Rear folding seats

[rhin0]

right i have a W212 e350. and it aint got folding rear seats? is is a big job to source and fit some folding seats. have a large parrot cage which cannot fit in which is a pain.
many thanks

 

[Abb]

I think sourcing them may be a bigger problem than fitting them! Are the saloon and wagon seats the same?

 

[Gollom]

right i have a W212 e350. and it aint got folding rear seats? is is a big job to source and fit some folding seats. have a large parrot cage which cannot fit in which is a pain.
many thanks

When I asked this some time ago (on a W211) the general feedback was that the supporting metalwork is quite different, so not feasible

(Having said that, we cut out a piece of metal in the fixed rear seats behind the folding armrest to enable SIL to put his fishing rods in! If you do a search, think I did a how-to)

 

[TeddyRuxpin]

Google it, someone retrofitted it on another forum, but it’s really not easy

 

[markjay]

I had a look on my W204 without folding seats, and it seems that there's a metal 'wall' between the boot and the passanger cabin. I am not sure if it's a bolt-on that can easily be removed, or welded to the frame and will need cutting, but either way it doesn't seem like a straightforward rear bench swap. The W212 might be different though.

 

[TeddyRuxpin]

You just need new rear seats, a new rear deck, all the cabling and handles, and you need to understand how to sort the electronics so that the rear headrest drop down thing works.

I was thinking of doing it myself, but finding folding rear seats on eBay etc seems quite difficult. Might have better luck with German eBay

The thread is in MBWorld forums I believe

 

[E55BOF]

You could always get a smaller parrot...

 

[Allan AMG]

You could always get a smaller parrot...

Or a smaller cage

 

[Petrol Pete]

Or a bigger car/van..or a lead for the parrot, tie one end to your car and it can fly alongside you like something from an Attenborough documentary.

 

[Justintyme]

I had a look on my W204 without folding seats, and it seems that there's a metal 'wall' between the boot and the passanger cabin. I am not sure if it's a bolt-on that can easily be removed, or welded to the frame and will need cutting, but either way it doesn't seem like a straightforward rear bench swap. The W212 might be different though.

Generally ,in most cars the back "Wall" is welded in place, and of course technically, it can be removed, but I would not advise it under any circumstance's. It's regarded as an integral part of the cars construction, and anything which involve's "modifications" in this area will have consequences for your insurance.

 

[TeddyRuxpin]

Here's the thread I was talking about:

Retrofit Split Folding Rear Seats - MBWorld.org Forums

I don't think there is a welded 'wall', you just need the new seats, rear deck, etc.

 

[Justintyme]

Here's the thread I was talking about:

Retrofit Split Folding Rear Seats - MBWorld.org Forums

I don't think there is a welded 'wall', you just need the new seats, rear deck, etc.

Hope all goes well. Let us know how it works out for you.

 

[TeddyRuxpin]

Call me crazy... but I'm actually thinking of doing this, if I can find the parts cheap enough on eBay. If anyone has done it and can lend some advice, I'm all ears!

AFAIK, you need the rear shelf, the rear seat backs (not the base), the handle and level mechanism, and then you need to sort any wiring.

I'd actually probably leave the wiring for the headrests for a while, if that's all there is. My car doesn't have electric front seats, so I'm assuming there will be no wiring to automatically send the front seat(s) forward if the rear seats are folded.

It would really make the car so much more practical for me, it would be worth the hassle!

I have zero idea why anybody would ever not spec the seats as rear folding... just to save £250 on a £50k car (or whatever). Mercedes are ridiculous for not having it there by default.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Yep, you're crazy. Why not spend the same money swopping your car for an Estate?
I've been through this game with both BMW and Mercedes. The folding rear seats I had on my E92 were useful, but not that useful.
An estate is far more flexible, and retains resale value much more effectively. The downsides are noise and limited choice.

All that said, if you're happy with your motor, I get it.
I'm just saying be careful of the cost, inconvenience, and the need to do a very good job (fit, colours, materials), unless you want to damage eventual resale value.

 

[MrGreedy]

Ed, I took the rear seat bench and back out to do the DPF indication LED install. Whilst not 30 seconds, it is probably 10min to take the bench and rear seat back out. If it's a very occasional requirement, you could just faff around with this option.

When I was looking, I was looking for an estate, but acknowledged I might have to fall back to a saloon with folding seats. Due to a serious premium hike and lack of availability of both estates and saloons with folding rear seats, what did I get? A blooming saloon with fixed rear seats!


I'd already spent over 6 months looking, and other than that rear seats, 'the right car' turned up so i thought I'd take the plunge. With the money saved (several £k) I've had to accept I'll pay delivery charges for large items or hire a van/skip if I need to transport stuff. I'm very much financially better off for the choice and the car hasn't been trashed, but it is less convenient.


If you need an estate regularly, then sourcing an estate is the way to go as even folding seats in the saloon is a bit of a compromise I fear.

 

[TeddyRuxpin]

Hi chaps

Well, I think it would only cost £200-300 to do! All you need is the split folding seats, the shelf and the handle mechanism. I'm talking ebay here, not walking into an MB dealer and asking for all new stuff. I'd only purchase something if it were a good price, good condition, and obviously the same colour/material/spec. In lockdown times, I'm in no rush.

I'm a musician/music producer and often need to carry guitars and keyboards (in cases) and the ability to slide them all the way in would be fantastic.

Yes, I was originally looking for an estate too (I purchased in early 2018), but this car came up locally at a good price, and I went for it. Probably the same situation as you, @MrGreedy The estates at the time were a couple of grand more! They probably still are...

I've spent so much time and money, time and effort sorting out every foible of this particular W212, doing it again is not an idea I relish. They're also getting to the age where they've been abused/remapped, and I know the history (FMBSH) of mine (oil cooler done and sorted) and... well, better the devil you know!

I really don't want to swap my car for an S212, that would be such a sideways move to me. I'd probably sell it and just upgrade to something else. But I really feel no need to - it's a great car and I don't really have plans to sell. I'd rather buy a secondary car for other uses, city driving etc.

It really doesn't look that hard. The harder issue seems to be actually finding the parts as they seem to be rare on eBay!

Cheers,

Ed

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Well argued / defended. Good luck with the hunt, because I think they'll be rarer than hen's false teeth.

Worth trying a specific "classified" wanted ad on here, but the most likely route is via a pukka breaker, maybe?

Worth looking in Germany as well as the UK. (either via Google eBay.de, or Ebay with global locations)

What colour upholstery? Black, hopefully ?

Seat Mercedes W212 Saloon Backrest Seat Cover Back Seat Fabric Left Original | eBay

 

[MrGreedy]

There's a dirty black set on eBay for £165 here

And a clean half leather set for £195 here
This second one looks like they are the split folding, and it looks like a car that's being broken. You might be able to source the appropriate rear shelf parts too.
Point is there is this sort of thing available for sensible money like you say.

I can confirm as part of the DPF notification LED install that there is no 'wall' between the boot and the rear seats.
If you look at the Youtube vid linked at 1:30 you will see the tech dude just uses a screwdriver to undo two simple latches, one each side, and this is all that secures the top of the rear bench. I bet this is the same mechanism for the folding rear seats, just with handles attached and extending rearwards for ease of access. If you didn't buy the rear hat shelf, I bet you could just use a screwdriver like in the Youtube vid.

 

[MrGreedy]

7zap folding W212 rear seats

A2129200172 & A2049200164 Rear Seat Lock Left

A2129200172 & A2049200164 Rear Seat Lock Right

The locks are just attached to the handles via cables. I bet the correct bolt holes are already in the metal framing around the top of the boot.

You will notice that the A212 and A204 part number and the eBay listing show that these are standard across the W212, W204 and W218 at least.
Again, if you can source all this and do a deal from someone breaking a W212 they have, then happy days

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Did we establish that the folding seats from an Estate can be adapted to fit the Saloon ?

Some photos from my W211, but they help illustrate that there is a separate folding mechanism at the base of the saloon backrest, AND it's only the centre of the seat that folds, not the bolster on either side of the two/three seats that's attached to the wall of the car.

The seat cushion of the saloon moves back and forward to seal the cavity through to the boot, and to pull the seat forward enough to flip forward. (That may just be a feature of the W211, and something that was dropped in the W212)

Then there's the mechanism to secure the seat to the frame of the car, is different (see the chrome work between the two headrests), as well as the release mechanism to enable the seat to be released eventually by a handle in the bootlid, not by the two handles on either side of the backrest, as in the Estate.

The structural strength in the estate comes from that humungous removable crossbar thing that fits between the two sides of the car, across the two seats. It's different in the saloon as the seats rest easily on the top and side elements of the frame of the saloon.