Peter Of course on the Morgan the side bolsters may actually be leather. On your Merc they almost certainly aren't. From memory the Merc leather seats only the non wear surfaces like centre panels in each seat are actually leather, certainly the high wear areas of side and seat back bolsters are MBTex or equivalent.
You could be right, but when we purchased the car we paid extra for "cream leather sports seats", also on delivery seat had a tag that said "Echt Leder", which means real leather.
Also the side bolsters soak up leather food as rapidly as the other parts. I thought MBTex didn't adsorb "food" as much as leather, although given MBTex is breathable it may be it also adsorbs "food".
Peter, 66, 2016 Porsche Boxster S No longer driving Tarka, the 2014 Plus 8...
The definition of "leather" as made by some manufacturers can be rather dubious. The text sometimes being accompanied by a very small asterisk which advises you of what you are actually buying. A bit like "fruit juice" and "juice drinks". I am aware of one Far East car manufacturer who ended up paying damages for misrepresentation.
With regular feeding, good leather should be extremely durable as long as the tanning and colouring is carried out correctly. Picture shows the seats of my 4/4 when it was around ten years old and approximately 35k miles - still looking good today.
The definition of "leather" as made by some manufacturers can be rather dubious. The text sometimes being accompanied by a very small asterisk which advises you of what you are actually buying. A bit like "fruit juice" and "fruit juice drinks". I am aware of one Far East car manufacturer who ended up paying damages for misrepresentation.
With regular feeding, leather should be extremely durable as long as the tanning and colouring is carried out correctly. Picture shows the seats of my 4/4 when it was around ten years old and approximately 35k miles - still looking good today.
Leather seats in a poverty model !!! Surely must have been having us on
I prefer black interiors. What's interesting is the huge difference between the black leather in my Roadster, and the black leather in Bumble. Obviously now being something of a black leather expert, given my habit of buying offcuts from e-bay, it's clear just how much variation there is in thickness and in pattern. The leather in my Roadster has a mottled pattern throughout, almost like droplets on a polished surface, but smaller. This extends throughout the car, so the same hides were used and the whole thing matches, including the dash top. This leather seems to be quite thick, and is closer in feel to modern mainstream cars.
Bumble's leather has perforated centre panels, and I suspect that only certain hides can be perforated satisfactorily. This leather appears to be thinner. It's certainly more supple, and the surface pattern is more like a skin, with that sort of diamond pattern of straight lines. I prefer the more supple leather.
Both are wearing well, but I've had to treat both with furniture clinic products. The Roadster had a patch on the beading which had worn brown - it's a tough life being a dealer demo. And I also scratched the side bolster with a rivet on my jeans - but you'd be pushed to see that now. Bumble had a worn patch on the side bolster - it's a tough life being a dealer demo. Again that patch - worn to brown is now invisible.
DaveW '05 Red Roadster S1 '16 Yellow (Not the only) Narrow AR GDI Plus 4
The Yarwood leather in my Roadster is a lot softer than the Muirhead standard saddle tan in my previous 4/4 which had a smoother more plasticky feel to it. The Roadster has done just over 5000 miles now and the leather is just beginning to get a nice patina to it.
Jays Former Morgan owner. Gone but hopefully not forgotten!
