Nappa Leather - always "ruffled" door cards?

[MrGreedy]

My focus is the w211 E class which I'm hunting hard to buy, but it might apply to other versions.

If the door cards show ruffled leather, as opposed to smooth and flat, is that a sure give away of Nappa leather?

Or can you get ruffles with Artico?

Thanks

 

[Teego]

Best thing to do is get the VIN and put it in here. DataMB.com. You'll get your factory build card showing all specs.

 

[MrGreedy]

Best thing to do is get the VIN and put it in here. DataMB.com. You'll get your factory build card showing all specs.

Yeah, I've been doing that, but I was hoping there might be a way to tell and rule cars in (with Nappa) or out without having to phone up dozens of garages and seemingly annoy them by asking for the VIN. If VIN is the only way, I'll stick with that

 

[optimusprime]

Leather is leather -- wish i had leather of any kind..in my car

 

[MercedesDriver]

If the door cards show ruffled leather, as opposed to smooth and flat, is that a sure give away of Nappa leather?

This is exactly how I see it. Ruffle=Nappa, Flat=Artico.

 

[MrGreedy]

Leather is leather -- wish i had leather of any kind..in my car

Artico leather is plastic, and Nappa is real leather. I'm not going into the merits of which is best for who, but simply that not all leather is 'leather', and quite frankly I'm gob smacked car manufacturers can get away with it.

 

[MrGreedy]

Deleted duplicate post caused by server/internet lag issues.

 

[E55BOF]

Artico leather is plastic, and Nappa is real leather. I'm not going into the merits of which is best for who, but simply that not all leather is 'leather', and quite frankly I'm gob smacked car manufacturers can get away with it.

ISTR Honest John, some time ago, stating that MB's Artico was really good stuff and very durable, and did not reduce the value of a car in the way that other artificial 'leather' trim did.

 

[renault12ts]

This is exactly how I see it. Ruffle=Nappa, Flat=Artico.

My car has leather...and non ruffled door cards.

 

[MrGreedy]

My car has leather...and non ruffled door cards.

Bu99er! That scuppers that easy identifier.

Is it a w211?
I'm clutching at straws here...

 

[renault12ts]

Bu99er! That scuppers that easy identifier.

Is it a w211?
I'm clutching at straws here...

Nope...a 215.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

To answer your question - yes, sort of.

As far as I’m aware, *full leather* in the W211 interior is real leather, the *half leather* is cloth & artico.

It’s really quite rare to find a W211 Avantgarde that doesn’t have full leather..

 

[MrGreedy]

It's all pretty confusing and I think Teego is right; I'll only know for sure with the VIN and datacard check.

I've seen 211s for sale with sports seats and contrasting stitching (which I would have thought could indicate leather?) but with the flat door panel inserts.

I've also seen sports seats with contrasting stitching and with ruffled door inserts, but the car trader specifically mentioned it was Artico leather seats in that instance. They might not actually know of course, and might just be familiar with the phrase Artico leather for Mercs.

Other possibilities on cars of this vintage are that door cards have been swapped to replace damaged ones.

Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[whitenemesis]

ISTR Honest John, some time ago, stating that MB's Artico was really good stuff and very durable, and did not reduce the value of a car in the way that other artificial 'leather' trim did.

Reading many posts here about Artico splitting, especially the driver's side bolsters, at only a few years old would sort of contradict that HJ statement.
Now, MBTex the predecessor to Artico was widely acclaimed as being virtually bomb proof, lasting many 100k miles as attested by all those Stuttgart taxis..
My S203 originally came with "Leather-twin" seats. This was genuine leather seat centres and MBTex bolsters. I had the lot retrimmed in 'naked' nappa leather, sooo much more luxurious and soft. A real pain to keep clean though!

 

[24 VRT]

It's all pretty confusing and I think Teego is right; I'll only know for sure with the VIN and datacard check.

I've seen 211s for sale with sports seats and contrasting stitching (which I would have thought could indicate leather?) but with the flat door panel inserts.

I've also seen sports seats with contrasting stitching and with ruffled door inserts, but the car trader specifically mentioned it was Artico leather seats in that instance. They might not actually know of course, and might just be familiar with the phrase Artico leather for Mercs.

Other possibilities on cars of this vintage are that door cards have been swapped to replace damaged ones.

Thanks for the help everyone.

The sports seats option on sport models only came with Artico and are identified by the contrast stitching. If Nappa leather was specified, then you couldn't have the sports seats - what you got were essentially the Avantgarde ones.
It is key to do a VIN build card check given so many options were available with the 211.
Good luck with the hunt - and my advice is to avoid the pre-facelift 211's as they had lots of 'issues' which were largely addressed with the facelift.

 

[MrGreedy]

So, based on the VIN and what I can see of the interiors these are the options that seem to be in the 'best equipped' cars from an interior trim standpoint (on a Sport version, not Avantgarde):

244 SPORTS SEATS, FRONT

820A - AMARETTA/LEATHER/NAPPA/SEMI-ANILINE
821A - AMARETTA/LEATHER/NAPPA/SEMI-ANILINE - BLACK/ANTH.

952 - SPORTS PACKAGE
954 - EQUIPMENT PACKAGE FOR AVANTGARDE VEHICLES

What does this mean?
Is this the 'best' option I could be looking for?

Sorry if I seem a bit thick. It's all written in car manufacturer gobbledygook to me

 

[E55BOF]

Now, MBTex the predecessor to Artico was widely acclaimed as being virtually bomb proof, lasting many 100k miles as attested by all those Stuttgart taxis.

It may well be my memory played me false, and it was MB Tex referred to.

 

[24 VRT]

So, based on the VIN and what I can see of the interiors these are the options that seem to be in the 'best equipped' cars from an interior trim standpoint (on a Sport version, not Avantgarde):

244 SPORTS SEATS, FRONT

820A - AMARETTA/LEATHER/NAPPA/SEMI-ANILINE
821A - AMARETTA/LEATHER/NAPPA/SEMI-ANILINE - BLACK/ANTH.

952 - SPORTS PACKAGE
954 - EQUIPMENT PACKAGE FOR AVANTGARDE VEHICLES

What does this mean?
Is this the 'best' option I could be looking for?View attachment 91582

Sorry if I seem a bit thick. It's all written in car manufacturer gobbledygook to me

These are the main options for the 211 estate at 2008 from the price list. Some numbers may differ if its a saloon you are looking - at although not sure that should be the case for things like the upholstery type. The VIN decodes can be hard to follow e.g. 821A covers Artico (man-made leather) AND Nappa leather!


I'd suggest you also consider getting a 211 brochure which gives you much more detail on what comes as standard for each model. I've got one on e-bay (sorry shameless plug) if you are interested
Mercedes E Class (W211) Saloon & Estate Brochure 2007 incl. Sport & E63 AMG | eBay
bid me £7.50 and its yours. There are also saloon and estate price lists on there at present from other sellers. I recommend getting these to help try and get to grips with what options and standard spec you can find out there.
Happy hunting!

 

[MrGreedy]

7.50 bid.
Thanks very much

 

[24 VRT]

7.50 bid.
Thanks very much

My bad - forgot to amend minimum accepted bids, so you got declined. Now amended - plz retry. Cheers.