quick update on seat swap project

[rockytt]

Just wanted to give a quick update on this part of my project:
Rather than re-covering the front, tired seats of my '91, I was able to source a complete new/old interior from a later model ('94?) e31 that had several advantages over the original. The biggest hurdle I had to cross in regards to the front seats had to do with the heater switch - attached to the seat on the '91 and moved to the center console on the later models.
Happy to report that this was actually a very easy mod to make and that the wiring harnesses are identical, with the exception of the aformentioned heater switch. No pics of the process (nor could I post any yet), but here's a quick run down of the steps.
1) Remove the heater switch from your old seat-when you cut the wires, leave them as long as possible. It may look like a bundle, but most of them are connected connected together and you are left with only 4 leads. 2 that power the switch and 2 that power the heating elements.
2) When you look at the wiring harness on the new seats, you'll see a small(ish) 2 pin connector piggy-backed on top of one of the big connectors. The wire colors will match up with 2 of the wires attached to the heater switch. You won't need the connector anymore, so cut it off and solder the switch wires to their counterparts.
3) You should now have two free wires left on your switch. One of them, a large brown wire (ground?) will match up with a brown wire of similar gauge on the main connector in your car's harness. Pick a spot somewhere in the seat's harness and splice it in.
4) If you look at the same connector where you spliced in the ground, you'll see one empty space 3 or 4 slots over. This is where the final wire from your heater switch needs to go. I cut up one of the connectors from my old seat to grab some extra pins to go here, but you could purchase a couple from a local electronics store (not Radio Shack).
5) Once this is complete, wrap the cables with friction tape and you're good to go!

Bottom line is that I assumed, and had been warned by others, that this swap might not be as easy as it appeared. Glad to say that it was cake, and if you find yourself in a similar situation (older model needing a new interior) here's another option for you.

(If something was clear here-just let me know and I can edit this later)

[supavnick]

i am about to do the same: installing 93' seats to 91
anyone did that before, pics will be more helpfull

[David9999999]

Bumping this thread- supavnick, did you have luck with your seat install? I am considering the same procedure soon, will probably be taking photos so others can reference in the future.

[supavnick]

Bumping this thread- supavnick, did you have luck with your seat install? I am considering the same procedure soon, will probably be taking photos so others can reference in the future.

yes, i did swap seats from '93 to 91
but i didn't connect heated seat switches
everything else is working and connectors are the same, newer seats have one additional black connector for heating feature - it will be my project later on
So in short: its plug and play with no heating.