All I am gonna say is...

[StereoInstaller1]

Yes, it is possible to swap the leather from a passenger Sport seat to a drivers and have everything fit and work properly.


If you have time, patience and skill.



Or, know an upholstery guy named Edgar...



Luke

[browntown]

You learned something else today old man: Carpeted kick panels can save the day.

[StereoInstaller1]

SHHHHHHHHh!

[KenC]

Yes, but both seats will have an extra hole on the inside for the tilt lever.

[thereisnoyun]

yep...

the truth about reupholstering these seats is simply that its a bitch to take apart and put on right. Sewing the pattern takes no more than 2 hours for them.

So if you took apart the seat... it would be kind of crazy to put back on old material. Esp the bottom bolsters.. if you got them out, you might as well just redo the whole thing.

[StereoInstaller1]

Yes, but both seats will have an extra hole on the inside for the tilt lever.

Nope. The seat back covers that area, and the leather does not come that far. We swapped leather, nothing else.

the truth about reupholstering these seats is simply that its a bitch to take apart and put on right. Sewing the pattern takes no more than 2 hours for them.

So if you took apart the seat... it would be kind of crazy to put back on old material. Esp the bottom bolsters.. if you got them out, you might as well just redo the whole thing.

Yeah, but the deal is that I had a spare set of Sports with the typical drivers side wear...so I had Edgar swap out the leather before he took the pair of seats off to his shop. Now I have 2 respectable condition seats in my car which will be going in my sons car when mine get done in nice minty fresh upholstery.

But DAMN, these things are a bitch to take apart!

Luke

[thereisnoyun]

...

I stand corrected.

[nmlss2006]

OK, I'm going to bite: HOW do you take sport seats apart? I know it's possible and I know that the 'center pads' and the bolsters are separate pieces. How is it done? I can get to 'remove the seat back via the two screws' but then...? I searched here, bimmerforums, e30tech and s14.net and came up with nothing substantive.

[thereisnoyun]

seat back

taking the seat back off... passenger side with two lever requires you to undo one of the lever via a philips on the bottom of the lever. its some what hidden. then pull the knobs off, and lift straight up. you may very well end up breaking the clip that holds it. but you can buy them cheap, like 50 center. then the rest you can find on the bp318is.

[nmlss2006]

Thank you!

http://www.esatclear.ie/~bpurcell/318isseat.html

This is what you were referring to I assume?
It sounds like getting this done will be no end of fun. Suddently, the $1300 recovering job sounds more and more attractive.

[thereisnoyun]

Thank you!

http://www.esatclear.ie/~bpurcell/318isseat.html

This is what you were referring to I assume?
It sounds like getting this done will be no end of fun. Suddently, the $1300 recovering job sounds more and more attractive.

yea, thats about it... its not pretty. 1300 for a pair is crazy amount to pay for reupholstery, unless you doing it in leather. I would say 700 - 800 is the right amount to pay for it. thats how much I charge. if you Go OEM fabric and leather I would say 1300 is about right

[StereoInstaller1]

Edgar is doing mine in top quality leather for the side bolsters and cloth for the centers for $800 (in trade).

He is saving the old parts for patterns...gonna be some available soon.

I will post pics when ready.

Luke

[Restoman]

Where would you find oem leather? Isn't it buffalo or something

[StereoInstaller1]

Personally, I would like a softer leather than OE.

[nmlss2006]

Since we're here... the seats are apart.
A couple of comments while I have the procedure fresh in my memory:
1) 'carefully' and 'gently' have very specific and unusual meanings in this procedure. Maybe I'm just too scared to break something, but I thought that I was going to break everything to pieces in order to get it apart. It was close.
2) in order to remove the leather from the seats, does one bend the tabs which hook it or try to stretch the leather? I know that you all say that it's better to use new leather and a kind soul here even offered to do it for me, but it has become a matter of principle now.
3) does anyone know to what torque the bottom 17mm bolt - the one that holds the seat belt buckle - should be tightened? The bentley says 'all seat belt mounting bolts should be installed to a torque of 43 to 48 Nm' but it seems to only refer to the bolts that hold the mechanism to the B-pillar.
Then again, the seat bolts themselves are referred to as 43-48 and they are all 17s, so..?
4) everyone failed to mention the amount of wide-ranging profanity that is necessary to actually get this done. Fluency in at least two languages is required to avoid repeating oneself. bs318 calls it an easy job, I'd rather be rebuilding an entire engine with a hammer and a chisel. At night. In the rain. In the middle of a field.
5) three things have been mentioned but they should have BRIGHT RED STARS next to them, possibly with DON'T PANIC in bright red lettering too: the seat back particle board is DELICATE, especially at the 'ears' which hold the screws at the bottom and more amusingly, the seat back vinyl will GLUE to the leather like no epoxy will ever be able to replicate. See above re. profanity. Third, unscrew the invisible screw on the short seatback tilt lever and WIGGLE THE LEVER OUT, or the back will NEVER come out. I will refrain to report what I thought when I realised that it's going to have to go back in. I think prayer will be helpful.
6) you can remove the runners, per bs318's page, but can you remove the rest of the mechanism? I haven't attempted this yet.
7) are we sure that the front bottom adjustment knob just slips off? what do you then do to remove the plastic carter? it feels like something will DEFINITELY break.