Retrofitting rear folding seat w212

[GlossWhite]

Hi,
Is it possible to retro fit rear folding seats in a w212,
Annoyingly my rear seats don’t fold down and it’s a constant paint in the ass

 

[st13phil]

Having owned W212's both with and without folding rear seats (and with the caveat the almost anything is possible given enough money and effort), I'd say no. It certainly isn't a straightforward nut and bolt swap as the front of the boot floor and rear bulkhead behind the seats are both different.

 

[TeddyRuxpin]

I've looked into it a lot and also have access to/take care of a W212 with folding seats (unlike my own W212)

It is possible and not very difficult (depending on your level of DIY obviously) but finding the parts in the UK is the (very) difficult part.

 

[st13phil]

It is possible and not very difficult

That surprises me. I confess to not having looked into it that deeply, but had noticed some quite significant differences twixt the two variants.

 

[TeddyRuxpin]

Just on my phone at the moment, but: you need the correct rear seat backs (both sides), both side bolsters, a new parcel shelf, the handles and the latches, and ideally a different style boot floor and carpet so that the boot goes up to the level of the rear seats when the seats are folded down, rather than the weird plastic arch thing on the non-folding W212s (a terrible/bizarre design).

You can reuse your old rear seat base, and if you have a half leather interior that became more popular on later/facelift W212s, I've seen more of them.

You might lose the ability to press the button and drop the rear headrests unless you get involved in wiring, but I've never used that in my 3 years of ownership anyway. If you have fully electric memory front seats it can be a bit weird too. There are some posts on MBWorld about it

 

[GlossWhite]

Thank you, I hate not having folding seats, I’ve been having to take them completely out to get stuff in!
Wasn’t something I checked when I purchased the car, not sure why they don’t fold as standard.

I don’t have a head rest button, it’s a 2014 e250 saloon

 

[GlossWhite]

sorry to bump this thread up, but has anyone done this since?

 

[TeddyRuxpin]

Yeah, I’ve done it… finding the seats is the hardest bit