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Seat Wear - Switch Passenger and Driver Seats?

2K views 8 replies 5 participants last post by  Ruindr 
#1 ·
I recently obtained a 1997 SL500 with 60K miles on it. The driver seat is visibly worn, but serviceable. The passenger seat looks like new and feels more comfortable, obviously because it has been used considerably less than the driver seat. The seats (not the backs) appear to be symmetrical and identical, and I would like to know if it would be feasible to switch the seat bottoms so that I might be able to enjoy a more comfortable seat in which to 'even out the wear' in the next 50,000 miles or so. I anticipate that the passenger seat will seldom be used. Is this a possibility? Is it a simple procedure? If not, could an upholstery shop accomplish the task? Thanks. Any pointers to a discussion of this issue would be appreciated.

Thanks
 
#3 ·
beware. in some models the passenger seat has a occupancy sensor but the drivers never does. so if you swap bottoms, the SRS light will come on if it has an occupancy sensor. The 97 for sure has an occupancy sensor. the sensor is a capacitive coupled device so bypassing it is not completely straightforward.
 
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#5 ·
Front seat Repair- Old Post

Phil here. Enclosed is a old post of mine regarding worn out passenger seats, This might solve your problem?
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Phil Here. I just had my seats redone. I chose just to have the outer sections of the seats and back cushions replaced with MB tex. I had my upholstery guy sew in the panels leaving the center perforated sections which were leather and were in excellent condition.. I purchased just one yard [ 63 in x 36 in.] wide from World upholstery. Price was 42.00 per yard and 12.00 shipping Gahhs' price was 55.00 per yard. One yard was all I needed for eight panels for my seats.

Mb Tex is a bargain and is a very durable material. The Tex color is just slightly different in color than the original leather but if you are doing both seats with the leather perforations in the middle you can not notice it.

My upholstery guy charged me one hundred a seat to do the job so I got two brand new looking front seats for 256.00. OTD. The Vinyl repair guys wanted 250.00 just to repair the seat bolsters where we get that nasty seat belt [ Rub and Tear ] prevalent to all SL's

The upholstery guy loved me because I brought him the four seat cushions to work on, Mercedes seats are very easy to work on, you don't have to remove the whole seat, Each cushion comes off from the seat frame with only two screws each and you don't have to leave you precious SL at the shop for day's...........

1992 Sweet 500 SL Phil Justice
 

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#7 ·
That seems to work, except.......

Excellent advice. I was able to remove the two bolts. One was less than finger tight. Buy my next problem is determining how to unplug the seat heaters so I can fully extricate the seats. Not that I need seat heaters in Texas where the first day of summer is Valentines Day, but I would prefer not to cut the wires. Any help would be appreciated.
 
#8 ·
they should readily unplug from the housing and control unit. BTW if the leather is in decent shape a good auto upholstry shop can easily redo the padding. And in my case the leather on the drivers side was wearing color away. I had a auto shop specializing in custom interiors redye the leather. Had both seats done and it looks brand new. total cost was about $300.
 
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#9 ·
The plug for the seat heating wire is tucked up behind the bottom of the seat back. I found it very hard to get to. Move the seat forward and hopefully you will see it. Otherwise you'll have to remove the seat back panel (two torx screws). There are good YouTube videos on disassembly of the seats.
 
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