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Thread: Direct seat swaps for e23

  1. #1
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    Direct seat swaps for e23

    Can I swap the manual seats to my automatic seated set up? Is it worth it, I have electrics fully functional but blown cushion right now.

    Also I know that the e28 front seats also fit the e23 but do the seat rails go direct fit and/so are they the same exact ones then?

    Thanks

  2. #2
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    E24/28 seats are the only direct drop in seats.
    ALL other seats require some kind of cutting or drilling or brackets made.
    Of course you can swap manual seats in, of course you will then have seat switches taking up space, but that's just an appearance issue.
    Are you refurbishing the electric seats?
    --Jay3->Sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc
    84 €735i manual, 88 528e/i
    Motronic 1 and 1.3 wiring
    Transmission & Diff gearing sheet

  3. #3
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    Thanks for the 100% clear up.

    I do not plan to refurbish the seats; I may swap the entire assembly over to the donor car with the manual seats potentially swapping over. Reason is being manual seats suppose to weigh significantly less and reliability is rarely in question. The electric seats are just something to eventually go wrong is how I'm seeing it right now.

    Are you interested in these auto/electric seats or a manual swapped donor e23

  4. #4
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    Where in California are you?
    --Jay3->Sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc
    84 €735i manual, 88 528e/i
    Motronic 1 and 1.3 wiring
    Transmission & Diff gearing sheet

  5. #5
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    East bay, I work in south bay near SJC airport.

  6. #6
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    e23 (84-86) E9 - E28
    ..so e24 seats will work, direct bolt n plug in? I just want to clarify as some say the only direct swaps are the e28 seats?

    e24 sport seats would be a lot easier to find then e28 sport seats imo

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by sharkski View Post
    ..so e24 seats will work, direct bolt n plug in? I just want to clarify as some say the only direct swaps are the e28 seats?

    e24 sport seats would be a lot easier to find then e28 sport seats imo
    e24 manual sport seats on LA CL as of last night

    Sent from my HTC6545LVW using Tapatalk

  8. #8
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    If 'some say' E24 seats are any different than E28 seats as far as mounting, goes, then they are wrong.
    The ONLY functional difference with E24 seats is the tilt forward mechanism.
    --Jay3->Sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc
    84 €735i manual, 88 528e/i
    Motronic 1 and 1.3 wiring
    Transmission & Diff gearing sheet

  9. #9
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    I have an e24 sport seat and base in the driver's position and an e24 sport seat on an e28 seat base in the passenger position in my e23 and as Jay said, there is no difference as far as mounting. But there are a few things that need to be mentioned when doing this swap.

    e28 seat bases are slightly taller (~1/2" in front ~1" in rear) than the e24 seat bases and would work better in an e23 IMHO. I am 6'3" so it isn't an issue with me. If you or your significant other are on the shorter side and they drive your car, that may be an issue. Also, you will need longer bolts to bolt the seats into the car if using e28 sport seat bases. And it is probably a good idea to get two longer bolts for the rear holes on the e24 sport seat bases. The comfort seat bolts will work, but won't mount in the hole as far. Just a peace of mind thing if you care. And definitely go to Ace or someplace that sells the 8.8 metric bolts.

    Then there is the electronics portion if you are doing a power seat swap. The basic power harness is exactly the same as the comfort seats, but if you retain the existing harness, you will need to add a splice for the knee bolster power on the sport seats. Otherwise you won't have this functionality. Some have applied power to the motor and ran the knee bolster all the way out and left it unpowered and never bothered to add a power lead. I on the other hand wanted a fully functional set of power sport seats, so everything works on mine; knee bolsters, driver's memory functions, heating elements, etc. With the basic / comfort seat power harness all the seat movement functions work, so not sure how in depth you want to go, but getting everything to work involves wiring harness swaps, and /or harness connector end swaps. The memory functionality being the hardest part. If you have non-memory comfort seats, I wouldn't try swapping to memory sport seats, it just isn't worth it. My e23 had the memory seat function and I wanted to keep that functionality. I can post more details if needed. It was a bit of work, but it is super nice especially after I took the time to clean all the 30 year old crud from the seat bases and got all the motors working again.

    Let me know if have questions.
    Last edited by cfisher535is; 12-29-2017 at 04:50 PM.

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