What is Leatherette/MB-Tex?
- Thread starter Passport1
- Start date
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
As others have noted, it's a vinyl used as an alternative to leather. It's not bad but it's definitely not indistinguishable from leather, regardless of what somebody else might say. When my dad was looking at a GL several years back he immediately noticed it and it was a big turn-off for him.
The Audi e-tron I owned briefly had "leather seating surfaces" which is of course code for only there being leather where your butt sits. The rest of it being vinyl was quite obvious.
Ford has done a very good job with their "ActiveX" faux leather/leatherette but you can still tell it isn't the real thing. As somebody else noted, cheap leather is also usually vinyl coated, cracks easily and is quite thin. The "Laguna leather" that Stellantis (formerly FCA) is currently using is VERY nice, quite thick and feels extremely luxurious, it's one of my favourite leathers I've owned, right up there with the leather that was in my M5, which was also excellent and seemed to wear extremely well.
The Audi e-tron I owned briefly had "leather seating surfaces" which is of course code for only there being leather where your butt sits. The rest of it being vinyl was quite obvious.
Ford has done a very good job with their "ActiveX" faux leather/leatherette but you can still tell it isn't the real thing. As somebody else noted, cheap leather is also usually vinyl coated, cracks easily and is quite thin. The "Laguna leather" that Stellantis (formerly FCA) is currently using is VERY nice, quite thick and feels extremely luxurious, it's one of my favourite leathers I've owned, right up there with the leather that was in my M5, which was also excellent and seemed to wear extremely well.
Then you should be also be careful of Dinamica inserts that VW and Benz has used.
They (FCA) are/were pretty proud of their Sepia Laguna Leather. There's an excerpt for my Viper about how the hides came from Scandinavian cows who roamed pastures free of nasty barbed wire fences which could potentially mar the hide... Happy cows makes for happy hides...
Anyway, it's nice leather.The BMW's also have nice leather. The RAM is okay, but not as nice as the other three.
We have Softex in the 4Runner. It's vinyl, but not objectionable like the vinyl in say 70's cars. It's more durable than the factory leather I've had in Toyota's and doesn't require constant conditioning or care. Perfect for a 4wd road exploration vehicle.
4WD
$50 site donor 2024
I have both. It depends what year you're considering and what you want to buy. On the E-class it used to be good. The W212 Mb-tex doesn't hold up. The seats cushion rips in both the driver's and passenger seat. Driver's first because it gets more wear than passenger. Passenger eventually if you have enough passengers often enough. It was durable in the previous generation W211. I have real leather in my W211, it's pretty nice, prefer it over the MB-tex. It's very hard to find a Mercedes that has real leather. Usually the higher end models have it as standard like the E-550 or E400/450, it was an option in models like the E300/320/350. You would have to run the car through a vin decoder to see if it has real leather or MB-tex. On the flip side, the seat cushion is about $250 for MB-tex and about $1000 for real leather, but the real leather doesn't rip.
Mercedes VIN Decoder | Decode Your Mercedes-Benz VIN
Want to know the specifications of your Mercedes? No problem! Our free Mercedes VIN decoder retrieves detailed information about your Mercedes-Benz vehicle.
www.lastvin.com
Vinyl
Old MB-Tex wore like IRON... I think its durability was the quality of the material and thickness. Todays MB-Tex, while more supple and thinner... does not last as mentioned above.
Old MB-Tex wore like IRON... I think its durability was the quality of the material and thickness. Todays MB-Tex, while more supple and thinner... does not last as mentioned above.
My dads favorite car was a 1977 Bonneville and he would get pissed when us kids would leave crumbs around the buttons. Those **** buttons would pop off as well. Oh the memories. rofl.
So true and there were no handheld vacuums back then either so you hauled the regular house vacuum out to the car with a long extension cord.
The standard issue whisk broom wouldn’t get those crumbs from around the buttons.
I have had now 3 VW's with Leatherette and 2 MB's with MB-Tex. I would take it any day over the real thing.
Sportwagen TDI in my sig is now prob ~11 years old, the one I traded was 1 year newer. Both spent the 1st owner life in the southeast (Atlanta and somewhere in South Carolina) and after TDI buyback both sat parked unused and unmaintained somewhere around the southeast for 1-1.5 years and the seats still look like new after a quick wipe down with some quick interior detailer. Same in the MB's - my '09 C300 was ~10 years old when I traded it in and seats still looked new and they were beige MB-Tex, no issues with the 8 year old gray MB-Tex in my '12 E350 either.
Here is good example of now maybe 12-13 year old VW Leatherette - still looks new. 2009 Sportwagen with ~71k miles - even 100+k mile examples look pretty much the same. It wears like iron but is still pretty pleasant and most non-car enthusiast folks think its leather.
Sportwagen TDI in my sig is now prob ~11 years old, the one I traded was 1 year newer. Both spent the 1st owner life in the southeast (Atlanta and somewhere in South Carolina) and after TDI buyback both sat parked unused and unmaintained somewhere around the southeast for 1-1.5 years and the seats still look like new after a quick wipe down with some quick interior detailer. Same in the MB's - my '09 C300 was ~10 years old when I traded it in and seats still looked new and they were beige MB-Tex, no issues with the 8 year old gray MB-Tex in my '12 E350 either.
Here is good example of now maybe 12-13 year old VW Leatherette - still looks new. 2009 Sportwagen with ~71k miles - even 100+k mile examples look pretty much the same. It wears like iron but is still pretty pleasant and most non-car enthusiast folks think its leather.
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
These were some of the most comfortable seats in any vehicle I've owned. Car was a 2001 BMW M5, this pic was taken in 2013 or 2014, so the car was 12 or 13 years old. Not sure on the mileage in the picture, probably 160,000Km? So roughly 100,000 miles.
I've have both and actually prefer the V Tex pleather. My Jetta and Cross Sport both have it and the are not slick at all, perforated and extremely easy to clean and don't crack and wrinkle. My 2011 Jetta with 180k miles had seats that looked new.
Low maintenance and gives me more time to concentrate on the oil.
The A4 has leather and at 90k miles still look new.
The Civic has light grey fabric seats and are a full time job to keep clean.
Low maintenance and gives me more time to concentrate on the oil.
The A4 has leather and at 90k miles still look new.
The Civic has light grey fabric seats and are a full time job to keep clean.
Last edited:
these were nice. mine was the color of a caramel sweet
the regular 530 and 540 sport seats look nice by they’re horrible for anything longer than a 5 minute drive. probably made of recycled rocks
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
We had a 2000 328i and its seats (vinyl) were cracked pretty good. I probably have a pic here somewhere actually. My sister has an '03 330i and her seats are in good condition still (vinyl) but you definitely are not mistaking it for leather.
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
No Reserve: 782k-Mile 1979 Mercedes-Benz 300TD
Bid for the chance to own a No Reserve: 782k-Mile 1979 Mercedes-Benz 300TD at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #47,941.
bringatrailer.com
when people talk about MB-Tex, they mean this
No reason to avoid MB Tex!
How good is this product? Anybody have experience with it?
Custom Leather Seat Covers, Leather Seats, & Interiors | Katzkin
Welcome to Katzkin, the world leader in leather seat covers. Transforming your car with custom automotive interiors is Fast and Affordable.
katzkin.com
With the exception of the W212. And even then, I would not let MB Tex seats stop me from buying a car I otherwise love. Just understand that it is all but a given that the front seat covers will need to be replaced at some time. Unless they have already been replaced.
Whoever the supplier is for the W212 MB Tex seats were, they did a poor job on designing for good seam strength. Except for the W212, I have never seen a negative review of MB Tex.
