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So, I have already given up on trying to install these myself. The front storage box is riveted on and then there are so many wires and hoses and stuff that I'm afraid I'll probably break a bunch of stuff and/or won't be able to get it all back together. I took the car to an upholstery shop and they want $420 per seat bottom. Seems pretty steep but the job does look like a real PITA. At this point, I'm going to save up a little more and buy replacement covers for both seats and pay the shop to do it.
Update: seat covers finally arrived. Yes! They look great and the color match is virtually indistinguishable. Took an extra week or so as the first set of seat covers shipped to me were "Style #1" for the non-AMG cars. I contacted GAHH and the very nice lady Elizabeth corrected the issue within a couple of hours. The proper seat covers, "Style #2" for AMG cars arrived yesterday along with a FedEx label so I can return the other set. Leather and stitching looks great. Color match is almost perfect and I believe any difference is because my old seat covers are "polished" from18 years of use and the new ones are, well, new. I'll be arranging to have them installed locally and will update again.
New seat cover color comparison:
Style #2 (AMG) on left, Style #1 (non-AMG) on right:
Update: seat covers finally arrived. Yes! They look great and the color match is virtually indistinguishable. Took an extra week or so as the first set of seat covers shipped to me were "Style #1" for the non-AMG cars. I contacted GAHH and the very nice lady Elizabeth corrected the issue within a couple of hours. The proper seat covers, "Style #2" for AMG cars arrived yesterday along with a FedEx label so I can return the other set. Leather and stitching looks great. Color match is almost perfect and I believe any difference is because my old seat covers are "polished" from18 years of use and the new ones are, well, new. I'll be arranging to have them installed locally and will update again.
New seat cover color comparison:
Style #2 (AMG) on left, Style #1 (non-AMG) on right:
I'm ordering mine within the next week. I'll let you know how it goes. GAHH mentioned to me that I'd need to send to them my old cover so they can sew the seat heater into the new one. I grabbed a random cover from the junkyard so I didn't have to have my car down. I'll share before and after pics.
My seat covers are currently at GAHH correcting a fabrication error and having the seat heaters installed. So far, the folks there been easy to work with.
EDIT: please see post #37 for an updated explanation of why the below method will not work.
For anyone attempting to do this themselves, it's really quite simple to get the covers off. I went to pick-your-part and got two lower seat cushions, one with heat, and one with heat/vent/and drive dynamic. I took both covers off this morning, and if you want to go the route I took, and wish to maintain the options you have, you must get a like-for-like seat bottom. The seat heater pad is different on cars with ventilation than cars that don't have it.
In the side-by-side pics, the non ventilated seat is on the left, the ventilated seat cover/bottom is on the right. (You can see the heater pad blocks the vent fans in the seat cover without ventilation as an option.)
The covers are attached to the seat by small plastic clips on both sides; the cover has its own clips on the sides, and they're attached to the under side of the cushion whereas the cushion has its own clips that hold the cover to the top. I was able to gently pry the clips down and open with a 90 degree pick tool and it all came out quite easily.
seat cushion without cover seat cover top clips (on cushion) clips on cover
If you have the seats apart, this is a good time to inspect the air bladders, and replace as necessary. I just did this on my driver's seat. All but one of the bladders is available new. The last one I had to get from eBay, but still looked better than the yellowed and broken ones that came out.
I need to amend my prior post, but will leave it there for the sake of being thorough:
My plan did not work LOL. Apparently the seat heaters are different on the E55 as compared to the E500/550 even those with heated and ventilated seats. After pulling my actual seat cover off I can see this different is apparent.
What I ended up doing is ordering the cheapest E55 seat bottom I could find off of eBay, and sent that in. Live and learn. I am however glad that I have this extra seat bottom because I'm going to look into some kind of an upgrade to the seat ventilation fans as mine had completely died (brittle wiring).
Pro-tip: the seat heater from the driver's side seat and passenger side seat is identical, confirmed via my dealer. So the seat cover I sent to GAHH was actually a passenger side seat.
BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front): GAHH seat covers are installed, look great, feel great, and smell even better. Expensive yet I would do it again.
CONS:
- Expensive. A bit over $2000 for the two front seats' back and cushion covers. I paid almost another $1000 for the install.
- I used a professional upholsterer for the install. Side air bags must be removed and then riveted back into place. Expect to use Xentry to clear SRS codes and possibly recalibrate the weight sensing system.
- Bit of back and forth with GAHH as the first set received was non-AMG and the second set had fabrication errors that required the return of the covers along with my original seat covers.
- The upholsterer told me he ended up adding a bit of additional padding to fill out any voids between the seat foam material and the new leather covers. I find it difficult to see and as far as I'm concerned, all is good.
PROS:
- Mr. Henry Guembes at GAHH was a pleasure to work with. He addressed my concerns and corrected the issues immediately. It is a pleasure to find someone as professional as he is.
- I am satisfied. See the BLUF above.
Old driver seat cover:
New covers on driver's seat:
And passenger seat:
Last edited by bbirdwell; Aug 24, 2023 at 06:00 PM.
...the second set had fabrication errors that required the return of the covers along with my original seat covers...
Are you willing or allowed to expand on this part a bit? I have a replacement cover from them waiting to go on, but if there's something I should be looking for I'd rather find out now before I go to install it.
Are you willing or allowed to expand on this part a bit? I have a replacement cover from them waiting to go on, but if there's something I should be looking for I'd rather find out now before I go to install it.
I should also have caught it but it took the professional upholsterer to point it out to me. If you look at the photo below, you can see the outermost vertical pieces of leather are narrower than the three center pieces. They should all be the same width. Same identical issue with both seat back covers so most likely a template error.
The cover on the left is the AMG version with the error in the vertical strips. The cover on the right is the non-AMG cover erroneously shipped to me and returned to GAHH; I took the photo so folks could quickly see the difference between AMG and non-AMG covers.
GAHH corrected the issue and I'm satisfied.
Last edited by bbirdwell; Aug 24, 2023 at 01:16 PM.
Looks great. Will do this in a number of years most likely. Do you know if he can do the merlot inserts as I have those now and will never want to lose that look.
Looks great. Will do this in a number of years most likely. Do you know if he can do the merlot inserts as I have those now and will never want to lose that look.
Call them. GAHH can send you small swatches of the leather so you can confirm that is the color you want. They have a color sample section on their website although the website design is not great.
Thanks for the supplier lead. I ordered replacement seat bottom covers from GAAH for my 2004 E55. I am trying to remove the old seat bottom covers to send them in so GAAH can transfer the heating elements to the new covers.
I have watched a bunch of youtube videos on removing seat bottom from W211 but none of those videos look exactly like what I am looking at. In particular, I have a pair of clear plastic brackets with black plastic fasteners holding the seat bottom to the seat frame. I don't see how to remove the fasteners. There is no molded in form for a screwdriver head and the faster is not a hex or torx head. It's some kind of scalloped exterior.
I have attached a photo.
Can anyone tell me how to remove these fasteners without breaking them? Alternatively, can standard fasteners be used to attach the seat bottom to the frame in the event the plastic fasteners are broken during removal?
Thanks for any help.
MJ 2004 E55 seat bottom plastic bracket and fasteners
Last edited by MJ-E55; Sep 12, 2023 at 01:46 PM.
Reason: typos
Thanks for the supplier lead. I ordered replacement seat bottom covers from GAAH for my 2004 E55. I am trying to remove the old seat bottom covers to send them in so GAAH can transfer the heating elements to the new covers.
I have watched a bunch of youtube videos on removing seat bottom from W211 but none of those videos look exactly like what I am looking at. In particular, I have a pair of clear plastic brackets with black plastic fasteners holding the seat bottom to the seat frame. I don't see how to remove the fasteners. There is no molded in form for a screwdriver head and the faster is not a hex or torx head. It's some kind of scalloped exterior.
I have attached a photo.
Can anyone tell me how to remove these fasteners without breaking them? Alternatively, can standard fasteners be used to attach the seat bottom to the frame in the event the plastic fasteners are broken during removal?
Thanks for any help.
MJ 2004 E55 seat bottom plastic bracket and fasteners
Quite literally, pull them out. Take a pair of needle nose pliers with some grip on the inside, grab the black piece and pull it straight down and out. It's a pressure fit clip, that pushes tangs on the clear piece outward to lock it to the seat cradle.
FWIW, when I saw my car in the midst of replacement, the upholsterer removed the covers while the seat bottom was still attached to the frame which was still in the car. I didn't ask how he did it, just noted it.
I removed my covers today. Thanks for the tip Bobgodd. The black clips came out easily. Prying those plastic brackets out was nerve-wracking but I managed not to break them.
That upholsterer must have some tricks up his sleeve. I don't see how I could have got the covers off with the seats still in the car. I needed the seat bottom off the frame in order to get to all the places I needed to get to. To get the front of the cover off I had to knock out some rivets and remove the frame that carries the seat front pocket. I took some video of the process and will post a link once I get it edited into some semblance of watchable.
Now to send the covers in to GAHH.
Last edited by MJ-E55; Sep 12, 2023 at 09:19 PM.
Reason: messed it up
GAHH refuses to use the heaters from my seat covers because the foam over the heater element is damaged. They won't repair the foam because they "don't have that kind of foam". So my option at this point is to get decent used covers.
I bought a pair of very good seat bottom cushions but they are from a 2005 E55 and the design of the outboard side of the cushion (and cover) and how the cushions attach is different than 2004. So I will not be using these.
So, on a related topic, will the rails on 2006 E55 seats fit the mount points on a 2004 E55? I am hoping they did not change/improve the seat mounting to the floor between years in the same series.
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I'll be arranging to have them installed locally and will update again.
