Last edited by MParallel; 06-18-2012 at 05:00 AM. Reason: Automerged Doublepost
1998 BMW M3 3.2 Cabrio Alpinweiί III on Schwarz German spec 1 of 12
SMG SRA PDC AUC OBC GSM HK UURS IHKA FGR MFL
IG: https://www.instagram.com/iflok/
Does any one have pictures of a e36 with e46 m3 seats? For the money have you considered Recaros. I was looking at getting a pair for 1400 which seems like its in the ball park you are in right now.
There are lots of threads with others having varied levels of success. I am in no way a pioneer here. I think I just over explained and took photos so that people can take things in at my level, which is admittedly quite low. Im no expert or professional here.
Here are some obligatory install pics. I had 3 issues during install. 1) Many people said that the bolt holes only required minor filing to get them to bolt in. Well my bolts lined up in such a way that they need filing through the reinforced bolt-down area and this created a monster job. I needed air-filing tools that my mechanic was nice enough to let me use when I dropped by. This process left me with 2 more problems. The rear bolt holes werent quite right and the rear bolts didnt go quite all the way down. This hindered the seat rails from sliding all the way back and in my driver's seat, the side bolster contacts the door panel (not a huge issue but it has an air bag which could hurt in an accident and it squeaks annoyingly). Passenger seat was ok. Problem 2) I didnt hook up the passenger seat occuppence sensor before start up so the whole point of swapping the seatbelt buckles to avoid the error light was all for not. I did however Wire the sensor up today as well as wire and test the heated seats.
One major point to make here that I didnt initially understand was how to wire up the heated seats. The E46 seats have 5 wires, two grounds, two positives, and a grey "temp sensor" wire. The E36 only has the grounds and positives. So I was scratching my head for a day or two thinking about what to do with the gray wire. Would the seats work without it? would they heat to the point of a fire hazzard with it disconnected? I dont know. In the end I realized I was essentially using the E36 system to power the E46 elements. The E36 obviously does not care about the temp sensor as it doesnt have this built in. Others asked if it mattered if I had the right colors for the seat pan or back rest. The answer for this was again, obviously not since its not as if it only ever turns one on at a time. Both elements get used so who cares if its not the correct positive or pair of positives and grounds. It will work either way. I cut out all the stock harnesses, stripped the 8 wires in total that I would use on each side. Green wires from the E46 seat fo to color wires in the E36 chassis. Brown goes to brown (duh, thats ground for the noobs who dont know how BMW does their grounds yet). Left the greys hangin, works just fine.
Couple initial thoughts on the E46 seats in the E36. They are a little taller. They can contact my sunvisors in the vert when using the rear entry handle. a big deal? no. a deal breaker? hell no. Are these more comfortable than the E36 seats? Hell yea. I'm a big dude, the E36 sport seats can cut into the undersides of my legs in the typical place where the frame work will come through the foam. The E46 seats are much better foamed and they are slightly wider in the seat pan and seat back. The bolsters feel great and I feel like I'm in a comfortable bear hug, instead of like when you hug a girl that is skinny and bone. C'mon guys, girls with a little meat are way better, admit it. To better my install, I am going to work on getting the driver's seat to straighten out and get out of contact with the door panel. I also ordered a scan tool off Amazon that had good reviews. It was a third of the cost of the Peake SRS reset tool so I will report back on if this will rid my light and we can finally call this retrofit a total success.
Last edited by Bianca98; 08-30-2012 at 12:40 AM.
I know, I wish I could change the title now to E46 seat install into E36. Thats a little more fitting. I guess the answer to the original question was, yes they could have been saved but what did you want to spend?
For me it was a long winded plan to recover them in a custom skin, with a wedding less than a year out. The E46 M seats to me where and equally if not more valid option and it was just chance that they popped up when I was itching to do the project.
Great writeup! Seats look pretty good in the car, too. I was worried when you posted the first photo of the E46 seats, that they wouldn't clean up very well... but they did. Nice work getting the tensioners swapped and making heat work.
2011 F-150 FX4 | 1997 BMW M3 #404 GTS2 | 2006 BMW M3 Convertible
Out Motorsports
meh! . . I'd rather have normal E36 sport seats than E46 M-Seats . . they look to big IMHO . .
My little BMW collection:
'18 BMW I01 i3S - some electric thing and a korean scooter engine . .
'02 BMW E46 316i Wagon - not saying
'02 ALPINA E46 b3 3.3 - E4
'02 BMW E46 320i Touring - M54B22
'86 BMW E24 635CSI automatic - M30B35
'76 BMW E12 525 automatic M30B25
'74 BMW E12 525 M30B25
Me too.
They do look big, although on that one pic that seat is more in the foreground.
But I prefer the OEM ones, with the square headrest. I think the one on the M seat is too big and round. Not a fan of the backrest design either (that big arch on top).
But that is just me. They will provide a good sit.
1998 BMW M3 3.2 Cabrio Alpinweiί III on Schwarz German spec 1 of 12
SMG SRA PDC AUC OBC GSM HK UURS IHKA FGR MFL
IG: https://www.instagram.com/iflok/
I took about 3 hours cleaning each one and they could use another hour or two each. Thanks for the compliment though, I was surprised at how easy it was once I got down to it.
They are nice if you think the E36 seats are too small, haha
Thanks for the write up!
Pictures should be back up! I still love my E46 seats. I have taken the car a a few road trips with them installed, and I must say that the day to day comfort is much higher. The wider seat pan, if only just a few inches, made my last trip (7 hours one way) entirely comfortable. I also really enjoy the seat heaters. Im not sure if its because the seat is cloth or if the e46 seat just has larger heating pads, but they are sooo much warmer. If anyone has questions about my install, send me a PM or post it here.
love the look of vaders but mine arent really comfortable
Certainly an old thread revived but on that note I have a set of black Vader's in need of a pretty extensive restoration but I dont know if they are worth anything to anyone local to ct
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Ctwide3project, you got any pictures?
Pretty rough shape
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Holy! those do need saving hah.. That foam under there is worth a lot to someone trying to restore their damaged foam seats, maybe pull the leather off nicely and offer those foam inserts for sale. It'd be a nice thing!
At this point the space is worth more than the money from selling them lol if someone wants to pick them up and throw me a little something I wouldn't say no but mostly I just hope to get them gone to someone who can use them and help me free up basement space
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