Yesterday I was looking at the new E-Class for a friend, and while it's a very impressive car overall, one thing that really surprised me is that most of the E350's on the lot had 'MB-Tex' upholstery not leather, and this in a car with a list price of $55k! (incl Premium 1 package). Getting back into my RX I immediately noticed how nice and soft the leather is compared to the Merc, including soft padded leather on the armrests where the Merc just has hard plastic. I would never pay that kind of money for a car with a plastic interior, what do you guys think?

Also I asked about the big discounts on the 2009 E, and the best they were offering was about 8k off list.

 

Leather is a 1500 options and it replaces the seat coverings and also adds leather on the armrests and doors

 

The problem with leather for the E-class is that it is group in with a whole bunch of other expensive option. In the old E-class, leather was group in with the tech package, all those extra options adds up to about $10000 extra. I am with the OP, for $60000, I want real leather, I dont care how nice the how realistic the MB-tex is.

 

Yes, I was also surprised at the rubbery texture of the E interior. Frankly, if I were to sit in the interiors of the E-class ($55K) and the Genesis ($35K), I would find the Genesis to be more luxurious.

 

MB-Tex has been available for many, many years and generally holds up much better than leather. While it's not as nice as leather, it's a pretty good option for those with young kids and no time to care for leather.

 

Thats why your RX will look like it came out of Iraq in 3 years while 15 years from now the merc will look brand new inside. Thats why you see so many olde Merc's on the road they hold up amazing well to time sun and wear and tear.

 

Lexus leather holds up if maintained properly.

Seats, just like sofas and beds, should be soft and comfortable. Plastic seats are not.

 

The justifications for MB-Tex are absolutely hilarious to me. Hilarious!

If Lexus or Infiniti ever offered something comparable to MB-Tex or BMW's "leatherette" they would be laughed out of town in an instant. I really don't understand how anyone can try to justify the price of even a $30K car that has vinyl/pleather interior- it's LAUGHABLE. When you can get real cow hides in a Corolla for $20K, they should be standard on a $55K Mercedes. PERIOD.

Guess what? Cloth interiors also wear better over time than leather does but cloth is seen as "basic" and "mainstream"- not fitting for luxury cars. Lexus, MB, Jaguar, BMW, Audi, etc are supposed to be about luxury and excess and fake leather doesn't quite fit into that image in America. Do Louis Vuitton and Prada sell MB-Tex and Leatherette-like bags and shoes? No, people buy those from WalMart and Chinatown.

If you are going to fork over any more than $40K for a luxury car then you need to be responsible enough to either clean and condition the leather yourself, have a professional detailer/salon do it, or just be ready to take the hit when you try to sell your car. Opting for "leatherette" and "MB-Tex" is honestly hilarious, and the people who try to defend it are even funnier.

These like-leather materials are just one more way for the German companies to nickel and dime you. There is no whos, ifs, ands, or buts about it!

If you want to tell me that you have some personal vendetta against the use of cow hides and for that reason you prefer pleather, that's different. Just please don't tell me it's a "great alternative" to leather or that it feels "just as luxurious but lasts 20 years longer". If you can't maintain your seats every now and then, then guess what, you shouldn't have leather interior.

Done deal.

 

Following that same logic, I would say cloth seat will hold up better than MB-TEX.

 

I myself prefer the 'fake' leather because it looks better after years of use. When I see some 5-6 year old leather Japanese cars they look more worn out from the inside than my Sentra because of their leather (especially light colors)

 

I have 2 comparable cars (MBC300 and Lexus IS350) in my garage with similar mileage and usage. The Lexus leather is nicer but is showing slightly more wear than the MBTex stuff.

I don't doubt that making leather optional (like metallic paint) is just another German approach to increasing profits, and I don't think it's much of a big deal to customers or that it's killing sales.

To me it's close to being a non-issue.

 

look how good this 15 year S class with 180k looks like compared to a 94 ls400 with 140

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1994-...=p4506.c0.m245

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Lexus...=p4506.c0.m245

 

There is no perfect interior available:

Microfiber/Modified Cloth: (A la some Scion and Honda models) stays relatively clean, easy to maintain, feels better than cloth to most people, cheap, wears well over time, typically used only in downmarket vehicles.

Cloth: It stains easily and is hard to keep clean, dulls over time, and in some instances rips with significant wear, does not get hot in summer or cold in winter (like leather)

Pleather/Leatherette/MB-Tex: harder than leather, doesn't really feel like leather, sort of looks like leather, easier to keep clean than cloth, wears well over time, gets hot in summer

Leather: Can crack and flake over time if not properly maintained, easy to clean, beautiful to look at and sit on, luxury-factor, gets hot in summer and cold in winter

Suede: Stains very easily, difficult to keep it looking clean, wears somewhat poorly, hard to maintain because most leather cleaning products will stain, looks and feels luxurious

 

Without any history on detailing or maintenance, this is honestly a moot comparison.

 

It was an issue for us....that we actually got MBTex and NOT true leather. With a large dog and eventually small kids, I could not be bothered to try and maintain true leather. You could clearly see significant wear and tear on our previous RX and it's even worse in our X5. We actually have had multiple comments on how nice the "leather" feels in our ML and have to point out that it's not "true" leather.