Heritage Edition - Leather Quality

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nickdz

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Jun 12, 2017
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For those who have a Heritage Edition, is there any feedback on the leather quality vs. the semi-aniline used in the base vehicle?

It's my understanding that the Heritage Edition does not use semi-aniline leather. I assume it is a slightly lower grade, but I really have no idea what the impact may be with regards to durability and feel.
 
nickdz said:
For those who have a Heritage Edition, is there any feedback on the leather quality vs. the semi-aniline used in the base vehicle?

It's my understanding that the Heritage Edition does not use semi-aniline leather. I assume it is a slightly lower grade, but I really have no idea what the impact may be with regards to durability and feel.
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Too early to tell. I am sure that Toyota probably used an equivalent quality leather since HE is more expensive than base.
 
HE appears to be the same leather used on 08-15 cruisers, though only toyota would know for sure. There are anecdotes posted in this section from people that have owned both 08-15 and 16+ base that claim the earlier stuff seems more durable.. but as madtiger pointed out no one has had a HE long enough to make a judgement or comparison on HE durability.
 
bloc said:
HE appears to be the same leather used on 08-15 cruisers, though only toyota would know for sure. There are anecdotes posted in this section from people that have owned both 08-15 and 16+ base that claim the earlier stuff seems more durable.. but as madtiger pointed out no one has had a HE long enough to make a judgement or comparison on HE durability.
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There are also folks here that says that semi-aniline is more durable than earlier LC’s leather.
 
The organic leather in Toyotas and Lexus vehicles is not durable over the long term. I wish they would license MB Tex from Mercedes for their SUVs. Indestructible and as nice as any leather.
 
stonepa said:
The organic leather in Toyotas and Lexus vehicles is not durable over the long term. I wish they would license MB Tex from Mercedes for their SUVs. Indestructible and as nice as any leather.
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Indestructible? Yes. As nice as any leather? Not a chance. We've owned Mercedes with MBTex for about 20 years, so my opinion is based on personal experience. YMMV.

For an $80k vehicle, I expect real leather.
 
M1911 said:
Indestructible? Yes. As nice as any leather? Not a chance. We've owned Mercedes with MBTex for about 20 years, so my opinion is based on personal experience. YMMV.

For an $80k vehicle, I expect real leather.
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Is MBTex soft to the touch? Do you get butt sweat?
 
stonepa said:
The organic leather in Toyotas and Lexus vehicles is not durable over the long term. I wish they would license MB Tex from Mercedes for their SUVs. Indestructible and as nice as any leather.
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I couldn’t agree more. I have searched many a time for a similar material. And to answer another’s question, it is soft to the touch.
 
Madtiger said:
Well, this may explain why their top end option packages all have leather.
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I was told by a Mercedes salesman that almost all C-classes on the lot are MBTex. If you want leather, you'll have to special order it. That salesman has worked at the same dealership for 35 years, so I don't think he was bullshitting me. S-classes are probably all leather. I suspect many (most?) E-classes on the lot are MBTex.

And a new C-class is ~$50k these days.
 
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I have a 2006 W211 E-class and read that only one in five had real leather.

But yes it is good stuff. I’d be happy with it in my cruiser considering how I use it.
 
Madtiger said:
There are also folks here that says that semi-aniline is more durable than earlier LC’s leather.
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I’m one of those folks that say that.
12+ years in, my 2008 seats look better than my 100 seats when my 100 seat leather were 4 years old.
 
Markuson said:
I’m one of those folks that say that.
12+ years in, my 2008 seats look better than my 100 seats when my 100 seat leather were 4 years old.
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Madtiger is referring to the 2016+ base semi-aniline. 08-15 didn't have this feature... and as I said a number of people have posted that the 08-15 you have seems more durable than the 16+ stuff.
 
bloc said:
Madtiger is referring to the 2016+ base semi-aniline. 08-15 didn't have this feature... and as I said a number of people have posted that the 08-15 you have seems more durable than the 16+ stuff.
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Thanks for correction.
I was comparinto the leather from the plastic cows they raised back in 2007+ ;)
 
I was wondering what kind of leather you guys were talking about so here is the definition in case anyone is interested:
Semi-aniline leather,
Semi-aniline leather is leather, which is only slightly pigmented (colour layer). The natural leather grain and the hair pores are not allowed to be concealed by the pigmentation. These can e only be slightly protected and must remain visible. However, it should be noted that, depending on the working steps in the tannery, the natural grain pattern and hair pores remain more or less clearly visible. For example, vacuum drying affects the visibility of the hair pores as compared to drying by hanging. Nevertheless, it is still a semi-aniline. The natural grain must, however, be completely preserved and should not be buffed. Semi-aniline leather is soft and warm and feels very natural due to the less intense coating and the absence of compression of the leather fibres by a strong embossing. However, embossing is not completely forbidden when producing semi-aniline leather.

In contrast to aniline leather, which is completely porous and very sensitive, semi-anilines have better protection. The protection is by no means as strong as for pigmented smooth leather, where the pigment layer acts as a barrier and the hair pores are no longer recognisable. Such leathers are mostly firmer and feel colder than semi-aniline leathers.

Since January 2016, there is another type of leather defined and standardised in Europe called aniline leather, refined. The characteristic of this leather means it is classed between aniline leather and semi-aniline leather. . It has even less pigmentation than semi-aniline. The pore pattern is even more visible and the leather is even more natural than semi-aniline leather. However, this also means it is more sensitive than aniline leather and less sensitive than semi-aniline leather.
 
BillyG2014LC200 said:
I was wondering what kind of leather you guys were talking about so here is the definition in case anyone is interested:
Semi-aniline leather,
Semi-aniline leather is leather, which is only slightly pigmented (colour layer). The natural leather grain and the hair pores are not allowed to be concealed by the pigmentation. These can e only be slightly protected and must remain visible. However, it should be noted that, depending on the working steps in the tannery, the natural grain pattern and hair pores remain more or less clearly visible. For example, vacuum drying affects the visibility of the hair pores as compared to drying by hanging. Nevertheless, it is still a semi-aniline. The natural grain must, however, be completely preserved and should not be buffed. Semi-aniline leather is soft and warm and feels very natural due to the less intense coating and the absence of compression of the leather fibres by a strong embossing. However, embossing is not completely forbidden when producing semi-aniline leather.

In contrast to aniline leather, which is completely porous and very sensitive, semi-anilines have better protection. The protection is by no means as strong as for pigmented smooth leather, where the pigment layer acts as a barrier and the hair pores are no longer recognisable. Such leathers are mostly firmer and feel colder than semi-aniline leathers.

Since January 2016, there is another type of leather defined and standardised in Europe called aniline leather, refined. The characteristic of this leather means it is classed between aniline leather and semi-aniline leather. . It has even less pigmentation than semi-aniline. The pore pattern is even more visible and the leather is even more natural than semi-aniline leather. However, this also means it is more sensitive than aniline leather and less sensitive than semi-aniline leather.
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Here is more info: Semi-Aniline Leather...what is it?
 
bloc said:
Madtiger is referring to the 2016+ base semi-aniline. 08-15 didn't have this feature... and as I said a number of people have posted that the 08-15 you have seems more durable than the 16+ stuff.
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@dnh1 is one of the members who has owned several LCs (prior 2016 and after) and he feels that semi-aniline wears better than prior 2016 LCs.
 
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