E93 seat and cage experience?

[Bpark1977]

Anyone out there who has swapped out their seats in an E93? Thinking I may do a half cage for some buckets (or at least the driver side) as my fox red leather is past the point of refresh. With no real aftermarket options for a seat with an integrated belt, seems like the cage is the only option. I guess there's the adapter to use the rear seat belt points?
Who's done it or has explored the job?

Thanks fam!

[SAMM3Y]

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[Expressivedrives]

Originally Posted by Bpark1977

Anyone out there who has swapped out their seats in an E93? Thinking I may do a half cage for some buckets (or at least the driver side) as my fox red leather is past the point of refresh. With no real aftermarket options for a seat with an integrated belt, seems like the cage is the only option. I guess there's the adapter to use the rear seat belt points?
Who's done it or has explored the job?

Thanks fam!

Hi. I'm going into direction of M3 GTS. I switched my leather sofas to Recaro Profi SPG XL's, as is M3 GTS. Did rear seat delete and installed Wiechers Sport roll bar. Installed Schroth harnesses, 4 point 3 + 2 in. Retained original belts for convinience. I use 4 points harnesses on track only.

More here: https://www.expressivedrives.com/blo...ar-seat-delete

[SVH]

Originally Posted by Bpark1977

Anyone out there who has swapped out their seats in an E93? Thinking I may do a half cage for some buckets (or at least the driver side) as my fox red leather is past the point of refresh. With no real aftermarket options for a seat with an integrated belt, seems like the cage is the only option. I guess there's the adapter to use the rear seat belt points?
Who's done it or has explored the job?

Thanks fam!

https://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=796790

[Throatpunch]

Harnesses and cage are not safe for the street

[kyippee]

Is this for track use? If not, don't do it.

If it's for track use, it probably makes sense to swap for an E92 or E90 before going further.

[Cyberdemon]

If your seats are worn out I'd just go the route of custom upholstery, harnesses on the street are a bad idea, and a number of people on some of the exotic forums have died when streeting their cars without a helmet/hans device to properly protect the rest of your system. Not to mention in most cases, leaning forward at all (to stretch, get rid of your back sweat on a hot day, or reach the cupholder) is now impossible.

[Wmike97]

Not sure its a good idea

[Bpark1977]

Maybe I'll try and find some F83 front seats?

[SVH]

Originally Posted by Throatpunch

Harnesses and cage are not safe for the street

Why?

[SVH]

Originally Posted by Cyberdemon

If your seats are worn out I'd just go the route of custom upholstery, harnesses on the street are a bad idea, and a number of people on some of the exotic forums have died when streeting their cars without a helmet/hans device to properly protect the rest of your system. Not to mention in most cases, leaning forward at all (to stretch, get rid of your back sweat on a hot day, or reach the cupholder) is now impossible.

Having a harness is not unsafe. Having DOT approved harness is safe if properly fitted. I agree it tight and you can't stretch but you CAN reach most everything, including the cup holder. I've had the setup.

[Throatpunch]

Originally Posted by SVH

Having a harness is not unsafe. Having DOT approved harness is safe if properly fitted. I agree it tight and you can't stretch but you CAN reach most everything, including the cup holder. I've had the setup.

Agreed but having a cage in a street car is pointless unless you actually race the car. Doing it for looks is just adding risk.

Roll cage are fine for track because you wear a helmet. On the streets you dont.
With that said a DOT harness doesnt negate the fact you would need a rollbar/cage which makes it unsafe

[Cyberdemon]

Perhaps safety is subjective - ex we survived the 1970 and 80's with only lap belts.

People have absolutely died from head/neck trauma as a result of driving without a helmet + HANS device on the street due to impact with the cage. Now you could argue that with a half cage your head shouldn't get close enough, but you also need to consider the flex of a racing bucket in the event of a serious impact and whether or not that is actually true.

More importantly, in a hard front end or rear end impact, a properly tightened harness will transfer all of the load directly to your neck. Your stock seatbelts and airbag are designed to reduce the overall impact of a collision by allowing your body to move and more gradually absorb the impact.

4 Point harnesses which is what most people choose to run have a high risk of submarining in a crash, aside from the general practicality issues like reaching (which is going to be a function of how long your arms and legs are. I can tell you that at 6'4" my seat is far enough back that would probably be an issue in most cars.

Have I done it? Absolutely, my college roommate had a spec Miata and we would regularly hoon it around on mountain roads with a full cage, 5pts and no helmets, but in hindsight it was pretty stupid and things were different when I was 20.

People do lots of things with cars that are generally not recommendable, you just need to decide if you think those risks are significant enough that you're willing to accept those risks. I would just reupholster my interior with some cool fabric for a fraction of the price and retain all the practicality of the OEM seats and belts. You aren't taking a convertible on the track, so why add racing equipment?

[fs34]

I see a lot of you tubers/IG people that put cages and all this race stuff in their cars but never post about tracking. Only videos I ever see are look at my new yellow cage bro, so siiiick. My exhaust is loud too, so siiiick.

I’ve wondered how many people do this and don’t actually track the car. Seems pointless to me. To each his own I guess.

[DRLane]

Originally Posted by fs34

I see a lot of you tubers/IG people that put cages and all this race stuff in their cars but never post about tracking. Only videos I ever see are look at my new yellow cage bro, so siiiick. My exhaust is loud too, so siiiick.

I've wondered how many people do this and don't actually track the car. Seems pointless to me. To each his own I guess.

We referencing ole Spencer?

[fs34]

Originally Posted by DRLane

We referencing ole Spencer?

Maybe, lol. He’s a super nice dude though. Like I said, to each and his own.

[DRLane]

Originally Posted by fs34

Maybe, lol. He's a super nice dude though. Like I said, to each and his own.

Yeah I'm excited to see his new take on modifications for the e92. Ditching the anything goes mods, to purposeful and high quality improvements. I think producing the Slicer GTS video changed his perspective.

He's a talented and clearly successful YouTube M "star". I give him all the accolades of the craft. Get after it Spence and hopefully we'll see some Vlogs about your track experiences.

[fs34]

Ditto. His channel is great, seems to take care of the necessary maintenance first and the Mods that follow are tasteful. Production quality is top notch too. Berke is a positive for this community.

[nrubenstein]

Originally Posted by SVH

Having a harness is not unsafe. Having DOT approved harness is safe if properly fitted. I agree it tight and you can't stretch but you CAN reach most everything, including the cup holder. I've had the setup.

The DOT 4-point harnesses are sketchy. They *can* in ideal circumstances work well, but they are easily misused. I've had a Schrothe 4-point. (Technically, I think I still have a couple of them.) They only work properly when they are perfectly adjusted, and that's hard to do and not very comfortable.

Fixed back seats are sketchy in case of rollover. Any kind of cage tubing near your head presents an injury risk when you are not wearing a helmet. In a race car, the helmet is really to protect your head from the cage more than anything else.

Net-net, suck it up and buy another set of stock seats. Harnesses and bars in street cars suck and they aren't safe.