How to remove front seats from a W210

[Parrot of Doom]

You may need to do this to replace an airbag sensor, or replace a seat cushion, or simply to get underneath the seat to clean the carpet. Thankfully its very easy to do on a manual seat. I do not have power seats but I would imagine the process is identical.

The job should take no more than 10 minutes.

Tools:

Ratchet
17mm socket
E12 socket

1) Push the seat back as far as it will go.

2) There are 4 bolts holding each seat, 1 on each corner. At the front they are concealed by plastic clips. These clips are removed by inserting your finger under the large tab, sliding forward until they stop. There is another tab that stops them moving further, you can defeat this by lifting the inside edge of the plastic piece, rotating it outward.

3) Once the plastic is removed the bolt is visible. Unscrew this as normal with your E12 socket. The bolt is quite long and substantial. Repeat for the other side.

4) There are wires underneath the seat, for seatbelt clips, airbag sensors, heated cushions, etc. Unplug the connectors for these.

5) Now push the seat as far forward as it will go, and unscrew the 2 bolts at the back. These are normally exposed.

6) The seat is now loose. Go to the front passenger door and lift the front of the seat up. The wires are still held by a small plastic clip, this can be freed by pushing the 2 halves of the clip together.

 

[Parrot of Doom]

7) The seatbelt needs to be removed. The belt is secured by a single 17mm bolt on the outside edge of the seat. This is accessed by removing the plastic panel, it is held in place by 2 clips on the bottom edge. It is probably easiest to tilt the seat over onto its side, and push the clips together from underneath the seat.

8) The seat is now free to be removed.

Be warned that the seats are heavy, you may need help to lift them.

9) You can now clean the years of crud that have accumulated under there!

I did this job because I wanted to see if I could machine wash the seat covers, unfortunately they are stitched into the cushions and therefore not washable (unless you are a seamstress). However I was able to take piccies of the seat:

Underside of the seat:

Seat base, underneath the cushion:

 

[Parrot of Doom]

Bigger versions of the images are available here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/soundman/sets/72157603651309715/

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