Project Marmite, Official Thread
- Thread starter bradmarsh1989
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Love this forum. Varity makes it so special
Loving the progression Brad but c'mon you know the score....... 
:worthless:
:worthless:
I'm sensing a little bit of tension here... how about we all take a chill pill and let a man work 
In the words of Guiness...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYyOxoN-QS0
In the words of Guiness...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYyOxoN-QS0
Liverpool
I'm hoping this is going to make an appearance at Silverstone...
Hello all,
Sorry for the lack of activity recently. It really has been full throttle in the marmite office as we made a big push to get the car ready for modified mania a modified car show in Devon (it wasn't finished in time
). Safe to say a lot has been done and we are definately in sight of the finishing post now. But don't expect pictures of the exterior yet I'm going to torment you all some more... Instead i'm going to do something helpful and post some pictures of how to install bucket seats directly into your e85 z4 and not get a single airbag light issue. I spent HOURS AND HOURS trying to find a solution to what is actually increadibly simple so I have no idea why people are having such issues... So here is a write up on how to install aftermarket seats into your z4.
First things first you'll need some purpose built seat brackets for your chosen bucket seats, I got mine from one of my sponsors Planted Technology http://www.plantedtechnology.com/ They custom build seat brackets and also produce some for the Z4M They are based in the states so shipping costs to the UK can be high but I can assure you of their bracket quality, perfect fit, no adjustment needed direct bolt in to the floor! Ooorah!
Watch a video all about planted technology here: http://youtu.be/6JKa_RLLtz8
Next up you'll need to disconnect your car bettery for at least 30minutes prior to removing your old seats, if you remove your old seats without disconnecting the battery you will trigger an airbag light and will have to get it cleared at a local indy or garage... bad times. So disconnect your battery and wait 30minutes before removing and unplugging crap. You will need to re-use two parts from your old seats in order to successfuly install your new bucket seats... 1) seatbelt pre tensioners from both seats and 2) occupancy sensor control box which is located underneath your passenger seat. You'll know which one it is because it's a black box with blue writing on it. and will be wired into the main yellow loom. Remove this and keep it safe. You will need to buy an occupancy sensor bypass which is basically just a cheap relay and resistor and are around £8 on ebay and will plug directly into the old occupancy sensor wire to 'trick' your ecu into thinking someone is occupying that seat at all times. The only downside to this is that in the event of a crash ALL airbags will deploy... both drivers side and passenger side even if no one is sitting in the seat because it is being fooled into thinking someone is there... however I see this as better than no airbags deploying at all. Another downside is that if you don't plug in the passenger seatbelt when driving solo you'll get the 'no seat belt connected' warning chime come on constantly, so I just leave my passenger side seatbelt always in on solo journeys.
Here is a picture of the re-used seatbelt pretensioners...
After re plugging the pretensioners and occupancy module back into your flooring yellow cable box simple ziptie or hide away the assortment of loose wires neatly under your brackets and proceed to bolt your seats to your brackets, or install runners if you want to at this point. In total I have managed to save £25kg of weight from the car doing this which more than makes up for the mountains of steel, filler and fibreglass that has gone onto the car. Also they're far nicer to sit in when cornering.
If anyone is having difficulties installing bucket seats i'll happily help or even come out to you to show you how it's done for a beer + fuel or something
Sorry for the lack of activity recently. It really has been full throttle in the marmite office as we made a big push to get the car ready for modified mania a modified car show in Devon (it wasn't finished in time
). Safe to say a lot has been done and we are definately in sight of the finishing post now. But don't expect pictures of the exterior yet I'm going to torment you all some more... Instead i'm going to do something helpful and post some pictures of how to install bucket seats directly into your e85 z4 and not get a single airbag light issue. I spent HOURS AND HOURS trying to find a solution to what is actually increadibly simple so I have no idea why people are having such issues... So here is a write up on how to install aftermarket seats into your z4.First things first you'll need some purpose built seat brackets for your chosen bucket seats, I got mine from one of my sponsors Planted Technology http://www.plantedtechnology.com/ They custom build seat brackets and also produce some for the Z4M They are based in the states so shipping costs to the UK can be high but I can assure you of their bracket quality, perfect fit, no adjustment needed direct bolt in to the floor! Ooorah!
Watch a video all about planted technology here: http://youtu.be/6JKa_RLLtz8
Next up you'll need to disconnect your car bettery for at least 30minutes prior to removing your old seats, if you remove your old seats without disconnecting the battery you will trigger an airbag light and will have to get it cleared at a local indy or garage... bad times. So disconnect your battery and wait 30minutes before removing and unplugging crap. You will need to re-use two parts from your old seats in order to successfuly install your new bucket seats... 1) seatbelt pre tensioners from both seats and 2) occupancy sensor control box which is located underneath your passenger seat. You'll know which one it is because it's a black box with blue writing on it. and will be wired into the main yellow loom. Remove this and keep it safe. You will need to buy an occupancy sensor bypass which is basically just a cheap relay and resistor and are around £8 on ebay and will plug directly into the old occupancy sensor wire to 'trick' your ecu into thinking someone is occupying that seat at all times. The only downside to this is that in the event of a crash ALL airbags will deploy... both drivers side and passenger side even if no one is sitting in the seat because it is being fooled into thinking someone is there... however I see this as better than no airbags deploying at all. Another downside is that if you don't plug in the passenger seatbelt when driving solo you'll get the 'no seat belt connected' warning chime come on constantly, so I just leave my passenger side seatbelt always in on solo journeys.
Here is a picture of the re-used seatbelt pretensioners...
After re plugging the pretensioners and occupancy module back into your flooring yellow cable box simple ziptie or hide away the assortment of loose wires neatly under your brackets and proceed to bolt your seats to your brackets, or install runners if you want to at this point. In total I have managed to save £25kg of weight from the car doing this which more than makes up for the mountains of steel, filler and fibreglass that has gone onto the car. Also they're far nicer to sit in when cornering.
If anyone is having difficulties installing bucket seats i'll happily help or even come out to you to show you how it's done for a beer + fuel or something
tomscott said:Very nice
Good write up!
Cheers might be worth making a seperate thread and add it to the 'how to' section. Since too many people seem to be asking how to do it?
Good write up on the sensor bypass.
From memory you can get small seatbelt plugs that you fix in and fool the system to beleiving the passenger belt is fastened. It would save you having the seatbelt stretched across the passenger seat and easily popped out for when there is a real passenger.
From memory you can get small seatbelt plugs that you fix in and fool the system to beleiving the passenger belt is fastened. It would save you having the seatbelt stretched across the passenger seat and easily popped out for when there is a real passenger.
Would you mind me asking what you payed for the seat mounts? I have a recaro pole position that I would love to put in the car, on track I find myself getting sore knee's pushing out on the centre console and door panels just to keep myself central in the seat!
You can PM the price if you like...
You can PM the price if you like...
Bloody epic build thread. Glad I popped back in!!
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