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      07-10-2013, 12:00 AM   #1
Les Grossman
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BMW Performance sports seats

Hi. I have a VO 1M with electric memory seats and I am considering upgrading to the sports items.

What are the implications of fitting them? I understand I will lose the electric function, but retain heating and airbags. Is this correct? Does the car have to be modified in any way to accept the electric delete etc. or are they plug n play? I presume its a dealer job to code the airbags.

More importantly, what are they like to drive? Do you sit lower than in the OEM seats? Besides losing the electric adjustment and lumbar support, are there any major negatives of swapping to these bad boys? Do they massively improve the drive of the car? I don't dislike the OEM thrones, but I could be tempted to change to these ones if there aren't too many downsides.

As much information as possible would be greatly appreciated. Including pictures and videos if anyone has any.

Cheers
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      07-10-2013, 01:23 AM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ///Munson View Post
Hi. I have a VO 1M with electric memory seats and I am considering upgrading to the sports items.

What are the implications of fitting them? I understand I will lose the electric function, but retain heating and airbags. Is this correct? Does the car have to be modified in any way to accept the electric delete etc. or are they plug n play? I presume its a dealer job to code the airbags.

More importantly, what are they like to drive? Do you sit lower than in the OEM seats? Besides losing the electric adjustment and lumbar support, are there any major negatives of swapping to these bad boys? Do they massively improve the drive of the car? I don't dislike the OEM thrones, but I could be tempted to change to these ones if there aren't too many downsides.

As much information as possible would be greatly appreciated. Including pictures and videos if anyone has any.

Cheers
Hi there,

Probably ace11 would be the best person to give you some feedback on these as he had these on his car before selling them.

I however had a chance to sit in some that were installed in a 1er and I wasn't too fond of them. They were much more firm which mean they were uncomfortable and not form fitting like the stock seats. They also felt too wide and not supportive enough around the thighs and shoulders. A wider person may feel different. I'm sure if using a 4/5/6 point harness it would hold you in much better than stock seat but I'm not sure whether it would be that much better when using an ordinary 3 point lap/sash seatbelt. In addition, the seating position isn't really exactly lower than the stock seat which you would probably want to expect from a 'sports' seat. One last thing, is that whilst they might be lighter than the stock seat, it's only marginally lighter so it's not worth it picking them up just for weight gains.

Regarding the installation, they should be pretty much bolt on. I can't see why they wouldn't just be plug and play with the factory seat harness. If that's the case, the airbag should not require any coding for it to work.

I did however speak to the owner of a shop here in Sydney who installed those seats and he said that they had a bitch of a time getting them to work with occupancy, seatbelt and airbag warnings. I don't know why this is being that it's a factory seat and should include the occupancy, seatbelt and airbag sensors but who knows. Someone should hopefully be able to shed more light. If for some reason you do run into this issue, some places do sell product that is able trick the car into thinking that there is someone sitting in the passenger seat which will remove some of the warnings. The other alternative is just to ignore the warnings all together and your car will still drive the same, you're just going to have 2 warning lights on your dash display. Also in the event of a crash, all available airbags will just go off rather than just the driver side if you're alone in the car.
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      07-10-2013, 01:32 AM   #3
Les Grossman
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Blimey. Lots of info there. Thanks.

As far as the actual comfort goes, I think I know what to expect, as these look identical to the Recaro seats that I had in my Mk II Focus RS. I was rather hoping that the sub frames in this 1M fitment would lower them somewhat over the standard seats.
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      07-10-2013, 01:45 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ///Munson View Post
Blimey. Lots of info there. Thanks.

As far as the actual comfort goes, I think I know what to expect, as these look identical to the Recaro seats that I had in my Mk II Focus RS. I was rather hoping that the sub frames in this 1M fitment would lower them somewhat over the standard seats.
No problem!

You're right, they are Recaro Sportster CS seats which have just been trimmed to BMW spec. You can even see them on the Recaro website.

I can't be exactly sure as to whether they're lower or by how much, but they definitely didn't feel low.

I did see a thread somewhere on here where someone wasn't happy with the height of his seats and actually removed some of the adjustment rails on the stock seats. I think that after doing that he was unable to adjust for tilt and sliding of the base though. I'm not sure whether it would be possible to do a similar mod with the performance seats.

If you don't require use of the rear seats, best would be to just go for some actual fixed back buckets hehe. A few people on here have done it with Recaro Pole Performance and I'm personally thinking about doing it with some Sparco Evo IIs, though probably won't be for some time.
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      07-10-2013, 02:00 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ///Munson View Post
Blimey. Lots of info there. Thanks.

As far as the actual comfort goes, I think I know what to expect, as these look identical to the Recaro seats that I had in my Mk II Focus RS. I was rather hoping that the sub frames in this 1M fitment would lower them somewhat over the standard seats.
Okay, I've also got a set of these in my 1M and they are the best mod so far that I've fitted to the car. The seats which start life as Recaro CSs have two heights. They come from the factory at the highest setting which some people don't realise can be lowered. At the lowest they are more or less the same height as the OEM seats. I also had these in my RS 500, do you remember i had the 500 with the red leather Recaro CSs

I find them far more supportive and more comfortable especially on a longer journey where the OEMs started to hurt my back. They hold you in position in fast tight corners far better than the standard seats where you'll end up sitting in the passenger seat if you're unlucky The best part is they look fantastic especially stitched in Kyalami orange. I was lucky to have my made by Recaro in Stuttgart, Germany to the exact Performance spec but with this colour stitching.

My car originally had manual seats but its not a problem if you have electric already. The heating and airbags are all there still. You will need to code out your old seats and then code in the new but get BMW to do this. If you are in the Herts area my dealer has already done a few and I can get you a really good rate. If you want to see them in my car you are always welcome to come round and try but mine are still on the highest setting although my mate has his on the lower setting if you want to try his also.
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      07-10-2013, 02:12 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jezzer View Post
Okay, I've also got a set of these in my 1M and they are the best mod so far that I've fitted to the car. The seats which start life as Recaro CSs have two heights. They come from the factory at the highest setting which some people don't realise can be lowered. At the lowest they are more or less the same height as the OEM seats. I also had these in my RS 500, do you remember i had the 500 with the red leather Recaro CSs

I find them far more supportive and more comfortable especially on a longer journey where the OEMs started to hurt my back. They hold you in position in fast tight corners far better than the standard seats where you'll end up sitting in the passenger seat if you're unlucky The best part is they look fantastic especially stitched in Kyalami orange. I was lucky to have my made by Recaro in Stuttgart, Germany to the exact Performance spec but with this colour stitching.

My car originally had manual seats but its not a problem if you have electric already. The heating and airbags are all there still. You will need to code out your old seats and then code in the new but get BMW to do this. If you are in the Herts area my dealer has already done a few and I can get you a really good rate. If you want to see them in my car you are always welcome to come round and try but mine are still on the highest setting although my mate has his on the lower setting if you want to try his also.
Good info!
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      07-10-2013, 02:17 AM   #7
Jezzer
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Some pics of my seats in this thread
http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showt...formance+seats
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      07-10-2013, 03:43 AM   #8
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As per Jez's response......Well worth it in my opinion also and make some difference in support, I am not small by any means so hold me well, but my wife is on the much smaller side and she feels the alcantara prevents her sliding about under hard cornering over the leather oem. As for comfort, I have no issues, yes they are firmer but then they are more of a sports seat over the oem leather item, where you gain in one area you lose in another, but saying that, long drives, no problems on the booty, back or legs. As for height, in the lower setting which I have mine secured, they are at the same height as the non electrical item which is lower than your full electric seats. They do have much more of a bucket seat feel to them so the front of the seat is higher which slopes back.

Fitting took I hrs with no issues at all, I do believe there is a little more work when replacing full electric seats.

Just do it!

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      07-10-2013, 05:47 AM   #9
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If for no other reason, they look amazing
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      07-10-2013, 12:38 PM   #10
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one thing i know, they look f-in bad ass.
was thinking about to change mine, but then realize that i dont really need them and stock seats better with all of the electronic function.
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      07-10-2013, 01:40 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay-K View Post
one thing i know, they look f-in bad ass.
was thinking about to change mine, but then realize that i dont really need them and stock seats better with all of the electronic function.
Of course you don't need them, but you also don't need to date with Adriana Lima, wouldn't you if you had the chance?
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      07-10-2013, 02:57 PM   #12
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Very nice seats
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      07-10-2013, 06:36 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ozinaldo View Post
Of course you don't need them, but you also don't need to date with Adriana Lima, wouldn't you if you had the chance?
I need to date Adriana Lima...
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      07-10-2013, 06:40 PM   #14
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Baller
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      07-10-2013, 07:22 PM   #15
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Damnn, I know they are a lot of money and all that stuff but there can not be a more substantial upgrade to the interior. I feel like BMW doesn't put out aggressive enough seats from factory for the M's..
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      07-10-2013, 07:36 PM   #16
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So wish there was an easy way to install these in US cars. If i was in Europe, this would be a no brainer!
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      07-11-2013, 02:31 PM   #17
Les Grossman
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Thanks for all the info guys. Very much appreciated.

They do look amazing, and I know they'll be comfy. So on the lowest fitment, they will be lower than my OE electrics? That's promising.

Regarding the orange stitching - is it possible to order them from BMW like this?
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      07-11-2013, 03:00 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ///Munson View Post
Thanks for all the info guys. Very much appreciated.

They do look amazing, and I know they'll be comfy. So on the lowest fitment, they will be lower than my OE electrics? That's promising.

Regarding the orange stitching - is it possible to order them from BMW like this?
Like the others posted before, yes they will be lower than your power seats but only if you install them at the lower setting. In that case, they will be equal to manual OE seats which sits around 3 cm. lower than power seats as far as I know.

And no, you can't order them with orange stitching. Just Jezzer had that chance in the past and it is not anymore an option; the rest who did it with orange stitching, made it custom after purchasing the seat as it is.
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      07-11-2013, 05:26 PM   #19
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Ok thanks again for the continued input.

Pretty much convinced that I want them, but I may wait a while for financial justification reasons
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      07-11-2013, 06:39 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ///Munson View Post
Regarding the orange stitching - is it possible to order them from BMW like this?
Don't waste money on ordering tailor made orange stitching for the Performance Seats. Forum fellow mikrotom showed us all the smart way, as an easy DIY job requiring ...only 5 EUR in materials:
"I totally refuse to pay hundreds or thousands of EUR just to have proper orange stitching. So I decided to use basic textile pen and color the existing white stitches this way. And voilą - it works like charm! Trying to remove color with hot water or mechanically without success. [...] Orange textile pens. All of them cost 5 EUR (together) and worked the same way. Orange color immediately caught on thread and didn't affect leather around. Of course it is not exactly Kyalami Orange. But in real you barely can spot the difference."
(http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showp...23&postcount=1)
"I used the Edding orange pen, mainly because it produces slightly more saturated color. But all other pens have good results - only you have to draw it twice."
(http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showp...3&postcount=57)




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      07-11-2013, 09:25 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rad doc View Post
So wish there was an easy way to install these in US cars. If i was in Europe, this would be a no brainer!
I thought ECS offered them now:

http://www.ecstuning.com/News/BMW_Bi...ce_Sport_Seats
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      07-11-2013, 09:46 PM   #22
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You can buy them but not sure who can code for them here in US. ECS told me there are diy instructions on the bmw coding sites but what I have found doesnt sound easy.
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