Seat Upholstery "sagging" in new SL500

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.

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

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.

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

Take a look at

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

How can you tell the difference between a thin skinned cow and a thick skinned cow?

So then if you have a nice posterior you can expect a higher resale value?

You buying or selling? ;#D

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.

Welcome to the new quality of MB.... or the lack of.

The thin-skinned cow will get upset when you call it names?

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.

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.

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

Yeah, so did mine. Youdon't notice a difference?

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