e500slr

If you had to do your headliner in Alcantara/ultrasuede, or if you have the factory grey suede already and want black, what ultrasuede would you use?

There's a few options, cheap $15/yard from eBay or there is the most expensive Alcantara SpA one which is italian and is over $120/yard.

This isn't for seats or steering wheel, it's for headliner and pillars, which you rarely touch and never sit on or rub hard (unless you're the type to frequently make love to your headliner).

I can't see how I could justify Alcantara, there's a few other that are ~$60/yard, Warwicks macrosuede is that much and I actually have a massive piece/sample of that in grey but the quality is awesome.

I like the price of the eBay ones but the problem is, I haven't seen or touched them in real life, not sure how many varieties there are ie, how many different manufacturers make them, what they called and which is better. This is a fact of no name brands and products but it's a little confusing/frustrating because I don't want to buy from every single seller and check the quality.

What would you guys do and if someone has experience with these, how's quality of the cheaper stuff vs the more expensive?

If this was an expensive car, I wouldn't hesitate to buy Alcantara and call it a day but I just can't justify it on this.

By the way, does anyone know what the factory MB fabric is called and where to buy it from, you know, the normal stuff on the second half of the b pillars and headliner on non AMGs.

coolchuck

I would go with the less expensive stuff since its for b-pillars and the headliner. Another option is to check local fabric stores. That way you can at least feel the material. When I bought headliner fabric for my Sentra, I also checked some suede options for my Infiniti. They had some nice stuff onsite.

e500slr

That's what I thought too. I'll check some fabric shops but maybe I should just buy sample of the cheap stuff and a small sample of alcantara and compare them.

Also, does I realized the rear view mirror and some of the plastics are gonna need to be black also, is it feasible painting them and keeping the feel, texture or should I look for black hangers, mirror etc which get expensive very fast.

suicidal4life

Cheaper suede may not have as much UV resistance as genuine Alcantara which could possibly lead to premature fading.

e500slr

True, but the cars pretty tinted except for the front so how much sunlight would the pillars get if it's mostly garaged anyway?

Amir_AMG

I got this done on my cls. I tried painting all the plastic myself but I failed miserably. I had the shop do everything (I took apart and put everything back together myself) they painted all plastic black and wrapped everything in black suede for about 440$. My front windshield had a ceramic tint and it didn't fade for the year or so I had the car. I constantly touched it and love the feel. Don't know what material was used, but I'm assuming it wasn't that expensive. Good luck

Yacht Master

Some spend there time working with the best materials.

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w210...attle-fix.html

e500slr

I honestly would but it's too expensive for what it is and alot of people have said that it's just a gimmick, yes, it's better quality but not some holy untouchable material either. I think alot has to do with being Italian, I guess it adds a prestige rather than "Made In China" even if the production process what the same or similar. I have no doubt it's better than the Chinese stuff but is it worth SEVEN times the price on this car and in this area of the car? I have a sample of WARWICKS Macrosuede, it's really, really nice, but it's still about $65 a yard. I'll get a sample of all three and see if there's a difference.

OCKlasse

I was asking a well established upholstery shop the same thing regarding suede vs. Alcantara. He said that Alcantara is not worth the dramatically more expensive price, and that you're effectively paying for the brand name. When I go to do mine, I will be using suede, FWIW.

ROLLNNN

Look into Novasuede. I've heard it's just as good as alcantara, but way cheaper....

e500slr

Exactly, it's the whole "it's Italian" thing. Don't get me wrong I respect Italian craftsmanship and quality but sometimes, it is taking it too far.

When you say you'll be using suede, which one?

How much does it retail for, I understand it's Made In USA so it's probably more expensive that the chinese stuff.

justinwrock

go hard and while you're at it do the dash and tops of the door cards.

coolchuck

Now that looks nice. So what material did you use and how is it holding up?

e500slr

Not really a fan of that look.