drivers side seat on 99 S320; can it be lowered?

Hi,

I am a really tall guy with a wonderful 99 S320 and a problem....I am too tall for this car!! I love every aspect of the car except that my head barely touches the headliner and makes it uncomfortable to drive....do you have any suggestions for how to lower the back end of the drivers seat just an inch? it would really help....no luck so far at my local dealer.

Thanks,

David

Reply to
baymig
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David, I am a test engineer for an automotive seating company in the US. Other than the adjustments that are provided with the seat, there are no ways to really change the seating position. I seriously doubt that you will find anyone who will modify the seat, risers, or floorpan to add more vertical height because that could potentially alter the crash worthiness of the seat. All these things are very carefully designed in. I can tell you that seats are generally designed to accommodate people that range from a 5th percentile female (5' tall) to a 95th percentile man (6'4" tall). So you reaaallllly must be on the upper end of the scale and just might be too tall. But first, be sure that you have adjusted the seat with the adjustments provided. I suspect that you might not have run the seat down all the way. My stepfather is an ex-Detroit Lions tackle and can fit nicely inside my mother's E class so I suspect that you will fit in the S if you get the seat adjusted. There might be a mechanical or electrical fault that is preventing the seat from moving to the full-down position.

Best Regards, Davehd

Reply to
Dave HD

Hey

I hear your pain, my brother is 7'1" he pretty much fits into nothing comfortably, except maybe an F350.

seat modifications or track lengthening is pretty much completely illegal, here anyway.

next time, get a 2 door, the longer doors usually mean that they allow the seat to go back further as the door pillar doesn't obstruct view until further back. Also, if its a convertible, your laughing then, your head wont touch anything with the roof down.. ;)

| Hi, | | I am a really tall guy with a wonderful 99 S320 and a problem....I am | too tall for this car!! I love every aspect of the car except that my | head barely touches the headliner and makes it uncomfortable to | drive....do you have any suggestions for how to lower the back end of | the drivers seat just an inch? it would really help....no luck so far | at my local dealer. | | Thanks, | | David |

Reply to
taxman

As Dave HD says, you may be out of luck. I had the same problem with my previous car ('83 SAAB), and found myself in a Catch-22: the reputable (and presumed competent) shops wouldn't touch it for fear of the liability issue, and the places that said "Uh... yeah, sure, we can do it" I would not have trusted to change a light bulb. I just learned to live with having to scrunch. (I was younger and more easily scrunched)

Although I haven't done this myself, you might try, instead of lowering the seat, raising the ceiling. I assume that you have a sun roof, yes? You might be able find someone who will take out the sunroof mechanism and replace the headliner. I suspect this might give you an inch or two, but would probably not be cheap.

It's of no help to you now, but don't presume that the S class necessarily has more head or leg room than the E class (cue McB.). Although there is no room to spare, I (6'6"+ and a 37" inseam) fit comfortably in my '94 E320 with a sunroof. I'm sure that you have realized by now that there is very little correlation between the outside dimensions of a car and the inside, especially with respect to head room. I have to laugh at the ads for the recent crop of mega-SUVs which tout the adjustability of the pedals. They only adjust 'up' to accommodate petite wives (for the most part) driving hubby's luxo-boat. It's of no help to us.

Although most of the posts are either spam or lonely-hearts (or bitter short people ;-)), you might ask in alt.support.tall or the tall folks web page:

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Does anybody out there know any NBAers? What do they do to fit in their rides?

John M. 97th percentiler '94 E320

Reply to
John Mauel

Thanks John....I'll look into the sunroof idea......

Reply to
baymig

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