I have a 90 two series sedan. The seats, especially the drivers seat is starting to crumble underneath. The seat are cloth and I was thinking about changing to leather. What years are the seats interchangeable? Do the leather seats also decay? Does anyone know of dark blue leather seats for sale? What could I expect to pay for ones in good condition?

My 85 240 Leather seats lasted 14 years- I covered em up till I just couldnt stand the shredded leather anymore. I bought an upholstery hide from a place called hidehouse.com 2.30 per sq ft You need 2 to 3 ounce weight(price varies) Removed driver and passenger seats. took the top and bottom Leather covers off without destroying them. The ideal is to carefully take the panels apart noting how you would re assemble the pieces. Trace the panels on heavy Paper adding about 3/4" more all around. Cut your panels from the leather. The seat panel and back panel need reinforcement - I used the old seat leather -Just flipped it over and used it as a backing- ( You could use heavy fabric) - I didnt have the tools to make button tucks so I just sewed several lines of stitching vertically up and down the seat ( Industrial sewing machine) spaced 2 inches apart. This will secure the backing to the Leather covers. Use contact cement to reassemble the new Leather pieces then Sew them on an Industrial sewing machine (Everything is assembled inside out and reversed when you stretch it over the frame. If you do One seat at a time you can look at the other to see how its put together. I cheated a bit and Re Used the back vynal panels because they were in good shape. Turned out pretty well- 10 hours -several skinned knuckles and many cuts from nasty Hog Rings - Hard part was getting the Head Rests off - I cracked the Foam on one.
Its do-able but take your time.

As far as interchangeability--Im quite sure you would have to get donor seats from another 240-so-the best you hope for would be 11 yr old seats from a 93 240. I think the crumbling you have is the foam padding drying out and crumbling. As far as leather in a 240--dont think Iv ever seen a blue leather interior. Your best bet would be to stick with cloth seats from a boneyard--and around here in coastal NJ--they go for 50-75 for the pair at a pick your own boneyard. I was at a local upholstery shop near here a few years ago and watched a guy re-do seats from an old early 60s chevy--and he hogringed a thick plastic sheet under the padding to prevent the dry and flaking spongelike material from falling onto the carpet==or basically--just containing it. This may be a good approach to your problem--as anything you get at a bone yard will be 11 yrs old at beast--the upholstery on top may hold up,while the under padding is drying and falling apart,--Good luck

I assume you're talking about the foam padding degrading, which can happen with any upholstery. I personally like the fabric upholstery best in the late 240s: it's generally more durable than either the vinyl or the leather, grips better, and breathes better.

If in fact it's the padding, you have a couple of choices in addition to replacing the entire seats. First, you can buy new foam from IPD. Be warned, although it's a good product, it's expensive. Installation is fairly straightforward, but buy yourself a good pair of hogring pliers and a box of rings. Another choice would be to find junkyard seats with good padding. I can get them cheap at my local pick-n-pull. Buy a couple of good passenger seats and use the padding to rebuild both sides.

BTW, the cost for a pair of genuinely good leather seats from a late 240 will be quite high, unless you get lucky. Most of the cars of that vintage that I find at junkyards have not been well maintained, and the leather suffers for it.
--
1991 245, 61k miles, looking for a 5 speed 92-93 245 cheap.

Stick with the fabric. Not only are they more durable but when they age they usually only fade and tear at the joints. The leather rips with age and crumbles away like so many dount crumbs. Good Luck!

Sincerely,
--
Julio Meza

1979 264GL B27F 122K

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