Regular E30 Vs E30 M3 seat brackets/bases/mounting?

[Justin B]

Alright, this is my plan. I have a 2002, but the original seat rails are garbage, so I plan to remove them and fabricate new rails in the e30's floor bolt pattern. I have two Sparco torino 2 seats (black on black if anybody cares, they're really nice), sliders, and now I need to purchase the bases to adapt them to as far as the seats are concerned, an e30 floor.

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but in the non M's all 4 mounting points are all 90 degrees from each other, and on a flat plane in relation to themselves and the rest of the floor. This would make it easiest to build a fake e30 floor. Can anybody confirm that for absolute fact? If so, why is there a difference between the R and L e30 bases, while the e30 M bases are the same for both sides??

Do the M3 seats mount differently?

Do any of you have sparco seats in your e30's, ///M or not? Any information on that would be really helpful. I'd rather not buy the bases before I know exactly which ones I want to go for. If the bases were the same for all E30's it would be so much easier...

[euroshark]

I'll go check if I can find my damn carpenter's square...

[bmwm3n528]

My M3 seats bolt in the exact same way the Original Sport Seats went in. Is this what you're getting at?

[Justin B]

Sort of. I kinda know/knew that the seats bolted in the same way (I think? I'm confusing myself now to be honest), but I am very curious as to why Sparco feels it is necessary to have an M3 specific base which is the same for both sides, and a regular E30 base, which has a different part number L to R. I wish I had a damn picture of both styles to do a comparo. The M3 bases are cheaper, too. They might be the better choice, but then it goes back to, will the bases themselves fit properly considering that it has a specific application. Maybe they're just beefier. The regular ones actually are only composed of two L brackets on each side that bolt together vertically so there is a flat base and a flat top for the sliders to bolt to. I assume it is done that way because the bolts into the floor are in such similar locations as the sliders, they need to have a boost apart. The EASIEST question, which I don't think anybody would really know for sure, would be whether or not the M3 bases fit properly in a normal e30. That, and once again why the heck would there be a difference between sides for most of the cars, while the seats mount the same side to side, and why then does the m3 have one that is good for both sides? :down: I don't expect answers to everything, but they certainly would be appreciated :)

[Justin B]

Bottom line, is that Ive been thinking about it for a little while. On the surface there is no significant reason they should be any different, and I'm sure theyre almost identical. The only reason I am worrying at all about the M3 ones (way cheaper) is because I want to be able to mock up the seat assembly in my e30 to build it with no problems at all. For the millionth time (to reassure myself too) I don't see why there should be either, but I really dont want to spend close to $200 to find out. It really comes down to me not having much of a choice, but I wanted to see if anybody had any experience with sparco bases before.

[LINUS]

I may not understand your question, but I have sold two sets of M3 seats, and the nicer of the two was going into a standard E30. So I assume that the 4 studs in the floor of any E30 will accept any OEM E30 seat, otherwise people wouldn't be nearly so inclined to buy E30 M3 seats to put into a non M3 E30 body. Did I answer any part of your question?

-B

[Justin B]

Well simply put, no. I was typing as I was thinking so that may be why it is partially jibberish, but that is the root of what is confusing me.

Let me put it this way. Obviously nobody would have the answer to this one, but this is what I meant in the first post.

Why in the world would Sparco feel it is necessary to design different bases for the e30 m3 vs any other e30, if the seats are interchangeable anyway (Which I already knew). On top of that, why are the m3 bases identical side to side while the regular e30 base part numbers differ between the driver and passenger.

Who knows, really, as in nobody unless they have them all in front of them. Oh well.

prettymuch /thread....I have sufficiently confused everybody =( lol

[nando]

afaik M3 seats sit a bit lower than other E30 seats.. that's probably why the base part #s are different.

[Justin B]

Oh really. Thats what I'm looking for. Anybody know by how much? The lower the base of the seat the better to an extent. Then I wouldnt be as worried about the height of the seat rails being TOO high. From the floor to the center of the steering wheel the, 02 is already 3 inches higher, so its kind of a double edged sword. I want to see over it not through 8-)

That does make sense if thats the case though, just a shorter bracket.
The only other thing that nobody would know unless they have the sparco seat brases in their own car, why would there be a difference L to R. Height differences for the m3 makes sense, but the L/R part numbers dont :) /rambling

[AndrewBird]

As far as the LH, RH thing, it's probably because they have a seat belt buckle mounting spot. The bolt pattern for both sides is exactly the same.

[LINUS]

You might give Wedge Engineering a call. They make a few different height bases, and the reason is for if you run height adjust sliders or not. I personally bought the lowest ones, so I can run height adjust sliders, but I'll kick the front up a little from the rear to add a little rake to my seat bottom.

[Justin B]

Oh, thanks Linus. I'll email them here in a few, I'd call but its late.

To get this straight, you have the part numbers lower version of #158 and 159?
88 - 91 318I/325E/M3 1058 1059 SEAT BELT
80 - 91 318I/325E/328 158 159
80 - 91 318I/325E/328 158 LV 159T LOWER VERSION

I assume that the regular 158 and 159's mount seats pretty much at the original height, do you know how much lower, the lower versions are? I guess I'm getting a little picky, but I can ask. I'll ask how much lower they are from the regular height versions are anyway.

Btw, damn :( I dont have height adjusting sliders, the ones with the tabs in the front and back with holes in them right? Oh well.

[LINUS]

You got me as far as the height diff. The best I can tell you is that the height from the floorpan to the topside of the slider is 2 3/4" in the lowest position you can mount the sliders and 3 3/4" in the highest position, so I guess there's just an inch of adjustment.

As far as what makes them side specific, I really don't know. There is a seatbelt boss welded on each side, so that's not the answer.

I bet a phone call to Wedge will be a lot more informative than my posts.

Are there any threads in the 'Interior' forum about slider adapters? Might get more info there - I'm sure this has to have come up at some point.

Search "wedge bracket" on S14, I seem to remember that was where I got my information before picking them as who I was going to get the brackets from. It was in the archived section somewhere IIRC.

[Funkmasta]

After daily driving my 318is, I was always surprised how low you sat in the M3 when I occaisionally drove it...
The mounting positions are the same. :)

cheers

[Justin B]

I did a quickie search before I started all of this, but I'll look into it further. I'm just bothering whoever here because I cant call wedge at this hour lol. Its all good my friend. You go to the Picnic not this last year but the year before? I was there with James Criv and the rest of the crew from that area. Quite a long drive. When I get my 02 done, I may make the trip back up there in it. M20 and all, so it sort of is e30ish :)