hotel_calif

Although I love the car, my 2002 SL500 seats do not support my lower back very well. I find my lower back hurting after 30 minutes of driving. I found a few posts in the R129 forum that show that I'm not alone in this opinion.

I don't want spend thousands of dollars buying new seats. Can anyone recommend a lumbar support that I can add to the existing seats? I have the standard seats - not the multicontour.

Thanks, Will

miroj

If you dont want to spend 1000's on new seats then your back must be worth a whole lot less. I think its time to get some new seat cushions and a multi-contour retrofit. Otherwise you are baiting pain and discomfort and that's just silly.

hotel_calif

If that's the only alternative, I'll look into the multicontour seats. Do the MB multicontours provide adequate lower back support, or do I need to purchase some other seat?

In catalogs, I've seen pads that attach to the seat and claim to support the lower back. Has anyone tried one of these to see if they work?

It's ironic that the seats in my 2002 SL500 don't feel as comfortable as the ones in my 190E. Are the seats in the newer SLs any better?

MBZFAN55

Speaking of SL seat discomfort and being 6'3 220lbs, would I be making a mistake in buying an SL as a daily driver ? The new body syle seems more comfortable than the R129, but I'm just not sure. Any thoughts ?

miroj

The multicontour is highly adjustable to the extent that you would be surprised by the levels of variation. A basic SL seat isnt all that exciting. But look at it this way, you could go for seat heating as well as multi-contour (which you probably already have).

This might sound obvious but are your position adjustments ideal for your height.

miroj

I think that discomfort is a matter of having an old back pain to begin with. The SL is a slow seller because of price since it pretty much shares a lot of technology with CL and S.

RUCKDR

Check these out:

http://www.businesscopiers.com/backs...aceairplus.htm

http://www.ultimatewatermassage.com/...hions-back.htm

http://www.backfitpro.com/supports.htm

http://www.backandneckpainsupplies.c...w_backrest.htm

http://www.reliefmart.com/adjustable...t_supports.htm

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...551057967&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...552868332&rd=1

etc., etc., etc.

hotel_calif

Wow! I had no idea there were so many. Have you tried any of these?

RUCKDR

Actually none of these, but I had a 2 horizontal tube blow up (air pump bulbs), that I used in my van. I thought I got it from JC Whitney, but couldn't find it there now. Worked very well.
Don

ChrisB

I normally have never experienced back pain. Everyone is different of cource in this area.

Having owned the SL for over two years now and having driven lots of 2 hour + trips. I'd say the SL is fine for a daily driver. For this type of driving we have never had any trouble at all.

However this past September we drove 1,500 miles over 4 days through the mountains in heavy rain most of the time. About 6 hours a day driving with the extra tension of driving in the wet all the time was enough to give both my wife and I lower back pain that lingered for months.

We eventually bought a new bed, box spring and matress because our sleep patterns were disrupted by the back pain to the point that we were not getting good sleep on our 10 year old bed.

Our long road trip experience was such that I guess we will never be driving from Vancouver down to San Diego and back again on the pactific coast higway .

miroj

On a trip like that I would always endorse "golf warm-ups" and hourly breaks. Dont forget that deep vein thrombosis is just as much a risk factor as back pain.

I drove from San Fran to Boston and back to Los Angeles. A good bed stop made all the difference.

hotel_calif

I do have heated seats but the multicontours were hard to find - my car doesn't have them.

Perhaps not. I'm 6' 1" and have the seat all the way back. The seat controls don't seem to work intuitively in this state. For example, when I try to recline the seat, it moves forward. Probably trying to avoid hitting the back. No matter how I position the seat, my lower back isn't supported.

hotel_calif

Say it isn't so! My wife and I want to drive up Pacific Coast Highway in our SL. We've only gone as far as Monterey in other cars, but with the right back support we might make it all the way to Vancouver.

Will

grege

There is a low cost option you could consider. Now this is from NZ which is the land of inventiveness, so the idea may not seem left field....

Just 2 Torx screws can be removed from the rear back of the seat to release the top squab of my 92 R129 seats, may well be the same on your more recent cars. It comes out easily by pulling out the base, and I have made some simple, albeit fixed adjustments to the seat profile, by inserting something in between the wire frame and the cushion material. A couple of small pieces of wood 10-15mm thick, one each side can be jammed in to force the seat back out around the lower back. Keep adjusting till you like it.

This is still in trial with me, but certainly has improved the profile. I have found the original shape of the seats ideal for hugging grip of your body, but indeed a bit lacking in lower back support. When you push out the lower back, it feels a little less hugging of course.

I have taken care and don't believe it has in any way caused any problems with the wiring of the seat heating. It does make the Torx screws a little harder to get back in, as the wire frame springs back a bit too.
After I have got the exact shape / placement I want, I may look at instead deforming the wire support frame rather than chocking it with an insert- I think this is preferable.
Better still, you could incorporate those dynamic air ones quoted further up in this post into the seat where I put the wood!

miroj

Im taller than you are .... personally I dont like a car with limited seat travel. I work on several SL cars each month and I never quite like the stock seat compared to the inflated multicontour seat. Its time to take stock of the problem or at the very least ..... test drive a car the same vintage with the options in place.

miroj

Wool insert I could understand ..... planks of wood are just outside my intuitive scale.

grege

>Wool insert I could understand ..... planks of wood are just outside my intuitive scale.

That's alright, I expected some surprise / derision on this one!

For this technique, it needs to be very firm to push the whole thing forward from the back. Use anything firm that you like that sounds trendier, but wool won't do it as no pressure could be achieved against the wire frame.
But if those inflatable bladders are very tough, and perhaps with a firm backing, they could be the answer. Especially if you sneak the bulb out somewhere discreet so it can be adjusted in situ.
Greg