E63 seat swap

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03f15012

New member
So, a big complaint about these cars comes down to the seats from what I've heard. They're mediocre at best. Wanted to find a better option, and well... The M seats aren't common. Online, people have swapped in E46 seats without issue. Finding the good ones aren't exactly cheap, easily reaching 700-800+. Looking further, people have swapped what I considered the more common E63 seats (due to their STUNNING reliability) into E46's. Makes sense that E63 seats would fit in an a E85. Surprisingly, while the topic came up on occasions, no one had done it. Or at least, I couldn't find any cases.

For $350, that's a gamble I'd be willing to take. These are, for the most part a direct swap. One thing to note is that while the seat brackets are the same, you will have to swap the outer side with your current seats. E85's have the end of the seat belt mount to the track, but all that holds each side on are a couple 10mm bolts.

Now, this portion will change depending on year. Mine is an '06, which has the 3 wire sensor, and the seats have a 2. They plug in, but it sets the airbag light. You either take apart the seat, or get a bypass/emulator to account for it if yours mismatches as well. These cars can use both, so just double check and be prepared for this factor.

Otherwise, I love these things. Far more comfortable then the standard seats with a couple more options. While I didn't have lumbar on my last ones, all of the options like power, heat, and lumbar are all PnP.

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I know people have also fitted E89 seats in E85/86s but yours look great. :thumbsup:
 
Looks pretty good. I am generally not a fan of those swaps unless it is an original seat or some Recaros, but this actually looks good.

For everyone saying original non M seats are unsupportive, maybe try changing foam under bolsters before swapping. I understand that they will never be like M sports of course.
People that restored my seats also did that, and the seats feel miles better. I also have wider shoulders so maybe that helps, but I feel hugged all the time. :driving:
 
I did look at swapping my standard E85 ones for a set of these but they just look too wide across the shoulders and the lever hitting the door would annoy me.

The E89 M Sport seats are perfect and much more comfier in the E85 IMHO.
 
Jollygiant said:
I did look at swapping my standard E85 ones for a set of these but they just look too wide across the shoulders and the lever hitting the door would annoy me.
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Fortunately, neither lever hits the door on closing. The width was a definite concern, but finding a decent set of seats for these cars that didn't break the bank was worth that risk. No seatbelt guide isn't ideal, but hasn't been a deal breaker at least.

The biggest issue that comes up goes back to the handles. Won't hit the door, but it hits the trim behind it. You lose a bit of travel, but unless you're 6' or more, it doesn't change much.
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It looks like the driver’s seat has only one lever and it’s fairly large, whilst the passenger seat has the same large lever and a second small lever on the inboard side. Can you transplant the small lever to the driver’s seat or even get hold of another small lever secondhand? Otherwise, you could trim the large lever until the width is no longer an issue.
 
03f15012 said:
Fortunately, neither lever hits the door on closing. The width was a definite concern, but finding a decent set of seats for these cars that didn't break the bank was worth that risk. No seatbelt guide isn't ideal, but hasn't been a deal breaker at least.

The biggest issue that comes up goes back to the handles. Won't hit the door, but it hits the trim behind it. You lose a bit of travel, but unless you're 6' or more, it doesn't change much.
IMG_20250305_103524684_HDR.jpg
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Ah, just looked like the lever was proud of the B post and thought it would hit the door.

I'm 6ft 4 with long legs, so the e63 seats wouldn't have been any good.

I paid £185 for my e89 seats but had to pick them up from near Poole, I'm in Norfolk, but still a lot cheaper than what they normally go for.

If your happy with your e63's and you fit in ok, nice work and enjoy them.
 
TBF I'd have liked seats with that tilt facility in my previous Z4 to get easy access to the storage cubbies behind the seats.

But as I've got the DSP stereo in this one I don't have the cubbies!
 
BMWZ4MC said:
It looks like the driver’s seat has only one lever and it’s fairly large, whilst the passenger seat has the same large lever and a second small lever on the inboard side. Can you transplant the small lever to the driver’s seat or even get hold of another small lever secondhand? Otherwise, you could trim the large lever until the width is no longer an issue.
Click to expand...

I'd be surprised if I couldn't swap them, which I'll look into getting one. Or at least if other models used the smaller handle for both driver and passenger. I'd want each seat to be matching at that point.
 
BMWZ4MC said:
Strange that one seat has two and the other only one
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I didn't really notice at the time but my E46 Compact only had one on the driver's side, but two on the passenger side - so you could release it from the back seat presumably.
 
I suppose if you have a rear seat passenger but no front seat passenger, you can let them out without struggling to find the seat release on the far side of the seat.
I wonder if my 2003 facelift E46 Compact was the same and I’ve either forgotten or didn’t notice either.
 
BMWZ4MC said:
I wonder if my 2003 facelift E46 Compact was the same and I’ve either forgotten or didn’t notice either.
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It probably did. Admittedly mine was a pre-facelift but I only discovered it tonight looking at some photos I took when I was selling it!

I don't have interior photos of my facelift as I P/Exd it.
 
I’ve had a brief look at pics on t’internet (I don’t have pictures of mine) and it all looks very familiar seeing it in context. I didn’t spend much time in the back seat of that car (or the front passenger seat), so the inboard side of the driver’s seat was rarely in my field of view. I suspect it had only one lever and my aged brain has lost that information in the fogs of time!
 
I never sat in the back of mine, and only once in the front passenger seat when my nephew drove it and decided I needed to find him one!

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Fuzzy phone photos but good enough to see the difference, and my Z4 in the background!

Presumably E46 seats also fit Z4s.
 
I bought mine to commute from Saaf London into Kent for a year in order to keep the miles off my Zed. I remember the seats being comfortable and supportive (even when I was making the absolute most of it's well-balanced, RWD nature...ahem). They would be a good choice for a Zed without sports seats.
 
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