e46 M3 seats in a Z4, will they fit?

[Ducklakeview]

only issue is the seatbelt mount, which you have to make one (i did bend my mount in a 90 degree angle & mounted it onder the seat to the floor)

?? Did the M3 seats not have seat belt buckles attached? I ask as the ones I have seen do have them, or is it a different buckle?

Mike

No, i believe (not sure) they are mounted to the floor of the M3. The rails is the same, the mount which is attached to the rails of the Z4 is not removable

Could you not just swap the rails then?

Mike

 

[Marius]

m3 seats know for being to high in e46 ,how they feel in z4 ? how much higher seating position compare to oem seats?

 

[vester86]

m3 seats know for being to high in e46 ,how they feel in z4 ? how much higher seating position compare to oem seats?

i'm sitting the same height in the car, but the Z4 seat could have been a little lower.

?? Did the M3 seats not have seat belt buckles attached? I ask as the ones I have seen do have them, or is it a different buckle?

Mike

No, i believe (not sure) they are mounted to the floor of the M3. The rails is the same, the mount which is attached to the rails of the Z4 is not removable

Could you not just swap the rails then?

Mike

maybe, didn't think of that as an option, and the belt sits perfectly now

The Z4 sports seats are more based on the e90 shape of seat which I find to be far more comfortable. I had e46 sports seats which are the same as M3 without the shoulder bolsters and I found them too wide and lacking lumbar support. Our e91 has a similar shape seat to the Z4 without the shoulder bolsters but I do miss them as they provide a noticeable extra amount of support.

In a nutshell M3 seats are nice but not as good in my opinion.

that's exactly what i noticed, but for me, as a daily driver in the Z, and on the heavy side myself, the seat sits fine! not to mention this was a much cheeper option. i had quite some problems with my back in the regular seats, which now have disappeared.

 

[goldbcfc]

only issue is the seatbelt mount, which you have to make one (i did bend my mount in a 90 degree angle & mounted it onder the seat to the floor)

?? Did the M3 seats not have seat belt buckles attached? I ask as the ones I have seen do have them, or is it a different buckle?

Mike

what about e46 convertible that has a sort of floating headrest that moves up and down electronic with seat belt attached to it coming out the side to the seat all in one

 

[goldbcfc]

m3 seats know for being to high in e46 ,how they feel in z4 ? how much higher seating position compare to oem seats?

they look lower with the headrest fully down than the oem Z4 seats

 

[vester86]

no clue on the E46 convertible seats.

here is a side to side comparisation of the 2 different seats

together with the M3 seats, i also bought the M3 sports steering wheel. fitted it today, including a MFSW retrofit found on this wonderfull forum. http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=16422 thanks! works also for the e46 wheel, only the cruise control isn't working (yet). maybe have to do some coding, gonna dig in that later.

anyway: PICTURES!

 

[Steve84N]

Is the M3 wheel the same diameter?

 

[Rassi]

Looks good! Did you consider a way to fashion a seatbelt guide, as per the Z4 seat, or E46 M3 Cab seats? Would have thought, especially on a roadster with the roof down, that the seatbelt would move around a lot?

 

[vester86]

Is the M3 wheel the same diameter?

maybe 0,5 inch bigger in overall diameter. but don't forget it has also thicker leather. wouldnt be surprised if the frame is actually the same diameter

 

[vester86]

Looks good! Did you consider a way to fashion a seatbelt guide, as per the Z4 seat, or E46 M3 Cab seats? Would have thought, especially on a roadster with the roof down, that the seatbelt would move around a lot?

had a quick thought about this when doing the swap, but i have forgotten about it the moment everything was installed. seatbelt is fine in position doesn't move when driving at all. and no issues grabbing it when getting the seatbelt on

 

[goldbcfc]

Looks good! Did you consider a way to fashion a seatbelt guide, as per the Z4 seat, or E46 M3 Cab seats? Would have thought, especially on a roadster with the roof down, that the seatbelt would move around a lot?

Thats what my point was the E46 convertible seat has the seat belt attached on to the actual seat so could have been better setup. It goes up and down electric when you lower/raise the headrest which is pretty cool ive had a few E46 convertibles. Not many cars have electric headrest control suppose its a convertible only thing as theres no fixing point for seatbelt to side of car