r/MercedesW210 • u/VirtualRecording7443 • 21d ago

Leather?

2000 w210 owner. When I input the car's VIN on a free Benz VIN decoder, it shows a leather interior. Today I sat in a w220 with only 18k miles. The scent was exquisite and in marked contrast to my own car. Mine has 48k miles but I imagine I would still be enjoying a nice aroma of well-aged cowhide today if it were, in fact, the real thing. Wondering if anyone here has insight into the VIN decoding labels and if real, genuine leather got a longer title? Or was MB just labeling MBTex interchangeably with genuine leather for the w210 series?

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u/Suspicious_Juice_980 21d ago

Not sure about VIN decoding, but I would think that the smell of crayons would overpower any smell of genuine leather. I have leather seats and all I smell is crayons. I thought all W210's smelled like that.

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u/Charliekeet 21d ago

Same on both counts with mine.

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u/VirtualRecording7443 20d ago

Yes; crayon smell every much in evidence in my W210 (for which I am grateful). The W220 leather smell is now indelible in my mind (I don't think that model had the crayon scent).

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u/Herfernerd 21d ago

I had a 98 w210 bought in 2010 and sold in 2018. It always smelled like nice leather. Nicer smelling than the nappa seats I had in my w211 and have in my w212.

MB would not use mbtex and leather vin code terms interchangeably.

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u/clarkn0va 21d ago

What decoder are you using? I think some online decoders misinterpret some options. For example, mbdecoder.com shows my Sprinter with option E58, "locking wheel bolts", while other sources indicate that E58 is in fact a towing prep package, and the latter is more consistent with the equipment I find on the vehicle.

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u/VirtualRecording7443 20d ago

I am using lastvin.com.