Dissecting A Mercedes S-Class Seat Is Hard To Watch

6 years, 8 months ago - 1 April 2018, Motor1
Dissecting A Mercedes S-Class Seat Is Hard To Watch
Seeing all the components inside is interesting, but slicing open the outer skin is like watching a horror film.

Mercedes-Benz is known for many things obviously, but near the top of that list is freaking amazing seats. Yes, we love going fast and getting sideways as much as anyone, but after a long day of reviewing cars – especially on the cratered streets around the Motor1.com Detroit office – nothing beats the massaging seats you find in an S-Class Merc. Clearly we're not alone on that assessment, as the folks from What's Inside on YouTube devoted an entire 11-minute video to the subject. There's a catch though – rather than sit in the seats, they literally tear them apart.

Before the hate mail starts coming to either us or the YouTubers, know that the violence didn't occur on a random Mercedes seat. For starters, a modern S-Class seat with climate controls and massaging functions surely is terrifically expensive. Then again, flying to Mercedes-Benz headquarters in Stuttgart isn't exactly cheap, but that's what the host of this video did. The automaker offered an invite to take a closer look at just how modern S-Class seats work.

The subject of this not-so-delicate operation was the driver seats of a Merc test car, and with a plethora of other seats clearly visible in the background we suspect nobody is too upset over the cannibalization of this one. Still, we get tingles in our spine watching the razor-sharp blade cut through such a pristine leather-wrapped surface. Heck, we get tingles just thinking about it.

Underneath that leather, however, we see all kinds of equipment that sort-of makes us think twice about just how much is happening at our backs and bottoms. The famous stone massage is accomplished not by actual stones, but a series of air bladders fed by a complex control unit. We also see the coils for the seat heating function, the fans to circulate air, all kinds of padding, and yes, we can't help but wonder just how quickly it would all go up in flames should there be an unfortunate malfunction in the some of the embedded wiring.

Sometimes, we're better off not knowing what all is happening in the cars we drive. However, that doesn't mean we won't enjoy the massage any less.

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