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01-24-2018, 06:13 PM | #1 |
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Custom seat advise
Treading really close to being a silly question but I've never been accused of being a smart guy;
I want to swap my seats for race seats but I want to retain the electric sliding and tilting options and why not, heating as well, who could point me in the direction of a shop that have done this for our cars? I have done this in my vette but those shops work only on corvettes. There has to be someone, somewhere out there that has done this. Any clues or ideas? Ultimately I could just bolt any seat via aftermarket brackets to the floor but I wanted to go a little extra with this. Thanks in advance gang. Ricardo Photo just for kicks...
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01-24-2018, 06:23 PM | #2 |
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How much track time do you plan to do and is it still used on street?
If just a few HPDE days, then reupolserting the stock seats in Alcantara is a choice. You can also use a quickfit 4 pt harness.
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01-24-2018, 06:33 PM | #3 | |
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I haven't considered reupholstering the seats because, possibility of returning everything back to stock, and more importantly, I haven't been impressed by the upholstery shops near me. But I guess it wont hurt to at least get a quote. Thank you.
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01-24-2018, 08:05 PM | #4 |
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There’s a website from some shop showing how they retrofitted the power mechanism to a Recaro seat. If I find it I’ll post the link.
Have you thought about the passenger seat occupancy sensor? I did a bit of research because I wanted the Performance seats but decided it was too much risk installing a passenger sest that did not have the sensor. It is my understanding that whether the passenger airbag deploys and the force with which it deploys is based on the weight/size of the passenger, determined by input from the sensor mat. If you go with race seats you will lose the occupancy sensor and shops will code your car for the airbag light, but the airbag will deploy full force irrespective of passenger size/weight. For me, that wss too much liability in the event of an accident - and your insurance may refuse coverage because you “tampered” with thr vehicle’s safety systems. Just something to think about if you’re going to use your car on the street. At least, wih an 08, you don’t have the active head restraints. |
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01-24-2018, 09:13 PM | #5 | |
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Thank you though for the suggestions.
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01-24-2018, 11:22 PM | #6 |
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01-25-2018, 06:30 AM | #7 |
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You are correct. There still caves and tunnels that the Japanese dug, lots of other humbling things throughout the atoll.
When I was stationed in Japan with the Navy Air Wing, we had the priviliedge to go to Iwo to keep pilot's take off/landing proficiency. The place is run by the Japanese and as you would expect treated like a shrine. But they rather us come here a fly around than do it in and around Tokyo.. Ricardo
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01-25-2018, 07:00 AM | #8 |
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Nothing to add, but thank you for your service to our country.
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01-25-2018, 07:06 AM | #9 |
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If you want heated, tilt, reclining, they aren’t really race seats. What about a quality aftermarket seat like Recaro Sportster CS or Sparco SPX?
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01-25-2018, 07:14 AM | #10 |
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I'm not sure that you aren't defeating the purpose of a racing seat by adding your requirements. Apart from providing proper support (which a high-end Recaro will do), the race seat has 2 advantages. First it saves weight, a benefit you effectively eliminate by adding back power adjustments. Second, it is designed to accept a 5 point race harness, which requires removal of the existing 3 point harness and substitution with a properly anchored 5 point harness, which effectively eliminates the real-world utility of the left rear seat.
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01-25-2018, 08:39 AM | #11 |
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Recaro Sport Toplines attached to your OE sliders with Brey Krause's R-9292 mounts.
Comes from Recaro with heating, ventilation, leather, and power back rest. Using the R-9292 you can mounted it on your factory BMW power slider. Not the lightest setup out there, but lighter and more supportive than stock! If you can live with a manual backrest, you could do the sportster CS-- you can get it from Recaro with seat heating (not cooling AFAIK). But, if you're medium height to tall, the harness holes are too low to safely use. Could also be mounted on the BMW power sliders with the R-9292.
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01-25-2018, 09:19 AM | #12 |
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Here you go:
http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=809730 Forgot about the side airbags, which you’ll lose with a racing seat. The passenger OC3 sensor is built into the OEM seat bottom, and appears to not be easily removed. It’s also very expensive. On top of that, you really won’t know if the swap works properly (i.e., whether the sensor mat is functioning as it should). If I were in need of a racing seat, I’d do only the driverr’s and leave the stock passenger seat alone or remove it altogether. Last edited by rantarM3; 01-25-2018 at 09:25 AM.. |
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01-25-2018, 09:50 AM | #13 | ||||
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I appreciate everybody's input, thank you. With all these points well made, seems like I need to re think what I need vs. what I think I want. I could upgrade my current seats by reupholstering the seats and possibly use the 4pt quick fit system or; swap seats with units offered by Recaro, Sparco, etc which will offer higher level of support and will allow me to keep the useful functions of a daily driven car seat. Went out to get a quote of the reupholster job; $2700 for the front and why not, the rear seat to copy the comp seat with suede. The Recaro CS seats are around $4k or $6k depending on options, etc.
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01-25-2018, 09:52 AM | #14 | |
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The seat mounting solution in that thread looks pretty similar to the brey krause R-9292. Personally, I'd just code the seat occupancy sensor off. It'll cost more to keep than you'll save in non blown airbags in a crash (which is isn't only function-- not blowing an airbag in a crash if nobody is in the seat), so silly to try to preserve it.
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01-25-2018, 09:59 AM | #15 | |
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I had factory BMW seat heaters installed in them, so the stock controls still work. I have them attached to BMW sliders with the Brey Krause mounts, which lets me keep the factory pre tensioner seat belt receiver. I'm 6'4, and the harness pass through holes (which are optional, so make sure to get them if you're going to use harnesses) are at a good height. The Nogaros are fixed back, so back seat access is reduced, but they're more accessible that you might think because the BMW sliders have a ton of travel-- more than twice as much as Recaro/etc sliders. While not as supportive as a full race bucket, the lower seat sides on the Nogaro mean that getting into and out of the car is much less of a PITA than other fixed back buckets, and that the factory 3 point receiver is still well positioned (not true of many other fixed back situations).
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01-25-2018, 10:25 AM | #16 |
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Yet another great option, thanks Obioban.
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01-25-2018, 02:35 PM | #17 | |
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And I agree that it does not make financial sense to try and retrofit the OC3 mat - especially because you'll never know whether it is properly functioning until you need it. Even with the coding, though, I'd never let anyone sit in an aftermarket passenger seat because the airbag will always inflate full-force irrespective of the passenger's weight. It's just asking for trouble, IMO, but I understand everyone has different risk tolerances. |
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01-25-2018, 06:34 PM | #18 |
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Might as well save a bit more a go hunt a set of bmw performance seats...
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01-25-2018, 06:41 PM | #19 | |
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01-25-2018, 08:40 PM | #20 |
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But not anymore, and for good reasons. I’m only trying to give the OP information on things he may not have thought about originally. Regardless of how airbags used to work, changing the way in which it may deploy in your car opens the door to potential civil liability (for a passenger’s airbag related injuries) and denial of coverage issues. That’s all I’m trying to say.
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01-26-2018, 06:13 AM | #21 | ||
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I believe the occupancy sensor is exactly that-- it determines if there's an occupant in the seat, and nothing else. If there is, airbag. If not, no airbag. I believe the speed of the deployment is determined by the speed of the crash. With the rate at which they fail (most cars have them fail by 100,000-150,000 miles) and the enormous expense of replacing them, BMW would be exposing themselves to a lot of failed safety systems, otherwise. Quote:
That said, I wouldn't put anyone you don't want the airbag going off in front of (children) in the passenger seat, since it will go off every time. But, you're already not supposed to put kids in the front seat for that reason, so not sure what that changes...
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01-26-2018, 08:09 AM | #22 |
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Well, unless I can sacrifice the car and convert it to a track only vehicle, seems like I will refrain from installing race seats then. I'll either re finish them in something less slippery or pony up for something like the BMW Performance seats
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