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Well, the leather on the driver side seat finally tore. So far, locally, no joy. Seems shops do not want to even touch it because it's perforated leather and attempting to replace one panel is not recommended because the remaining leather is old, dry, and brittle. It seems a number of these places use the Katskins as a replacement except those are not available for the Mercedes. So, looks like I may be trying to source a replacement from a company that will provide restoration for mercedes. I'm not looking forward to that but I will continue to update as I discover this as I know other folks have the same issue.
I did check eBay and there is a full interior available in Florida for $1,200 but the issue is that those seats are also 18 years old. I do not want to spend that kind of money just have the issue occur again within the next year.
I will keep you all apprised of what I find.
Worst case is I put on a set of funky sheepskin seat covers. LOL!
Last edited by bbirdwell; Jan 27, 2023 at 02:11 PM.
Well, the leather on the driver side seat finally tore. So far, locally, no joy. Seems shops do not want to even touch it because it's perforated leather and attempting to replace one panel is not recommended because the remaining leather is old, dry, and brittle. It seems a number of these places use the Katskins as a replacement except those are not available for the Mercedes. So, looks like I may be trying to source a replacement from a company that will provide restoration for mercedes. I'm not looking forward to that but I will continue to update as I discover this as I know other folks have the same issue.
I did check eBay and there is a full interior available in Florida for $1,200 but the issue is that those seats are also 18 years old. I do not want to spend that kind of money just have the issue occur again within the next year.
I will keep you all apprised of what I find.
Worst case is I put on a set of funky sheepskin seat covers. LOL!
My car is only a year younger than yours. It only has about 60K miles and I would guess the car has been garaged most if not all of its life. It started in California, spent all of its life on the west coast unitl I bought it in 2020 and is now in Virginia. The seats are in perfect shape. So, the Florida seats may have had a similar life and could give you many years to come. Good luck.
I found a shop here in Savannah GA that said they can do the seats, but it's $1600 just for the drivers and passengers seat bottom. $3500 for both complete seats.
I found a shop here in Savannah GA that said they can do the seats, but it's $1600 just for the drivers and passengers seat bottom. $3500 for both complete seats.
Could you post the name of the shop? $800 per seat bottom isn't horrible if it matches the original.
I found a shop here in Savannah GA that said they can do the seats, but it's $1600 just for the drivers and passengers seat bottom. $3500 for both complete seats.
+1 to what MJBelcher500 stated.
Heck, I'd be willing to purchase that $267 seat bottom on Ebay so they could use it as a template...
Here is his reply when I sent him photos for a quote.
"I did some research on what’s available and it turns out one of my friends shops has the E55 patterns and can fabricate them with a very close matching leather hides so we won’t have to buy hides, make patterns and fabricate from scratch. This will reduce labor and material costs but they are still custom fabricated units. There is currently a 3-4 week lead time as far as production. The factory OEM units have the seat heating units sewn into the covers so it would be best if we can remove them, send those out to the shop and have them sewn into the covers when they are fabricated. I’m not sure if this is your daily driver or not and if you can be without seats for that long. There is always a workaround if you need the car and cannot loose use of it while the units would be out of the vehicle. Cost for driver and seat bottom upholstery using new replacement units will run $1598. for the pair. If you want the seat backs done as well, it will add $1868. for the pair. There will be some shipping costs added to these quotes. We use UPS or FedEx whichever is most economical when we shop shipping quotes. Cost to remove and install the seat units will run $350. for the pair. You can also remove them and drop them off to my shop as an option to reduce this cost if you are able to get them out and deliver them"
Here is his reply when I sent him photos for a quote.
"I did some research on what’s available and it turns out one of my friends shops has the E55 patterns and can fabricate them with a very close matching leather hides so we won’t have to buy hides, make patterns and fabricate from scratch. This will reduce labor and material costs but they are still custom fabricated units. There is currently a 3-4 week lead time as far as production. The factory OEM units have the seat heating units sewn into the covers so it would be best if we can remove them, send those out to the shop and have them sewn into the covers when they are fabricated. I’m not sure if this is your daily driver or not and if you can be without seats for that long. There is always a workaround if you need the car and cannot loose use of it while the units would be out of the vehicle. Cost for driver and seat bottom upholstery using new replacement units will run $1598. for the pair. If you want the seat backs done as well, it will add $1868. for the pair. There will be some shipping costs added to these quotes. We use UPS or FedEx whichever is most economical when we shop shipping quotes. Cost to remove and install the seat units will run $350. for the pair. You can also remove them and drop them off to my shop as an option to reduce this cost if you are able to get them out and deliver them"
-Only potential issue is the color of the seat cover leather. I have the black/anthracite color.
-I can survive without my car for several weeks to obtain new seat covers. I can commit for driver and passenger side seat covers now. I can remove seat covers and ship as necessary. Next option is to ship the seats themselves.
Are you intending to replace your seat covers and are the colors similar? If anyone else would like to get in on this, a group deal may be the way to go. If the shop can get a group fabrication of 10 seat covers or so, I would expect them to jump on it.
If you are willing to discuss with the shop, that's great. If you are not comfortable with that, I would be willing to contact them myself. Heck, I'm tempted to order two for my car and two extra to sell 2-4 years down the road for a slight profit to someone who didn't get in on this.
I'll ask about a group deal. Since I am local and going to have my seats done, maybe they can use mine as the template and make several sets and maybe they can be a little cheaper if we have several people that want them. I was just planning on doing the seat bottoms to save a bit of cash since my seat backs are in pretty good shape.
I am going to meet him in person and I'll let you guys know what he says.
I'll ask about a group deal. Since I am local and going to have my seats done, maybe they can use mine as the template and make several sets and maybe they can be a little cheaper if we have several people that want them. I was just planning on doing the seat bottoms to save a bit of cash since my seat backs are in pretty good shape.
I am going to meet him in person and I'll let you guys know what he says.
Any updates on this? I am curious what they had to say.
Didn't see it mentioned but I believe the lower seat cover is a part from MB you can get from the dealership. My dealer quoted me ~$400 a year ago when I asked. If the rest of your seat is in fair shape thay might be worthwhile and certainly cheaper than a whole interior that you likely won't use all of.
I don't have the part number but I'm sure a dealer could look it up.
Didn't see it mentioned but I believe the lower seat cover is a part from MB you can get from the dealership. My dealer quoted me ~$400 a year ago when I asked. If the rest of your seat is in fair shape thay might be worthwhile and certainly cheaper than a whole interior that you likely won't use all of.
I don't have the part number but I'm sure a dealer could look it up.
The last time I looked, charcoal seat bottoms for ventilated seats were discontinued.
Sorry for the long delay. The shop I was working with said he mainly does boats and commercial stuff so he didn't have time for the seats. The company that does have the seat replacements is gahh.com. they do have replacement leather seats for the E55, it is style #2 if you go to their site. They do say that you have to send them the seat because the seat heaters have to be sewn into the leather seat covers. I have attached the sheet they emailed me with the pricing and information. I ordered one seat bottom for now to see how well it matches up. I'm going to try to sew the seat heaters and install this myself. I will post pictures and updated after I receive it.
When I accidentally sat in the seat of my e55 with a screwdriver in my pocket, I did source one used off eBay. There is a difference between the model years in the way the trim and buttons are between 04 and late 05 (I think that is the change, with the different center console) BUT I was able to make the newer seat leather fit rather perfectly. Its not that hard of a job if you can find it. Its great to see an aftermarket option now though. Following along even though I no longer have that car.
I received my leather seat bottom from GAHH.com today. It looks identical to the factory seat cover in design and color. I decided not to ship them my entire seat for them to sew the seat heaters in, I am going to try to do it myself and see how it goes. Also, GAHH seems like a great company. They emailed me multiple times asking of I had heated seats, airbags, etc to make sure they were sending the right cover. They only have the Charcoal color on their site but they may be able to make other colors if you send them an email. I will update when I try to get this thing installed.
when I’ve done upholstery in other cars, I’ve used spray adhesive. The thing to be aware of is that it can slide or bunch up if not attached at the front and back. I’ve seen where a price tag gun (the one with the needle that uses the plastic thread attachment is used to attach.
Well, I just bit the bullet and ordered replacement seat covers for the seat cushions and the backrests for both front seats from GAHH in California. They told me to expect them in a week to 10 days. The price was actually much better than I expected. They threw in a discount of approximately 20% on the price in their catalog so my cost for both front seats is $2,027. I still have to have a professional upholsterer here install them so the price will rise some more.
Once I have them in hand I'll post an update and once they are installed I will post yet another update.
What color are your seats? I'm on the fence about purchasing because GAHH only carries charcoal but my interior color is 251A - Black/Anthracite. I'd love to see how they look installed.
I received my leather seat bottom from GAHH.com today. It looks identical to the factory seat cover in design and color. I decided not to ship them my entire seat for them to sew the seat heaters in, I am going to try to do it myself and see how it goes. Also, GAHH seems like a great company. They emailed me multiple times asking of I had heated seats, airbags, etc to make sure they were sending the right cover. They only have the Charcoal color on their site but they may be able to make other colors if you send them an email. I will update when I try to get this thing installed.
Those look great!. Thanks for posting. Good to know there is finally an option for getting these again. Quite a few cars I looked at buying needed seat cushion upholstery and without the factory option they were a deal killer. Post installed pics when you can.
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