Leather and Faux Leather (MB Tex)

[ARoosterinaRoadster]

I have been looking at a 2005 55 plate Jasper Blue C220 CDI Auto Estate that is advertised as having got leather seats with a view to changing my Iridium Silver 55 plate C220 CDI Auto Estate for a blue one which was the colour that I was first attracted to.

Upon quizzing the dealer about the car that he is advertising and pointing out to him that his advert is incorrect and after receiving a close-up image of what appears to be a crack/tear in the driver seat bolster and pointing out that leather does not have a white finish - he said that the site comes up automatically with the specification ! and cannot be changed and then became very defensive and suggested that I look elsewhere for what I want.

The cost of having this panel replaced with a close match would be circa £100.00.

 

[Blobcat]

I have been looking at a 2005 55 plate Jasper Blue C220 CDI Auto Estate that is advertised as having got leather seats with a view to changing my Iridium Silver 55 plate C220 CDI Auto Estate for a blue one which was the colour that I was first attracted to.

Upon quizzing the dealer about the car that he is advertising and pointing out to him that his advert is incorrect and after receiving a close-up image of what appears to be a crack/tear in the driver seat bolster and pointing out that leather does not have a white finish - he said that the site comes up automatically with the specification ! and cannot be changed and then became very defensive and suggested that I look elsewhere for what I want.

The cost of having this panel replaced with a close match would be circa £100.00.

Plastic seats are plastic seats, keep searching and avoid “AMG Line” to find leather

 

[EmilysDad]

the repair to my Artico seat was around £100 as you suggested, but it also cracked a few years later.

 

[ARoosterinaRoadster]

the repair to my Artico seat was around £100 as you suggested, but it also cracked a few years later.

Hi E'sD. Cracking along the vinyl weld edge is often seen before the area around hardens and cracks as a new failure.
Back in the mid/late 70's there was a company based in Knowsley,Merseyside that started off doing only such repairs but later diversified into domestic upholstery/re-upholstery. They were called VinylWeld and later could be found in Farnworth,Bolton.

They were at their busiest during the 70's and 80's in the heyday of contract furnishings in the clubs and hotels of the period.

The cracking of vinyl is often nothing less than the contamination of the surface by everyday grease/soiling of the surfaces and accelerated by the incorrect cleaning using everyday detergents instead of plain old pure block soap such as fairy soap or Lux Soap Flakes or Stardrops and then wiping over with a clean white cloth that has been wet in plain water and wrung out.

It is the lather that kills the grease and general soiling.

Detergents are created using chemicals - vinyl's are a bi-product of the petro-chemical industry and when the two come into contact the reaction causes a breakdown in the vinyl resulting in hardening,cracking and splitting.

A very similar situation is found with leather and the use of detergents for cleaning - only pure soap should be used then rinsed as with vinyl and dried with a clean white towel and the leather then fed with a quality hide food.

 

[bosa]

I have an S204 which had the same problem. A local car/bike seat repairer replaced the panel with new and it looks great. If the rest of the car is okay then get it done. There are some repair gels about which will need reapplying from time to time but I would recommend replacement.

 

[rifiki]

Artico is crap, almost guaranteed to crack, my CLK has it.
My 190B has MBTex, no cracks, a bit grubby and some stitching has come undone and has been there for 60 years.

 

[ARoosterinaRoadster]

I have an S204 which had the same problem. A local car/bike seat repairer replaced the panel with new and it looks great. If the rest of the car is okay then get it done. There are some repair gels about which will need reapplying from time to time but I would recommend replacement.

Hi bosa. Yes the only real way is for a replacement panel to be fitted and ideally by a motor trimmer or an upholsterer with motor trimming skills.

Vinyl Welding and the plethora of gels that are about are really only used by the motor trade used car bodges that just want shot of a problem and not willing to have a proper job undertaken.

I am not bothering with the one that I have posted about,the deception and indifferent attitude of the dealer and a 108 mile drive and back is just a little far for a very likely disappointment with other aspects of the car that only a close inspection would reveal.

Used car dealers are becoming more and more savvy about about taking images from advantageous positions (for them) and then providing the sales Bull until the cows come home.

I asked three times about the issue on the bolster after just about spotting it from across the seat squab from the other side.

 

[Rob7seven]

I've used a few taxis in Germany, you're guaranteed to find full Artico interiors in them, they are always in that yellowy cream colour, probably a unique specification for the hire trade. I know leather is more expensive, but wouldn't taxi firms pay the extra if Artico had a tendency to crack? I've never seen a damaged Artico seat in a German taxi, and they do huge mileages.

Ps.
As anyone who has been to Deutschland would know, that "yellowy cream" comment refers to the exterior paint colour, not to anything inside the taxi. Audi and VW offer the same colour for taxi models, it used to appear in their printed brochures (remember them?), but I doubt if non-taxi customers could order cars in the same shade,

 

[Gazwould]

How strange .

 

[Blobcat]

I've used a few taxis in Germany, you're guaranteed to find full Artico interiors in them, they are always in that yellowy cream colour, probably a unique specification for the hire trade. I know leather is more expensive, but wouldn't taxi firms pay the extra if Artico had a tendency to crack? I've never seen a damaged Artico seat in a German taxi, and they do huge mileages.

Taxi's always had MB Tex which lasts forever, not been in a new one but I wouldn't be surprised if they're still using the stuff. German Taxi's have a very close connection with MB

 

[Rob7seven]

Taxi's always had MB Tex which lasts forever, not been in a new one but I wouldn't be surprised if they're still using the stuff. German Taxi's have a very close connection with MB

I've always associated MB Tex with the brownish houndstooth/check fabric in older cars, but I've never seen it in a taxi, that's not what you mean is it? Current MB taxi seats look pretty much like Artico. Last time I was in one, I had a full leather E Class at home, and at a quick glance it looked quite similar.

 

[Blobcat]

I've always associated MB Tex with the brownish houndstooth/check fabric in older cars, but I've never seen it in a taxi, that's not what you mean is it? Current MB taxi seats look pretty much like Artico. Last time I was in one, I had a full leather E Class at home, and at a quick glance it looked quite similar.

No, MB Tex is a plastic leather, not the fabric (which also wear well)

 

[ARoosterinaRoadster]

I've always associated MB Tex with the brownish houndstooth/check fabric in older cars, but I've never seen it in a taxi, that's not what you mean is it? Current MB taxi seats look pretty much like Artico. Last time I was in one, I had a full leather E Class at home, and at a quick glance it looked quite similar.

Hi Rob. As Blobcat has pointed out, MB-Tex is most definitely a vinyl and interestingly enough I have not come across a damaged one until the other day albeit that could well be Artico and the damage was in the same place and on the same panel as I posted an image of.
The easiest way of identifying it would be to see the base/ground cloth that the vinyl is bonded onto.

The nearest comparable Faux Leather that I have ever seen and used was a specialist vinyl from America that was used in the manufacture of specialist dentist chairs and was extremely stiff and inflexible and could only be applied after heating it up with a hot air gun like the ones used for stripping paint.

 

[Jim2]

How strange .

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Replica of my 2010 E200 w212,,,,its rubbish material. When I was looking to buy my first merc, I told the dealer that judging by the seat cover the car had more mileage than what was on the clock. But he replied, no check the other Mercs on the site, most of them have the same fault. It was one of the reasons that I changed it after 3 years. Not nice when the first thing you see after opening the door is the front seat showing its innards.