M3 Seats in a ZHP Sedan

[ETAction]

Hello

I'm hoping the community can help me out with something i'm hoping I can make happen.

I would love to find some nice condition heated E46 black leather M3 seats for my ZHP sedan.

Does this work? As far as I can tell the compatibility has only mentioned coupes.

Has anyone done this and what does it take? There is that 330 wagon converted to a ZHP look alike floating around here that has M3 seats in it which is where I got the idea so i'm thinking it can be done.

Thanks for time and help

-ETAction

[ELCID86]

I thought there was a set here for sale. ?!

They will work. Do you have/need heat? Electric vs manual? The little coupe release thingy will be there (i assume they have them like other E46 Cis do.

[ETAction]

I thought there was a set here for sale. ?!

They will work. Do you have/need heat? Electric vs manual? The little coupe release thingy will be there (i assume they have them like other E46 Cis do.

I think somebody posted a link from one of the other bimmer forums. I need to dig around to try and find that post, but need to be sure I can even make them work before I get to serious.

I have heated electric black leather seats, will it just plug and play? I know the seat release on the side will be there which doesn't bother me as long as it doesn't affect the fit.

[ETAction]

I believe it should work...

just need to swap the brackets. anyone have experience with the airbag sensors acting wonky after swapping seats?

[ELCID86]

Yeah the outside rail on the driver's side (maybe both sides?) has to be swapped B/C of where the seat belt fastens.

[ETAction]

Yeah the outside rail on the driver's side (maybe both sides?) has to be swapped B/C of where the seat belt fastens.

so i can get away with only swapping the outside brackets? are the electronic connectors plug and play?

thanks for your help!

[anandoc]

so i can get away with only swapping the outside brackets? are the electronic connectors plug and play?

thanks for your help!

Yup, the electric connectors are plug and play. I have a sedan and slater swapped in M3 seats in like 20 mins, no problems.

[ELCID86]

It's just the seat belt rail that's the issue, right Anando?


---
"ZHP is a garbage option anyway- just some cosmetic upgrades with a different cam and diff to claw back some of the performance lost fitting those hideous and heavy wheels. Any 330 with a 3.46 diff will smoke a ZHP every time. The whole Mafia thing reeks of childish behavior." - anonymous E46 fanatic

[slater]

It's just the seat belt rail that's the issue, right Anando?

you can either swap the outer rail, fab up a basic L-bracket to mate the seat belt to the coupe rail, or drill out the bracket on the sedan rail and move it over. :)

[anandoc]

The M3 seat rails have a hole where you need to bolt in a 'L' shaped bracket and thats where the seat belt bolts in. I have posted a picture from my seat below. Everything else is plug and play. A number of folks here have M3 seats in their sedan.

http://i.imgur.com/dos15vch.jpg

[ETAction]

you can either swap the outer rail, fab up a basic L-bracket to mate the seat belt to the coupe rail, or drill out the bracket on the sedan rail and move it over. :)


The easiest option being the drilling?

So the seat belt that I will be using is from the sedan right? The M3 seat belt clip doesnt work?

I should be able to figure it out once I get my eyes on it

[ETAction]

The M3 seat rails have a hole where you need to bolt in a 'L' shaped bracket and thats where the seat belt bolts in. I have posted a picture from my seat below. Everything else is plug and play. A number of folks here have M3 seats in their sedan.



I found this DIY..... http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=912984

should be a help although I believe he removes the entire bracket. This may be necessary if I hope to sale the leather sedan seats correct? Or once I remove the bracket can the sedan seat brackets be fine with the M3 part? Ideally I will sale the sedan leather seats to help the expense of the M3 seats.

I scored some for $700, heated, adjustable bolster and lumbar. Cant wait.
they are in great condition. Just under 50K miles on them. I plan to recondition with a leatherique kit before install.

[slater]

I found this DIY..... http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=912984

should be a help although I believe he removes the entire bracket. This may be necessary if I hope to sale the leather sedan seats correct? Or once I remove the bracket can the sedan seat brackets be fine with the M3 part? Ideally I will sale the sedan leather seats to help the expense of the M3 seats.

I scored some for $700, heated, adjustable bolster and lumbar. Cant wait.
they are in great condition. Just under 50K miles on them. I plan to recondition with a leatherique kit before install.

if you're hoping to resell your current sedan seats, then you can't remove or swap any parts from them. they can only be installed in a sedan or Touring (not coupe because they don't have the flip-forward function), so without the bracket for the seat belt, they are a paper weight.

you'll need to fabricate a basic "L" bracket like the one i made for anando's seats (pic on page 1).

[nextelbuddy]

if you're hoping to resell your current sedan seats, then you can't remove or swap any parts from them. they can only be installed in a sedan or Touring (not coupe because they don't have the flip-forward function), so without the bracket for the seat belt, they are a paper weight.

you'll need to fabricate a basic "L" bracket like the one i made for anando's seats (pic on page 1).

hes correct, I removed the outer sedan seat rail to install on my M3 seats that are for sale. took like 15 min for both seats. not hard...

the OLD sedan seats i had to sell with out an outer rail to someone for less money. they can easily go to a salvage yard and get an outer rail if they need it or some people are upgrading comfort sedan seats and just use their own sedan outer rail from their old seat.

[ETAction]

hes correct, I removed the outer sedan seat rail to install on my M3 seats that are for sale. took like 15 min for both seats. not hard...

the OLD sedan seats i had to sell with out an outer rail to someone for less money. they can easily go to a salvage yard and get an outer rail if they need it or some people are upgrading comfort sedan seats and just use their own sedan outer rail from their old seat.

right, this is the scenario that I will hope for when selling my old seats.

[ETAction]

right

[ETAction]

Does anyone know if the airbag sensors from the old seats have to be transferred? Or will the connections work fine and it wont trip the sensor?

I originally thought the only electric connection will have to be that yellow housing adapter.... Or do I have to take that little black airbag sensor from the old seats and transfer them to the new M3 seats?

Thanks again for everyone'e insight!

[anandoc]

Does anyone know if the airbag sensors from the old seats have to be transferred? Or will the connections work fine and it wont trip the sensor?

I originally thought the only electric connection will have to be that yellow housing adapter.... Or do I have to take that little black airbag sensor from the old seats and transfer them to the new M3 seats?

Thanks again for everyone'e insight!

Its plug and play. Nothing (including airbag sensors) need to be transferred from your old seats.

[ETAction]

Its plug and play. Nothing (including airbag sensors) need to be transferred from your old seats.

That's good news! Thank you, thank you!

[anandoc]

That's good news! Thank you, thank you!

Goodluck! Peter (slater) has done this swap many times on his cars and mine. Post here if you run into any issues and I'm sure he can guide you. When he did this swap on my car, it took literally 20 mins from start to finish.