Sportline seat questions

[silver_diesel_benz]

I have a 1993 300D with a turbo Om606 and 722.6 and just bought a 1993 300E sportline that’s in rough shape but a good interior. I have a few questions has anyone ever fitted heating elements into non heated sportline/500e seats? Also the drivers seat back bolster has a hole in it and the bottom bolster is a little flattened, does anyone have any suggestions on how to fix it/where to get parts from? Sorry I know it’s not exactly 500e related but I figured since 500e’s came with the same seats this would be the best place to ask.

 

[gsxr]

The heating elements for the Sportline/500E seats are all NLA so you can't get factory parts. Best case, you could locate used Sportline/500E with heating elements, but expect some of the elements to be dead - but they may be fixable if you are willing to disassemble them, cut open the foam, and locate the broken wire. There are a total of 6 separate elements per seat (3 bottom cushion, 3 backrest) which need to be tested.

If neither your 300D and 300E have heated seats... you would have to use aftermarket heating elements of some sort. I don't know anyone who has done this, and documented it on a forum. You may be able to use the factory switch / relay / harness with the aftermarket elements, but the harness is NLA, so it would have to be sourced from a parts car with heated seats... which requires pulling all seats out of the car, and pulling the main carpet out, to extract the harness. Lots of work. Don't ask how I know.

BTW, the Sportline interior upgrade would be sweet in the 300D. Swap the leather door panels too. And swap the Sportline swaybars, and steering box, and shift knob... make your own 300D Sportline. That's what I did with my '87 300D, complete with heated seats from an E500.

 

[silver_diesel_benz]

Alright thank you, I’m planning on taking the door panels but I’ll have to find a drivers side panel because some one screwed a crappy cup holder into it. I tested the turns lock to lock against my 300D and got 3.25 on the 300D and a little under 3 on the 300E so I believe it has the steering box but it doesn’t have the sportline steering wheel on it. I’m also going to get some calipers and measure the sway bars but the only part I don’t know is what springs are on it, the PO of my 300D cut the springs to lower it and while it looks good it doesn’t ride amazing, so I thought I might put sportline springs on it and smaller pads but I’m not sure that these springs are the low ones I’ll post a picture of the springs and my 300D

 

[silver_diesel_benz]

Also since I’ve got a 722.6 I’ve got a 2001 CLK tiptronic shifter in it and the knobs are completely different but I measured both emblems and as far as I can tell they’re the same size so I’ll swap the sportline emblem over

 

[gsxr]

Alright thank you, I’m planning on taking the door panels but I’ll have to find a drivers side panel because some one screwed a crappy cup holder into it.

If it's just the leather insert that has holes in it, you can swap the leather insert from a good donor. But you'll want to swap around the wood pieces to make sure all 4 match. And add Loctite to the screws on the wood trim if it has metal nuts (these come loose over time).

I tested the turns lock to lock against my 300D and got 3.25 on the 300D and a little under 3 on the 300E so I believe it has the steering box...

That sounds like the correct box, which is pretty rare these days. Keep the Pitman arm attached to the box, ditto for the input flexible coupling. Yes this means you have to pop the tie rod & drag link out, but the Pitman arm is calibrated to the box at the factory... and it's not easy to dial in the flex coupling if you remove it from the input shaft.

... but it doesn’t have the sportline steering wheel on it.

THAT is weird. Definitely a 1993 model year? Does the VIN check out with Sportline codes at Datamb.com?

I’m also going to get some calipers and measure the sway bars

No need for calipers, see photo below. If the front bar is Sportline, the rear is very likely to be 16.5mm (Sportline) as well. That rear bar is NLA from MB.

but the only part I don’t know is what springs are on it, the PO of my 300D cut the springs to lower it and while it looks good it doesn’t ride amazing, so I thought I might put sportline springs on it and smaller pads but I’m not sure that these springs are the low ones I’ll post a picture of the springs and my 300D

Spring part numbers are stamped into the lower coil, but are often difficult to read. Use a wire brush to clean it up enough to be readable. It should have the Sportline springs though, they sure look original in those pics. You'll need to figure out what you want to do with ride height & springs, sitting in the weeds looks cool, but often rides like crap if it's sitting on the bump stops. Strut/shock selection affects this as well.

 

[silver_diesel_benz]

Oh awesome, thanks for the info I’ll have to look for those part numbers. Yeah it has the sportline interior and suspension codes I guess it was just changed out at some point, not really sure

 

[silver_diesel_benz]

This is what the steering wheel looks like, it’s just a standard w124 wheel isn’t it? I’ll put the car up on the lift and check the springs and sway bars tomorrow

 

[gsxr]

This is what the steering wheel looks like, it’s just a standard w124 wheel isn’t it?

That looks like the standard steering wheel. However, 1992 Sportline models had a 390mm diameter wheel which looks basically the same as the stock 400mm diameter wheel. You'd need to measure to compare the 300D and 300E Sportline wheels; if they are the same diameter, someone swapped it in the past. If the Sportline wheel is 10mm smaller, it's a real Sportline wheel, just a 1992 version.

 

[silver_diesel_benz]

I looked underneath and it does have the thicker sway bars and I measured the steering wheel and it is the smaller steering wheel. But I could not find a part number on the springs. Also I believe it has a 210mm 2.65 diff which I’ll have to take for my 300D for when I’m making more power. I’ll have to have basically everything I take off this car sandblasted and repainted. It also has bigger brakes then mine so I’ll take those too, I believe they’re 400E/500E calipers aren’t they?

 

[gsxr]

The spring part number may be in a slightly different location, i.e. on the back side of the bottom coil... when you get the springs removed from the car, check both of them. Pretty likely you can read the number off at least one spring, assuming there's not excessive rust that corroded the number away.

The diff is 210mm and can be swapped over, I think you may need to swap the axles too (forget offhand). You can put a Wavetrac LSD in the 210mm with 2.65 gears.

The front brakes should be similar to 400E, but different than 500E. Check the casting numbers on the front calipers (or rotors), they should either be 295x22 (early) or 294x25 (late). The rears will be 278x9. I think those are the 294x25 fronts. If you swap those to the 300D you may need to cut a hole in the dust shield and grind the LCA for clearance, or swap over the late-style LCA's. The 300E 4-piston brakes sit about 6mm deeper than the 300D brakes which is why the LCA's are different.

More brake info here:

http://www.w124performance.com/images/W124_brakes/124_brakes.pdf

 

[silver_diesel_benz]

Alright thanks, any thoughts on where to get a new seat cover/ lower bolster to recondition the driver seat?

 

[gsxr]

Alright thanks, any thoughts on where to get a new seat cover/ lower bolster to recondition the driver seat?

Try German Auto Tops (GAT) or GAAH Automotive, both located in SoCal, for replacement leather seat covers. GAT is usually much more reasonably priced.