Thanks for the opinions and suggestion! If I could find even a racing seat (leather, of course!) that didn't look stupid, I might even try that.

Pedro, a fella' that owns a local auto upholstery shop said he would re-foam and cover these for $400 apiece. He does bea-u-tiful work, custom/show cars and the like, but that's a bit steep for a sore back once in a while.

I'll look for an SLK/R170 and check it out.

Do seats from say, a 2003 C230/C320 fit? My neighbor has one and those suckers are NICE! Maybe some careful measuring is in order...