W123 sedan 1983 vs 1985 front seat fasteners - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

uberwasser · #1 11-23-2014, 09:45 PM

I pulled a really great passenger side seat from a 1983 300D. Easy to pull, four 10mm bolts (two front, two year).

Went to remove the passenger seat from my '85 today and found the expected pair of 10mm bolts up front.

In the rear, however...no bolts in to the floor. Instead, I found what looks like spring clips/tabs.

Can anyone shed light on removing the '85 seat with these rear clips?

And, does anyone know if once the clips are out there will be the correct mounting holes in the floor for the '83 seat or would I need to transfer the '83 seat to the '85 seat frame?

To shed a bit more light I looked at my friend's '84 and it matched the '83 setup, so it seems like the '85 was a change for the final model year. Odd.

Thanks in advance.

Zacharias · #2 11-24-2014, 12:16 AM

Are you sure you had the seat all the way forward, and the height adjuster all the way up and to the front? Sounds kind of like you are looking at the track mount, not the bracket(?). You cannot get to the rear bracket bolt until the seat is completely up and forward.

TnBob · #3 11-24-2014, 01:19 AM

On your '85, there are 4 - 10mm headed bolts. 2 in front and 2 in the rear. Those in the rear are only accessible with the seat ALL the way forward. Might take a real push from the rear with the handle engaged to get it there. Took some real effort to get my '85 seat forward enough but the bolts are there.

vstech · #4 11-24-2014, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TnBob

On your '85, there are 4 - 10mm headed bolts. 2 in front and 2 in the rear. Those in the rear are only accessible with the seat ALL the way forward. Might take a real push from the rear with the handle engaged to get it there. Took some real effort to get my '85 seat forward enough but the bolts are there.

+1

uberwasser · #5 11-24-2014, 09:27 AM

Thanks. I'll try again. I was 99% sure it was all the way forward. I will also make sure it's all the way up.

It just seemed odd because in the junkyard car I found the rear bolts to be very obvious but on mine I wasn't seeing anything similar. Made me feel kind of crazy at first

If I run in to any further issues I will take pictures of what I'm seeing so it's more clear what I'm referring to. Thanks!

Zacharias · #6 11-24-2014, 10:25 AM

I know what you mean.

The key is the height adjuster. You can have the front-aft adjustment pushed all the way to the front but if the height adjuster hasn't moved, you won't see the bolt.

And generally the height adjustment is the least used, so it's the least cooperative.

uberwasser · #7 11-24-2014, 10:32 AM

Sure enough, I found them. Thanks!

The car at the yard must have already had the height adjusted all the way up.

Now to wait for it to warm up a bit to finish the swap.

uberwasser · #8 11-25-2014, 11:15 AM

Finished this up yesterday.

Here is the old seat, out of the car. Note the drooping of the foam, opening up the seams in the seat bottom. And the depressions in the seat back. Not too bad, but not so great.

New "to me" seat installed:

Also installed a different rear seat bottom since mine had a tear.

Zacharias · #9 11-25-2014, 11:23 AM

Yeah I hate saggy seat bottoms. My wagon has a nasty one on the passenger side.

The "dimples" or tucks in the upper part of the back on the seat you took out of the '85 are part of the 84-85 late seat design.

If your '85's driver seat doesn't have them, then someone before you changed the seat or the seatback for an earlier style one.

Zacharias · #10 11-25-2014, 11:35 AM

uberwasser · #11 11-25-2014, 11:47 AM

Huh!

Good to know

I had presumed it was wear.