Bmw e30 - bucket seat options - cardinal red

[Lars30]

Hello all - while the car is in storage for the winter, I am looking into addressing a few things that for me, would drastically increase the driving experience. The vehicle in question is my 1988 325iS. Im extremely happy with the car, and with summer tires and fresh suspension, I am pleasantly surprised how hard the car corners and sticks on merging ramps. So hard in fact, the only limiting factor in terms of quick driving is support from the seats. While I have a slender build, I am a bigger guy (6'4" 220). The factory sport bucket seats are comfortable for longer trips, but I mainly drive the car for fun, so when ripping back roads I find myself being thrown around in the seat, holding onto the steering wheel for support.

I was really excited when I found this car with a full (and original) cardinal red interior. All carpets, door cards, front and rear seats are red. I absolutely love the interior, but after a few weeks of searching, I am having a lot of trouble finding a Recaro bucket seat that wouldn't mismatch my interior. I also feel really guilty about going to black seats in the red interior. Its honestly been kind of a PIA and part of me just wishes I had black interior for the convenience factor. OEM++ Is kind of the goal.

My Questions For You Guys Are......

1. Have any of you guys successfully found a Recaro bucket that matched your factory cardinal interior?

2. Anyone have a photo of your cardinal interior with a black bucket seat, or even a different shade of red? Id like to see how it looks. 99% of red Recaros you find are bright Cherry red

3. Anyone have a reputable and trusted re-upholstery shop that could help make/restore me some matching bucket seats?

4. Anyone have experience with the Recaro LSC/LX seats?

Below, I attached some photos of the car, current interior, and a couple of seats I have considered around putting in the car. Not really on a budget, but still trying to be reasonable. Will pay for the right setup. Any advice/opinions are very much appreciated!


Photo 1: The current interior on my 1988 BMW E30 325iS. Looks so good. But just doesnt support all of me....

Photo 2: E30 M3 EVO Seats. So beautiful, but the red is just so bright.

Photo 3: Type-R JDM DC2 Buckets - Kinda expensive, used, not BMW....Nice color and size though...

Photo 4: Recaro LSC...Wondering if these would even be an improvement over the ones I have now. They are from the same era, and I think even a little smaller. Would look bad ass though.

Photo 5: Fox Red Custom M/// Buckets....Very modern, but color looks on point and its a very slick design.

Thanks in advance for your guys' time and response!!!

[82eye]

all of the period correct recaro options are going to have the same issue as the e30 seat. the e30 seat is a recaro based seat. you have to get in to the m3 evo or more modern style for increased support and stability.

an evo would be great but maybe not worth the cost for what you want. price-wise i'd get a modern style recaro in the closest red i could and be sure to keep the originals of course.

[Lars30]

all of the period correct recaro options are going to have the same issue as the e30 seat. the e30 seat is a recaro based seat. you have to get in to the m3 evo or more modern style for increased support and stability.

an evo would be great but maybe not worth the cost for what you want. price-wise i'd get a modern style recaro in the closest red i could and be sure to keep the originals of course.

Thanks for the reply, I was thinking the same thing about those Recaro LSCs look great but I was thinking they would be a similar product to the factory Recaros. Have any suggestions/Styles you like in particular? Thanks again

[82eye]

i think the recaro speed is close to the evo seat. or the evo was based on it. i dunno if it comes in red though. there's other seats out there as well.

[Vincenze]

Can't Recaro make you a custom fabric or leather cover seat?
I think this option was available some time ago.