant an upgrade to the S600 for me...
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From: New Zealand
1993 300SEL/S320
Wounder which one has the longer life. Oh and nevada jack, watched the topgear review of the 221 the other day, every bad thing I have said about this car I take back even the steering wheel looked good on the Tv compared to the photos. 
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MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Aug 2003
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From: Las Vegas, NV
2011 E350 Cabriolet..White and Almond Mocha
Originally Posted by NZ_Benz
Wounder which one has the longer life. Oh and nevada jack, watched the topgear review of the 221 the other day, every bad thing I have said about this car I take back even the steering wheel looked good on the Tv compared to the photos.
I am totally taken with the car...the way it handles and looks is just tremendous! Glad you now agree...:-))))
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Apr 2006
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From: New Zealand
1993 300SEL/S320
Originally Posted by Nevada Jack
That was a great review...the last scenes of the "power slides" were really impressive. How many luxury sedans can perform those moves?
I am totally taken with the car...the way it handles and looks is just tremendous! Glad you now agree...:-))))
I am totally taken with the car...the way it handles and looks is just tremendous! Glad you now agree...:-))))
Wanna swap?
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Joined: Dec 2005
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There are three different leather qualities avaible:
Standard: with "structure" (which is artificial), not very soft
Passion (US: Premium?): without structure and softer. They say it's anilin-leather, I think it has something to do with the production process. Maybe a little bit better than it's predecessor. In the Maybach it's called Grand Nappa
Designo: I'm not sure about the leather quality itself (just passion?) but it is handled by MB in Germany and the quality of the stitches is better.
Connolly and Roser don't exist anymore, most high-end-cars (also Bentley and Rolls) have leather made by a company in saxony.
Standard: with "structure" (which is artificial), not very soft
Passion (US: Premium?): without structure and softer. They say it's anilin-leather, I think it has something to do with the production process. Maybe a little bit better than it's predecessor. In the Maybach it's called Grand Nappa
Designo: I'm not sure about the leather quality itself (just passion?) but it is handled by MB in Germany and the quality of the stitches is better.
Connolly and Roser don't exist anymore, most high-end-cars (also Bentley and Rolls) have leather made by a company in saxony.
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Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 1,271
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From: CA
2010 CL65
Originally Posted by georgl
There are three different leather qualities avaible:
Standard: with "structure" (which is artificial), not very soft
Passion (US: Premium?): without structure and softer. They say it's anilin-leather, I think it has something to do with the production process. Maybe a little bit better than it's predecessor. In the Maybach it's called Grand Nappa
Designo: I'm not sure about the leather quality itself (just passion?) but it is handled by MB in Germany and the quality of the stitches is better.
Connolly and Roser don't exist anymore, most high-end-cars (also Bentley and Rolls) have leather made by a company in saxony.
Standard: with "structure" (which is artificial), not very soft
Passion (US: Premium?): without structure and softer. They say it's anilin-leather, I think it has something to do with the production process. Maybe a little bit better than it's predecessor. In the Maybach it's called Grand Nappa
Designo: I'm not sure about the leather quality itself (just passion?) but it is handled by MB in Germany and the quality of the stitches is better.
Connolly and Roser don't exist anymore, most high-end-cars (also Bentley and Rolls) have leather made by a company in saxony.
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Sure, they've found out that even S550-buyers are not willing to pay for highest-quality leather but are mostly satisfied with cheaper leather instead of using only leather in one quality and selling cotton as standard.
Designo/Maybach-leather, made in Germany (I think the cows are from south-Germany/Alps) and handled in Germany, which meets highest quality standards is too expensive even for the ordinary s-class.
I think I was wrong about the Maybach-leather, I think it's more likely designo-quality instead of passion!?
I've found a video, which shows how sophisticated production technology becomes, when you don't just outsource production to eastern-Europe or Asia:
http://www.kuka.com/NR/rdonlyres/7EC...C/0/L_R215.wmv (sorry for the bad quality)
http://www.kuka.com/en/solutions/sol...eat_covers.htm
Designo/Maybach-leather, made in Germany (I think the cows are from south-Germany/Alps) and handled in Germany, which meets highest quality standards is too expensive even for the ordinary s-class.
I think I was wrong about the Maybach-leather, I think it's more likely designo-quality instead of passion!?
I've found a video, which shows how sophisticated production technology becomes, when you don't just outsource production to eastern-Europe or Asia:
http://www.kuka.com/NR/rdonlyres/7EC...C/0/L_R215.wmv (sorry for the bad quality)
http://www.kuka.com/en/solutions/sol...eat_covers.htm
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 1,271
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From: CA
2010 CL65
Originally Posted by georgl
Sure, they've found out that even S550-buyers are not willing to pay for highest-quality leather but are mostly satisfied with cheaper leather instead of using only leather in one quality and selling cotton as standard.
Designo/Maybach-leather, made in Germany (I think the cows are from south-Germany/Alps) and handled in Germany, which meets highest quality standards is too expensive even for the ordinary s-class.
I think I was wrong about the Maybach-leather, I think it's more likely designo-quality instead of passion!?
I've found a video, which shows how sophisticated production technology becomes, when you don't just outsource production to eastern-Europe or Asia:
http://www.kuka.com/NR/rdonlyres/7EC...C/0/L_R215.wmv (sorry for the bad quality)
http://www.kuka.com/en/solutions/sol...eat_covers.htm
Designo/Maybach-leather, made in Germany (I think the cows are from south-Germany/Alps) and handled in Germany, which meets highest quality standards is too expensive even for the ordinary s-class.
I think I was wrong about the Maybach-leather, I think it's more likely designo-quality instead of passion!?
I've found a video, which shows how sophisticated production technology becomes, when you don't just outsource production to eastern-Europe or Asia:
http://www.kuka.com/NR/rdonlyres/7EC...C/0/L_R215.wmv (sorry for the bad quality)
http://www.kuka.com/en/solutions/sol...eat_covers.htm
Most buyers aren't discerning enough to differentiate leathers and other interior finishes...
'07 S550 costs ?$5K less than S500 of 15+ yrs ago....MB needs to decontent somewhere when buyers clearly expect no price increases and where competing cars, incl AM/B/BMW/Lexus, etc have various cheap/cheap-looking touches or lack of technologies when one compares closely.....
Plus, $100K price gap btwn 550 and 65 demands visible differences in interior finishes, given identical exterior, except the V12 badges.....
