-88 560SL, refurbish of seats

Some  have unfortunately replaced my original leather seats with vinyl seats. I am planning to put on new leather covers, but I dont know for which model year. That is because I bought new seat adjustment knob for a -88, but it did not fit on the shaft, hence the seats are probably older than -86. So the big question is: Is there any difference in the seats before and after -86? Except for the adjustment knob, that is...
Would prefer not to buy wrong covers.

Rgds Erik

Hey Erik,
the seats were changed for the autumn 85 model change. You should actually have the new seats. Please take photos of your seats, then we can see it right away.

Hi Thorsten. Picture attached of the vinyl seats.
Do you know if is it only the pattern of the covers that changed, or is it the seat shape/body also?
Thanks.

Rgds Erik

Hi Erik,

on your picture, your seats looks like new . An they are from 85-89.  I would only change the covers. But you have to control the seat-suspension. Take a look here .
That's the minimum.

Hi, thanks for your reply and tips.
But, how come the adjustment wheel did not fit? I was certain it was because the seat model was an older one. I see on the net that there are different wheels for different years.

Rgds Erik

Hi,
If you search for seats 560 SL on google and look at the pictures and then search for "seats 380 SL" and look at the pictures, you will see the differences on the seat cheeks of the backrests. The newer seats are much stronger.

I cannot say why the shaft of the handwheel is different. Perhaps the previous owner installed a different mechanism when replacing the seat covers.