Swop front seats

[Jim]

As the drivers seat gets the most use and tends to show signs of age I wonder if it is possible to swop the front seats over.

There is the arm rest to think about and the wiring. Perhaps the easy way is to swop only the seat squab and not the whole seat assembly.

Has anyone done this? Any thoughts or advice?

Jim.

 

[gsxr]

You could swap the bottom seat cushions without too much problem, but the backrests wouldn't swap due to the armrest. The frames/motors cannot swap because they are different (passenger side doesn't have memory feature).

If you just have surface wear, check into having the seats re-dyed. Done properly, this can make them look like new again. The next option is new leather, roughly $500 per cushion or backrest for aftermarket (GAHH), or ~$600-$900 each for brand new leather from Mercedes (which includes new seat heating elements too, if your car has bun warmers). Your seats would have to be in pretty bad shape to need replacement though.

 

[Jim]

Thanks Dave, I did not know that the memory was only on the drivers seat...makes sense.

Jim.

 

[gsxr]

I should have mentioned... that is for USA-spec W124 models only. In the rest of the world, memory was optional on left & right front seats, although most only had memory driver seats. It's possible to have memory on both sides, but it's not common. No USA-spec W124 came with passenger memory seats, and I don't even think it was an available option in USA.

The other issues still apply though (can't swap backrests).

 

[gerryvz]

My US-spec 560SEC has memory on both front seats ;-)

 

[Efraim]

Hi,

I picked this old topic up. Has anybody done the swap that Jim was wondering? The same is also in my mind. I'm restoring W126 560SEL and it has been almost impossible to find decent solution to fix only worn seat, without updating both front seats. To prevent that with 500E I'm considering the swap.

The electrical seat function in both front seats are identical so that won't be the bottleneck in my case. My concern is about armrest. It it possible to move from driver seat to passanger side? And are the mechnisn and motors etc. below seat identical, meaning just swap as such? The extra hollow then need to be patched somehow.

 

[Taxi Driver]

Do what I did, one right/pass. seat, from a 400E Recaro, as new it was, place the seat cushion from the donor, in this case the 400E
onto the 500E drivers seat frame. the complete 400E seat backrest will have to be completed w the motors and wiring from the memory
ones of the 500E, yes they have a feedback to the memorybox under the seat. All to do is make two holes for the armrest mount.
The mount for the armrest you move over from the used to be drivers seat, there are holes allready made, see.

No problemo, the cushions are identical, right/left, so it can be done to save some wear on the outside and massage the "unused"
pass.seat and have them both in time look equally used...

 

[gsxr]

The electrical seat function in both front seats are identical so that won't be the bottleneck in my case.

Double-check the connectors on both sides. If they are not identical, just swap the bases/motors. Either way, this isn't an issue.

My concern is about armrest. It it possible to move from driver seat to passanger side? And are the mechnisn and motors etc. below seat identical, meaning just swap as such? The extra hollow then need to be patched somehow.

Yes, you can swap passenger to driver... again, if any of the mechanism is different, then swap the cushions only and leave the bases/motors on their original side. Worst part is patching the hole where the armrest attaches.

 

[Efraim]

Big thanks for Gsxr and Taxi Driver. Let's see which option I'll take.