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Car Forum / Mercedes-Benz Cars / February 2005Seat Upholstery "sagging" in new SL500
Just picked up a new SL500 and it's great, BUT, already the seat upholstery on both seats has a couple of buckles in it like it needs to be restreched. It's worese on the driver's side but it is there on teh passenger's side too. The car has only been driven 200 miles. I weigh 190 lbs and my wife 135 so I don't think we are too heavy. I had this problem in my '98 SLK but thought it would be have fixed by now. Has anyone else seen this? Should I insist in new seats? I'm sure MB will give them to me but it's meaningless if it happens again. Thanks. I had traded an 2003 S55 for this car. Believe it or not, I really prefer the smoothness of the 5.0l engine to the AMG. That car was fast but the engine was just too much. I can't imagine what a SL55 is like. Doug > Just picked up a new SL500 and it's great, BUT, already the seat > upholstery on both seats has a couple of buckles in it like it needs to [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > prefer the smoothness of the 5.0l engine to the AMG. That car was fast > but the engine was just too much. I can't imagine what a SL55 is like. That's appalling for a new Mercedes. I would insist on new seats. Tell your dealer this is unacceptable for a new Mercedes and demand that they replace them or at least repair them. The leather in my 380SEC Euro is flawless. And this is a 20 year-old car! But on our 2002 E320 the leather is already starting to wear. I think the problem is the leather that Mercedes uses is rather thin than compared to the thicker leather of the past.  SignatureCND Lightening strikes, the pages keep on turning - [Anastacia] > I > think the problem is the leather that Mercedes uses is rather thin than > compared to the thicker leather of the past. How can you tell the difference between a thin skinned cow and a thick skinned cow? . SignatureNothing is the way it is because that's the way it has to be. 1 HP = 745.69987158227022 Watts 1 PS = 735.49875 Watts http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/opd/opdpenny.htm - Current national debt On 11/02/2004 the National Debt was $7,429,582,471,118.88 On 01/06/2005 the National Debt was $7,595,653,400,600.33, up 166 billion in the 2 months and 4 days since the last Presidential election. http://www.ips-dc.org - The nation’s oldest multi-issue progressive think tank. http://brookings.edu - Writing, and speaking about the major challenges and opportunities facing the United States and the world. http://www.carnegieendowment.org - Dedicated to advancing cooperation between nations and promoting active international engagement by the United States. http://www.cannabisnews.com - Stay abreast of marijuana news. http://www.norml.com - Support marijuana legalization by becoming a member of NORML. http://www.mpp.org - Support marijuana legalization by becoming a member of MPP. http://narconews.com - Learn about the South of the Border drug war. FOUR MORE YEARS to a 10 trillion dollar national debt! ( $10,000,000,000,000.00 )! FOUR MORE YEARS until 20% of the federal budget is interest payments on the debt! . >> I think the problem is the leather that Mercedes uses is rather thin than >> compared to the thicker leather of the past. > > How can you tell the difference between a thin skinned > cow and a thick skinned cow? The thin-skinned cow will get upset when you call it names? Signature- RODNEY > Just picked up a new SL500 and it's great, BUT, already the seat > upholstery on both seats has a couple of buckles in it like it needs to > be restreched. I'm not sure what you mean by "buckles". Do you mean the cushion material is bunching or the leather is developing too many folds and wrinkles? Some leather designs are meant to look wrinkled on purpose. Is the wrinkling very uneven? It's worese on the driver's side but it is there on teh > passenger's side too. The car has only been driven 200 miles. I weigh > 190 lbs and my wife 135 so I don't think we are too heavy. I had this > problem in my '98 SLK but thought it would be have fixed by now. Has > anyone else seen this? Should I insist in new seats? I'm sure MB will > give them to me but it's meaningless if it happens again. Thanks. A leather problem may be tricky to fix. Leather being a natural material, would have variations and flaws. There will always be imperfections and it may depend on how severe they are. You may also need to check to make sure there will not be noticeable differences between the replaced leather item with the original ones in your car. I don't know the degree of matching that goes on at the factory but different pieces of leather may look and feel different - you don't want one seat looking mismatched. At least your car is still new. What colour is the leather? I would keep it simple. If the problem is not really severe it may be better to leave it alone but show it to the dealer and ask anyway. The more the garage fiddles with the car the more likely they may unwittingly cause you new problems. Don't mess with factory work unless it's really necessary. However, do have the problem properly documented and described in a report in case it worsens and you need to refer back to it. Take pictures. > I had traded an 2003 S55 for this car. Believe it or not, I really > prefer the smoothness of the 5.0l engine to the AMG. That car was fast > but the engine was just too much. I can't imagine what a SL55 is like. You mean you found the S55 "noisy"? The SL 55 and the thing is nice to drive and the suspension is nice but the exhaust note is too noisy when you apply the throttle in an "enthusiastic" manner. It's a raspy note rather than the higher pitched mechanical shrill of an inline-6. I also find the AMG exhaust note very unfortunate. It reminds me of muscle cars for boy racers. I think it's not the engine that causes the noise and harshness. It's probably the unfortunate exhaust design. Car magazines tend to rave the SL 55 because of its exhaust note but those people don't have to live with it - it's really tiresome. The other thing that turned me off was the aluminium inlays in place of nice wood. Too cold a design theme. I think your choice of the Sl 500 was a good one. The extra HP is no big deal for most people. There's always the SL 600 anyway. Michael In terms of the seat, it's like the leather stretched because something was too heavy on it and it has a air gap--like carpet that needs restretching. Last night I looked at SL's on sale on eBay and at leat 1/2 had a similar problem, so I guess it is common. I will ask the dealer and may insist on new leather. Take a look at http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4525195498&ca tegory=6338. Or, http://bache4cars.com/img/items/item_148_21f.jpg. And, you will see what I mean. On the AMG engine, it was OK in the car. But the noise outside the car almost sounded like my 1985 300D. On the S, the extra power over the S500 was meaningful but the SL500 is powerful enough as is, in my view. > In terms of the seat, it's like the leather stretched because something > was too heavy on it and it has a air gap--like carpet that needs [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > Or, http://bache4cars.com/img/items/item_148_21f.jpg. And, you will > see what I mean. Maybe you should have spent your money on a head shrinker instead? This looks fine to me. As my mother always said. "Nothing on this earth is perfect" Live with it. Marty >> In terms of the seat, it's like the leather stretched because something >> was too heavy on it and it has a air gap--like carpet that needs [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > Live with it. > Marty Yes, that is absolutely normal for the seats in the SL. I have yet to see one that did not look just like this. The good news is that it does not seem to get any worse with age like some of the prior models did. Signature- RODNEY I've taken a look at the pictures too and I agree with the other two posters. The stretching of the leather is normal. It's the same in my BMW. IMO, the stretching is normal for this kind of leather. The material is soft and will stretch. It won't matter if you change the seat because the new one will do the same thing as you suspected already. I think the seats are meant to be form-fitting and they will wear in a pattern that conforms to your derriere. At least that's what I find in my BMW. Good leather seats are meant to break in over time. The only time when the leather are really taut is when they are new. There are some leather seats that stretch less but they are awful to sit on. They feel like highly-inflated balloons. Aside from the lack of form-fitting you will slide around all over when you corner. You may like the way they look but they fail miserably as seats. They essentially never break in. Just be happy your seats are conforming to your body as they should be. Cars never remain brand-new looking - consider it character. > I think the seats are meant to be form-fitting and they will > wear in a pattern that conforms to your derriere. So then if you have a nice posterior you can expect a higher resale value? . SignatureNothing is the way it is because that's the way it has to be. 1 HP = 745.69987158227022 Watts 1 PS = 735.49875 Watts http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/opd/opdpenny.htm - Current national debt On 11/02/2004 the National Debt was $7,429,582,471,118.88 On 01/06/2005 the National Debt was $7,595,653,400,600.33, up 166 billion in the 2 months and 4 days since the last Presidential election. http://www.ips-dc.org - The nation’s oldest multi-issue progressive think tank. http://brookings.edu - Writing, and speaking about the major challenges and opportunities facing the United States and the world. http://www.carnegieendowment.org - Dedicated to advancing cooperation between nations and promoting active international engagement by the United States. http://www.cannabisnews.com - Stay abreast of marijuana news. http://www.norml.com - Support marijuana legalization by becoming a member of NORML. http://www.mpp.org - Support marijuana legalization by becoming a member of MPP. http://narconews.com - Learn about the South of the Border drug war. FOUR MORE YEARS to a 10 trillion dollar national debt! ( $10,000,000,000,000.00 )! FOUR MORE YEARS until 20% of the federal budget is interest payments on the debt! . You buying or selling? ;#D > Good leather seats are meant to break in over time. > The only time when the leather are really taut is when they are new. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > may like the way they look but they fail miserably as seats. They > essentially never break in. Most of the Japanese cars have very poor leather interiors, IMHO. When new, the leather is tight and it never seems to sag. However, after just a year or so, it becomes wrinkled and shiny. While the leather in most MBZ vehicles will develop a slight shine and a few wrinkles with use, it's nothing like the cheap stuff used in Toyota, Lexus, Mitsubishi, etc. Even the leather in my ML with over 50K miles on it still looks as good as new after a good cleaning. Signature- RODNEY If you've ever taken a Mercedes seat apart you know they have more in common with fine furniture than the crap in say, a Toyota. There's a box spring. A good one. There's "horsehair" (really hemp) pads, there's foam and then there's leather. Sagging is caused by the springbox weakening and losing complience. http://interior.articles.mbz.org/seats/seats/ SignatureNeed Mercedes parts ? - http://parts.mbz.org http://www.mbz.org | Mercedes Mailing lists: http://lists.mbz.org 633CSi 250SE/C 300SD | Killies, killi.net, Crypts, aquaria.net 1970 280SE, 72 280SE | Old wristwatches http://watches.list.mbz.org > If you've ever taken a Mercedes seat apart you know they have more in common > with fine furniture than the crap in say, a Toyota. > > There's a box spring. A good one. There's "horsehair" (really hemp) pads, > there's foam and then there's leather. Wow! big deal. my 1968 buick has the springs and the hemp too... No leather though! That would be a sweet upgrade. How many lexus seats have you disassembled by the way? Toyota doesn't build "crap". Marty >> If you've ever taken a Mercedes seat apart you know they have more in common >> with fine furniture than the crap in say, a Toyota. >> >> There's a box spring. A good one. There's "horsehair" (really hemp) pads, >> there's foam and then there's leather. >Wow! big deal. my 1968 buick has the springs and the hemp too... Yeah, so did mine. Youdon't notice a difference? >No leather though! That would be a sweet upgrade. > >How many lexus seats have you disassembled by the way? > >Toyota doesn't build "crap". Of course they don't. Hence the interest in vintage toyotas that you see everywhere. SignatureNeed Mercedes parts ? - http://parts.mbz.org http://www.mbz.org | Mercedes Mailing lists: http://lists.mbz.org 633CSi 250SE/C 300SD | Killies, killi.net, Crypts, aquaria.net 1970 280SE, 72 280SE | Old wristwatches http://watches.list.mbz.org <snip> >> Toyota doesn't build "crap". > > Of course they don't. Hence the interest in vintage toyotas that > you see everywhere. This isn't a valid standard. Have you noticed that people actually do have a great interest in vintage Harley-Davidson? Marty ><snip> >>> Toyota doesn't build "crap". [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >This isn't a valid standard. Have you noticed that people actually do >have a great interest in vintage Harley-Davidson? That's because they're not made of flimsy bits of stamped steel. SignatureNeed Mercedes parts ? - http://parts.mbz.org http://www.mbz.org | Mercedes Mailing lists: http://lists.mbz.org 633CSi 250SE/C 300SD | Killies, killi.net, Crypts, aquaria.net 1970 280SE, 72 280SE | Old wristwatches http://watches.list.mbz.org > That's because they're not made of flimsy bits of stamped steel. In the case of 108's et al, they are built to rust. Especially impressive for non flimsy steel. >> That's because they're not made of flimsy bits of stamped steel. > >In the case of 108's et al, they are built to rust. Especially impressive >for non flimsy steel. Not as much as say BMW's from the same era but you still see lots of both around. Ever see a 30 year old Toyota? Outside of the 2000GT (which was crap but looked like a million bucks) not one is worth keeping alive which is why you never see any old ones. SignatureNeed Mercedes parts ? - http://parts.mbz.org http://www.mbz.org | Mercedes Mailing lists: http://lists.mbz.org 633CSi 250SE/C 300SD | Killies, killi.net, Crypts, aquaria.net 1970 280SE, 72 280SE | Old wristwatches http://watches.list.mbz.org >>> That's because they're not made of flimsy bits of stamped steel. >> [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > Not as much as say BMW's from the same era but you still see lots of both > around. Ever see a 30 year old Toyota? Yes, I see them frequently. Seattle is nice that way. No road salt and very little freezing. > Outside of the 2000GT (which was > crap but looked like a million bucks) not one is worth keeping alive > which is why you never see any old ones. Wrong. Like most of your spurious arguments. There are lots of old corolla's and corona's rolling around here in various states, from cherry ones owned by old ladies, to rust buckets that look like the wheels are about to come off. What becomes collectible often has very little to do with "quality". People perceive certain masques/models as collectible and that is the end of the story. Like all those 60's mustangs that people spend a million dollars restoring. They are common as dirt, they weren't particularly well built, yet people collect restore and cherish them. You want to believe your stuff is superior, fine, we all do. The SL 55 still sounded unrefined with the top up when I stepped hard on the throttle. I don't mind the engine making a bit more noise when you press hard but the raspiness had no redeeming sound qualities for me. It just sounded like an old truck and I have a truck already. I feel the same about the SL 500's engine. It's quite adequate and since it is a GT style car, it's perfect - IMO you don't want a GT pretending to be boy racer. They are opposites in refinement. Oh my, and you really think that's a problem? You may habe bigger problems :-) It's leather, not rubber! You should have a look at my $5k couch. cheers >In terms of the seat, it's like the leather stretched because something >was too heavy on it and it has a air gap--like carpet that needs [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >almost sounded like my 1985 300D. On the S, the extra power over the >S500 was meaningful but the SL500 is powerful enough as is, in my view. > In terms of the seat, it's like the leather stretched because something > was too heavy on it and it has a air gap--like carpet that needs [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > Or, http://bache4cars.com/img/items/item_148_21f.jpg. And, you will > see what I mean. That looks fine to me. No leather is going to stay "tight" forever. It's normal to have some stretch. I wouldn't worry about it, if was you. Just make sure you clean and condition your leather and look after it. SignatureCND Lightening strikes, the pages keep on turning - [Anastacia] > Just picked up a new SL500 and it's great, BUT, already the seat > upholstery on both seats has a couple of buckles in it like it needs [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Doug Welcome to the new quality of MB.... or the lack of. |
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