Help with seats! Advice/Experiences Needed.

[ShocknAwe]

Hey guys.

My front sport seats are in ROUGH shape. 10 years in SC sun and heat and they're dried out, cracked, and have tears working their way up the seats on the side bolsters.

Had been using conditioner 1-2x per year but obviously not the right stuff.

So, looking to fix it permanently.

Have an appointment with an upholstery specialist tomorrow to see if I can get them recovered economically. So if that pans out, great.

My #2 option is to buy a pair of Recaros.

I'm pretty split between the Sportster GT vs the Speed V.

https://www.recaro-automotive.com/us...o-sportster-gt

https://www.recaro-automotive.com/us...recaro-speed-v

Anyone have experience with either compared to our E82 Sport seats?

Theres no way I can sit in either of them, and as we (my wife) need to retain the heated seat function, its either get my current ones recovered, or shell out ~3-5k for a set of heated recaros.

Advice and experiences very much appreciated!!!

[128ibro]

Originally Posted by ShocknAwe

Hey guys.

My front sport seats are in ROUGH shape. 10 years in SC sun and heat and they're dried out, cracked, and have tears working their way up the seats on the side bolsters.

Had been using conditioner 1-2x per year but obviously not the right stuff.

So, looking to fix it permanently.

Have an appointment with an upholstery specialist tomorrow to see if I can get them recovered economically. So if that pans out, great.

My #2 option is to buy a pair of Recaros.

I'm pretty split between the Sportster GT vs the Speed V.

https://www.recaro-automotive.com/us...o-sportster-gt

https://www.recaro-automotive.com/us...recaro-speed-v

Anyone have experience with either compared to our E82 Sport seats?

Theres no way I can sit in either of them, and as we (my wife) need to retain the heated seat function, its either get my current ones recovered, or shell out ~3-5k for a set of heated recaros.

Advice and experiences very much appreciated!!!

no experience with that. But if you need new heated seats for 5k. I'd sell the car and add that 5k to it and get new one

[ShocknAwe]

Originally Posted by 128ibro

no experience with that. But if you need new heated seats for 5k. I'd sell the car and add that 5k to it and get new one

Sure. I'll sell my car. Right.

[ShocknAwe]

Originally Posted by 128ibro

no experience with that. But if you need new heated seats for 5k. I'd sell the car and add that 5k to it and get new one

Sure. I'll sell my car.

[fast1eddy]

Any decent upholstery shop should be able to repair your stock seats easily and reasonably. Are you just thinking the side blusters or the entire seats recovered ? Never sat in either but I like the look of the Sportster GT better.

[Lester]

ECS Tuning sells a good quality seat cover that is custom fitted for the sport seats. Nit exactly cheap, but you could give them a call for a quote and at least you'll have a bench mark to compare a custom shop quote.

[bchalks]

No experience with those particular seats (sat in some sportsters several times). But I have plenty of experience (street and track) with OEM 135 sport seats and Sparco Evo2s in an E36.

You obviously know reupholstering the OEM seats will be more economical. Plus they are pretty darn good seats as it is. If they sat lower in the car they would be even better.

Shelling out for Recaros sounds great in theory...but I'm not sure how much better they are compared to OEM. Do you want new seats for the added performance? Or is this one of those "while I'm in there" situations? If it's the latter, don't upgrade. But if you want a theoretically superior seat and don't mind spending the money, the Recaros are a great choice.

Start with asking yourself WHY you want the Recaros...if you can come up with some legitimate reasons that make sense financially, then go for it!

[b1aze]

Man you know what the right answer is....

https://www.ebay.com/itm/08-13-BMW-1...sAAOSw2Rdd2yq8

But really, if your seats are basically beat and the rest of the interior is tolerable, try to find a set of E82 or E92 sport seats in better condition and swap them out, especially if you can find the same option package so there is no wiring issues.

Just my $.02

[ShocknAwe]

Originally Posted by b1aze

Man you know what the right answer is....

https://www.ebay.com/itm/08-13-BMW-1...sAAOSw2Rdd2yq8

But really, if your seats are basically beat and the rest of the interior is tolerable, try to find a set of E82 or E92 sport seats in better condition and swap them out, especially if you can find the same option package so there is no wiring issues.

Just my $.02

Been trying to find a set of manual sport seats in black. Only way I'd buy a different seat as opposed to having it recovered/repadded.

Originally Posted by bchalks

No experience with those particular seats (sat in some sportsters several times). But I have plenty of experience (street and track) with OEM 135 sport seats and Sparco Evo2s in an E36.

You obviously know reupholstering the OEM seats will be more economical. Plus they are pretty darn good seats as it is. If they sat lower in the car they would be even better.

Shelling out for Recaros sounds great in theory...but I'm not sure how much better they are compared to OEM. Do you want new seats for the added performance? Or is this one of those "while I'm in there" situations? If it's the latter, don't upgrade. But if you want a theoretically superior seat and don't mind spending the money, the Recaros are a great choice.

Start with asking yourself WHY you want the Recaros...if you can come up with some legitimate reasons that make sense financially, then go for it!

Not much of a "want" Recaros, but they're the only thing that is conservatively speaking, better, than our sport seats. If these can't be recovered for less than a pair of Recaros, then I'll buy recaros.

Originally Posted by Lester

ECS Tuning sells a good quality seat cover that is custom fitted for the sport seats. Nit exactly cheap, but you could give them a call for a quote and at least you'll have a bench mark to compare a custom shop quote.

Good call, I'll check those out, thanks for the tip.

Originally Posted by fast1eddy

Any decent upholstery shop should be able to repair your stock seats easily and reasonably. Are you just thinking the side blusters or the entire seats recovered ? Never sat in either but I like the look of the Sportster GT better.

"Should". My area is crazy expensive. Side bolsters are shot, seat bottom and back panels are in bad shape too. Basically the whole seat x2 needs a recover job. Padding is pretty shot too.

[CH400EM]

I don't know if this would interest you, but check out AMX Performance - he's on insta, FB, and web (AMX-performance dot com). If you go aftermarket, it is worthwhile seeing how seamlessly his custom interior pieces/seats work in the cars.

[Petro135]

I've had 3 cars with Recaro seats. Not bad for ripping around town, but all were very uncomfortable and hard on the ass for any decently long drive. Not saying they all suck, just the ones I had.

[ShocknAwe]

Originally Posted by CH400EM

I don't know if this would interest you, but check out AMX Performance - he's on insta, FB, and web (AMX-performance dot com). If you go aftermarket, it is worthwhile seeing how seamlessly his custom interior pieces/seats work in the cars.

Recaro Max has raised his process a lot over the years. Definitely good quality workmanship if I go that route though.

Originally Posted by Petro135

I've had 3 cars with Recaro seats. Not bad for ripping around town, but all were very uncomfortable and hard on the ass for any decently long drive. Not saying they all suck, just the ones I had.

Which ones did you have? Great data point. Thanks.

[lemansblau135is]

M3 seats, maybe?

[ShocknAwe]

Originally Posted by lemansblau135is

M3 seats, maybe?

Fired a few emails to eBay sellers about M3 seats today.