Hilux 4x4 Forum

Just for you Johann (and Thysy Baby) :roll:

My Lux had her original seats in when I bought her and after two years of my daily use they began to show a little spring feel (an understatement) and bits of foam were starting to pop up between my legs (yes it was definitely foam).

So I went on a mission to find replacement seats. :Geek:

I'd seen an article by a guy who'd fitted Honda Seats, and viewed a few DC's with Hyundai seats.

my biggest problem with all of these seats were their footprint ie. driver comfort came at the expense of the rear passenger space.

So I hunted around and was incredibly fortunate to find some seats ex. BMW 330 CSi

These seats were designed specifically to take into account:

1. Max Comfort and Body Mould - under performance conditions
2. Minimum Footprint - as the 330 Csi is a two door.
3. Intelligent and rapid Motorised Seat Position Adjustment - the 330 CSi is a "low profile" rag-top. :Geek:

AND - of course German Engineering - the grey leather hide, spring and foam quality is Typically German.

To fit them involved removing the front seat rail (spot-welded onto the floor pan), otherwise the fitting was STRAIGHT FORWARD. :Geek:

Only mods were:

1. Drilling out existing "Fine Thread Floor Pan Mounts" - to take M10 High Tensile (8.8) bolts with body washers and nylock nots
2. Spacing up (6mm fibre washers) of the BMW seat mounting rails - to avoid under slung motors from fouling on the floor pan.
3. Providing permanently Hot wires (only one supply to each seats ECU required, ECU manages 4 motors and Gas Pretensioner).

Otherwise, dead simple; 2 hrs a seat tops

Rich

Just as a matter of interest, which seatbelts do you use?

Scorpion wrote:Just as a matter of interest, which seat belts do you use?

The ones that are INTEGRATED into the Seats

The reel is integral to the rear seat mould, the strap "appears" outa the guide rail which is mounted on the headrest, the clip and gas pretensioner is also integral to the side moulding

Those pesky Germans think of everything hey :!: :roll: :!:

The really smart thing is that the headrests are motorised too, so you can finitely adjust the strap height to avoid chaffing, I use belt shoulder pads for extra comfort :roll:

Rich

looks great, where did you get the seats ?

roburta wrote:looks great, where did you get the seats ?

I picked them up from a breakers in Cape Town

They came out of the owners BMW 330 Csi; he'd put Ricaro Bucket seats in :roll:

I'd admired them for 6 months before I finally persuaded him to part with them last Xmas at a considerable discount on his original asking price - call it Christmas Spirit and ol'

Word is that he's regretting the sale

Since then a mate of mine went on a hunt for similar seats and found a Cape Town Breaker specialising in BMW stuff; seems the price I paid was a gift as mine are pristine hey

If anyone wants to take the plunge, I'll gladly assist them in sourcing a set

They were available in new BMW 330Csi Convertables in:

Grey Leather (as per mine)
Black Leather
Tan Leather
Cream Leather
Half/Half Leather (special order)

Rich

what prices do they go for

roburta wrote:what prices do they go for

Should pick up a clean pair for R2.5-3.5K. The rear seat will not fit though most guys want to sell the set (hence the higher price). :roll:

I was lucky to get mine for R1,8k for the pair.



Rich

very nice, definitly scored a luck

You can, for a small fee, take the leather off the rear seat, and recover the existing hilux rear seat with it to make it all look the same. Carlo Voetsek is in the process of having this done to his Hilux...

Looks very nice!!!.....Just one question-Did your indicators still work after you installed the Beemer seats??? :evil:

Bullet wrote:Looks very nice!!!.....Just one question-Did your indicators still work after you installed the Beemer seats??? :evil:

Yes

but funny you should ask:

My wife said that as soon as I fitted them I started driving like a total idiot;

not indicating
excessive lane swopping
passive-aggressive :x :x

and generally acting like I owned the road :roll: :roll:

I apparantly came to my senses and staged a full recovery within a week or so
:roll:

Good to hear you survived the moment of madness, but the seats still looks awesome!

Bullet wrote:Good to hear you survived the moment of madness, but the seats still looks awesome!

Thanks Danie

Jaco you'll have to remove the front rail unless you can maak a "wedge up" plan for the rear fixings :Geek:

Rich the seats look great. 8 ) You can also look for E36 seats as they are smaller and should be easier and cheaper to find electric seats were found in the 325 coupe and convertable aswell as the m3 you may even find a set of german import seats from a m3. I fitted non electric E36 seats in badge leather I have the same leather they use for BMW to recover the back seat.

Cookie Monster wrote:I have the same leather they use for BMW to recover the back seat.

A future project for sure, any peekchaz of your backseat asblf

Hi Rich

Will post once its done been very lazy By the way I am busy working on a some electronics that will give my van similar features as the latests BM's 8 )

Those pesky Germans think of everything hey :!: :roll: :!:

Dit laat my dink aan die "golf pegs" in box langs die rathefboom van die baas se BMW . . . :wink2:

I WANT

So how well do these operate when submerged in water? :D

Cookie Monster wrote:Rich the seats look great. 8 ) You can also look for E36 seats as they are smaller and should be easier and cheaper to find electric seats were found in the 325 coupe and convertable aswell as the m3 you may even find a set of german import seats from a m3. I fitted non electric E36 seats in badge leather I have the same leather they use for BMW to recover the back seat.

Been pondering this for a while. Will the e46 M3 seats fit in a IFS? If not what really comfy seats can be considered. Getting old is mandatory, only growing up is optional lol, and the BMW seats will be soooo comfy

Just an update, the seats have worn really well, no splits, cracks or broken seams which is more than I can say for my Prado seats which are in quite a sorry state.
Only failure I've had is the passenger side headrest is jammed down this is as a result of my kids constantly activating it to see whi could trap their hand!
I rekon I must remove the back panel and see what's what.
Deffinately the best mod I've ever made, they are so darn comfortable!

Rich

Still looking for a BMW rear seat to harvest the leather.