Manual seats sit lower?

[mhullihan]

After swapping seat frames, I’m now confused about the commonly shared knowledge that manual seats sit lower than powered.

I bought a 128i about a year ago and in addition to the LSD and 3.73 I put in over the summer, I’ve been on an endless search for a set of manual sport seats. I was looking for them because of all the threads on here saying they sit lower than the powered seats by 1-2”. I’m 6’1”, long torso, and have about a finger’s width between my head and the (sunroof &#128530 headliner. This is fine for the street but means I have to open the sunroof shade and stick my head in there with a helmet on at the track. This fall I found a set of base manual sets locally and set about combining the bits I wanted to keep.

First the good news. My powered seat weighed 63.2lbs, and the base manual seat was 50.2lbs. I didn’t weigh the final seat before putting it in the car but I’d guess 10lbs saved since I took the seat heating, bolster bladders, and ecu over to the manual seat.

Now the bad news: I didn’t gain a shred of head room. Am I missing something? If someone with manual sport seats could take a simple reference measurement near the driver’s hip I’d appreciate it. I wonder if base manual frames are different than sport manual frames because I definitely lost some rake to the seat bottom as well. According to realOEM there is only one manual seat part part number so maybe not.

It’s looking like I might have to go aftermarket to get the seat position I want. The struggle there is finding one that my boys can still climb past because this is a weekend car also.

Thanks in advance.

[ZHPizza]

Ah this hurts as I went on a similar journey in my e46, burning through second hand seats trying to find one that would go lower. I can help you here though because I test drove two e82's back to back the other day, one with manual base seats, one with manual sport seats.

You already know the bad news: the manual base seats don't go low. They sit just as high as the sport seats in my e46 coupe and put me into the sunroof as well.

The good news: the manual sport seats really do go low. Like, real low. I had to RAISE them two notches just to see over the steering wheel.

So stay the course! Find the manual sport seats!!!

[mhullihan]

Wow, that’s interesting. So you’re saying there’s a chance haha.

I wonder what the difference point is, like the ratchet in the lowering mechanism has a different stop? I wonder if the floor or the sliders could be different.

Were both cars you drove coupes?

I really appreciate your experience. While it’s a bummer I lost a couple hundred bucks on the manual base seats, I was feeling pretty defeated and resigned to like a sunroof delete or something. Sounds like there’s still hope!

[mhullihan]

If anyone could take a measurement of their sport manual driver seat in its lowest position I’d appreciate it as a comparison point. In the pic below I’m measuring the back of the rear tilt lever to the bottom of the seat frame rail at just under 4.5”.

[ZHPizza]

Originally Posted by mhullihan

Wow, that’s interesting. So you’re saying there’s a chance haha.

I wonder what the difference point is, like the ratchet in the lowering mechanism has a different stop? I wonder if the floor or the sliders could be different.

Were both cars you drove coupes?

I really appreciate your experience. While it’s a bummer I lost a couple hundred bucks on the manual base seats, I was feeling pretty defeated and resigned to like a sunroof delete or something. Sounds like there’s still hope!

Yep, both cars were coupes - one sport package and one base. There's no way that there's a difference in the floor, so it's definitely something in the sport v standard seat frame. I see what you mean with RealOEM only showing one manual adjust frame. The difference is so significant that I feel like it has to be more than foam thickness. Real head scratcher.

I'm going to pick up the new car tomorrow so I'll try to remember to grab a measurement for you.

And delete the sunroof anyway! More headroom AND 35lb out of the roof!

[ZHPizza]

Originally Posted by mhullihan

If anyone could take a measurement of their sport manual driver seat in its lowest position I’d appreciate it as a comparison point. In the pic below I’m measuring the back of the rear tilt lever to the bottom of the seat frame rail at just under 4.5”.

Ok I have some more investigating to do because the 2008 sport package that I drove last week had seats that went to the floor. The 2013 m sport package that I just bought has seats that don't go down far enough for me either. My only thought is that BMW commonized the seat base between sport and standard after the first model year, or updated the design of the sport seats, but I can't find proof of any of that in RealOEM.

I'm not happy either now. I want my seats to go low like the 2008.

[mhullihan]

Wow that’s odd. I’ll do some more digging as well and let you know if I find anything.

Oh and thanks for taking the measurement. Looks like sunroof delete might be back on the table. I emailed a company called Nelson Racing Wheel and they said they’re still making e82 carbon fiber plugs that bolt right up if you’re interested. 35lbs saved for ~$400.

[BMWCCA1]

I'm 6'-1" and can fit comfortably in my '13 128i M-sport with sunroof and power sport seats while wearing a helmet. The inseam of my Levi's is 32". But maybe my sleeve length of 35" has me with the seat further back which may also make it lower?

[mhullihan]

If anyone with Sport Manual seats could take a measurement from the seat base to the rear adjustment handle I’d really appreciate it. I want to put this debate to bed whether manual seats really sit lower. Maybe it’s an LCI vs non-LCI, or seat pad thickness thing.

Thanks in advance.

Mike

[xrockoutx]

This is on a 2011 (technically 2010.5) manual msport seat...looks like it's right at 4.5". I also have a 2008 powered msport seat and the manual seat does FEEL much lower while sitting in it.