Recent content by James

There is something a bit underhand with Mercedes in the way they advertise this in their brochures. Calling it 'Artico' somehow conveys something special, when it's just vinyl and the small print mentions that it is 'man-made leather' - not plastic. The honest MB-tex they used to do up to the...

It is quite difficult to tell as the grain is very similar. I can definitely tell by touch whether the material is plastic or leather. My mother had a GLA which had a horrible black artico interior - you could definitely feel it was man-made.

It might be a dealer miscommunication about what the seat material comprises. Customers can be easily confused into thinking their cars have leather especially when Mercedes dress it up and call it 'artico'. In the old days you either chose MB Tex or full leather that covered the entire seat...

Personally would have leather or cloth over plastic - it looks like leather, but doesn't feel like leather IMO especially if you have had leather in the past. In the past MB-tex, as it was known, was never good for resale unless you were selling to a taxi driver.

It's pretty difficult to tell by sight - standard leather is very grainy and akin to Artico, but I think there is more exposed stitching with leather. You can definitely tell the difference by feel - like comparing a leather jacket to a plastic one. I am sure lots of customers in the used market...

You'll soon know - on a hot day and the dials set to blue with a/c it should get to a comfortable temp within a few minutes.

It depends whether you have the auto climate system or the manual system. If it has round dials to set the fan and distribution then you have the manual system. If it has the digital readout and buttons then you have the automatic system. They are actually pretty simple in operation...

I expect there is some kind of fault, but I imagine it can be frustrating to find out what causes faults on modern climate systems. Mine appears to work excellent one day and then - on a rare sunny warm day - will think we are in the depths of winter and blow out warm air. So many sensors for...

Mercedes seems to be phasing out cloth as a standard material and standardising plastic seats on a lot of their models with no other option other than real leather. What's wrong with cloth now?

One of the issues with the earlier MB climate control was the complex vacuum system for moving the flaps would go wrong and it was a nightmare to fix - some owners bodge a simple override so they can get basic heat and cold settings at will, bypassing the ACC's brain. I would imagine the later...

Does it have the rear wooden console instead of a seat cushion in between the rear seats? If so it's not worth converting - that is a very rare option and it will be easier to find a S350L with the standard set up - the outer seats were power adjustable as standard on the L, but it still has the...

It won't be artico on a C63 - more likely to be nappa leather. It's nice stuff with a smoother finish, but not as hard wearing as the normal Mercedes leather.

I suppose it boils down to whether you are going to regret spending £1000 on real leather or regret sitting on plastic. Leather is better for resale - not in terms of how much extra money you get, but desirablity.

This is not just on the new models. I have a Jaguar and old model RRSport and they have the premium Oxford leather/ Portfolio leather. Whilst it is nice to look at and a tactile delight, it feels paper thin and is prone to early cracking, easily scratched and early wear and tear. Since the...

I was always felt that although Alcantara is fake suede, it is a far more sumptuous material than artico - it doesn't wear very well though as a seat material. A lot of car manufacturers seem to use it as headlining on their more expensive models. Mercedes used to offer a fake suede option...