Seat swap - wiring

[Big Bad Boris]

Happy Sunday morning to all. I think the subject of seat swaps is an old favourite but I have a slightly different question (I think).

I am looking to swap the standard manual, cloth seats in my 2005 2.0i for some nice used leather ones I bought on EBay. I am no mechanic but I am happy with the actual process of physically swapping the seats over, I have read the guides watched the videos etc. However, the new seats do not have the necessary wiring for the, airbag etc, I am not sure I fancy trying to swap,the wiring from the existing seats, or even if that is a good idea, I think I read somewhere some of the wires may be fibre optic. I imagine having a shop, swap the wiring would make a relative cheap,upgrade a lot more expensive.

So what should be a simple swap job has become a bit of a pain to be honest. Anyone have experience of this problem and any ideas or suggestions? Am I simply best to sell the seats on and source another pair with the connectors still in place?

BBB

 

[Big Bad Boris]

Hmmmm... my question is so dull not a single comment

Does anyone at least have any experience of swapping the connections from one seat to another... or want to tell me it’s a no-no?

Thanks,

BBB

 

[kis]

Best get some pictures up buddy, then we can see what you're working with.
If the seats are from another car of the same type; i.e. either facelift or pre-facelift then the swap will be straightforward. Again get some pics up to show what you've got then you'll be able to get some better advise

 

[rally-chris]

Sounds like a tricky job if you’ve been sold a pair of seats that are missing some of the standard electrical parts. In theory you should be to swap the internals from your current seats (or more likely swap leather covers onto your existing) but I suspect that it’s a pig of a job and difficult to get a good fit of the covers if you’re not an expert trimmer.

If you fancy a complete set of electric black leather seats with all wiring in tact, please let me know as I have a spare set that will be advertised on the forum shortly.

Chris

 

[aarsavage]

Not sure if this helps but:

Theres a yellow multi plug under the z4 seats, you pull out a tab sideways and it disconnects.

Individual plugs for the heated seats, motors ect all snap into the female side of that plug so they all connect at once.

You can see it on this guide. https://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/BMW_Z4M/97-INTERIOR-Front_Seat_Belt_Buckle_Replacement/97-INTERIOR-Front_Seat_Belt_Buckle_Replacement.htm

Whats missing exactly?

 

[Big Bad Boris]

Handily the sun is out so I have removed the existing passenger seat, here are some shots of the existing wiring.

 

[Big Bad Boris]

Also some shots of the proposed replacement seats.... the one with the existing cable is the drivers side, the passenger side appears to have nothing at all.

 

[Big Bad Boris]

Finally a quick shot of the leather seats, they have cleaned up very nicely.

 

[kis]

Do the seats visually look the same? Albeit one is leather and one cloth? As far as I can tell they're both pre-facelift seats.

I think its a straight forwards swap. You're probably missing one set of wires because of the seat belt buckle. I don't think I see it in the leather seats pictures. You just need to swap all the bits from your existing seats and plug into the new ones to the new seats (wiring wise).

 

[Sidewaze Samm]

Do the seats visually look the same? Albeit one is leather and one cloth? As far as I can tell they're both pre-facelift seats.

What's the difference between pre- and post-facelift seats? I assumed they were the same.

 

[kis]

Wiring is different between pre and post. Also the little black box you see in one of the photos that’s a pre facelift module. Connections on the leather seat looks same as existing cloth seats, so that’s why I think they’re both pre facelift seats... could be wrong tho! Hard to have a complete picture without them in front of you

 

[Sidewaze Samm]

Wiring is different between pre and post. Also the little black box you see in one of the photos that’s a pre facelift module.

So does this mean it's not just a simple swap to upgrade between the two?

 

[kis]

It wasn’t for me. If you’ve looked at other threads then it seems pretty hit and miss on whether you run into problems or not.

The problem is with the seat occupancy sensor, they’re not compatible between pre and post facelift. This is solved with a sensor bypass or coding it out through NCS or something. Obviously that was my case, could be different for you! But physically it will fit, bolt in etc. You probably want to swap out your seat belt tensioners as well. Keeping your ones as opposed to another set where you don’t know the history, functionality, etc.

 

[maxman]

The seats you bought off eBay look to be non electric ,the same as yours.The only wiring on both seats are for the
seat belt pre tensioner wire,air bag wire.
I fitted facelift seats seats in mine.I transferd the small black box on the passenger seat,also fitted an emulater off ebay.All worked ok