Hey guys & gals,

Looking to replace or upgrade seats at some point. My drivers side seat is split at the seams and the plastic backing has cracked around the head rest and the latch to raise the seats up. My question is...what seats fit in a convertible. Will M3 seats fit? Will any e36 seat fit? Will Vader seats fit (which look really nice as far as I can tell in the pix that people post). Thanks for the help.

All e36, including Vaders will fit.

And with slight mods, so will e46 seats.

What makes the vaders so special. It seems that they are the most popular. I have never seen or set in any. Are they aftermarket?

be sure not to get them out of a sedan though. the sedan seats dont have the lever on the side that flips the seat forward for rear seat access.

vaders are just a type of seat that came on the e36 M3. they look cool, but otherwise arent anything special. they are called "vaders" because the shape of the headrest is reminiscent of darth vader.

These are not mine, but I saw this on the Windy City BMWCCA classifieds today:

1997 BMW E36 M3
"Darth Vadar" style black leather heated front seats from M3. 20,000 miles on the seats before I went to track seats. Manual controls but nicely adjustable. VGC, stored for last several years. $700 or best offer. Email to Ken@Environsdevelopment.com $700
Ken Brinkman, Oak Park, IL (W) 708-557-0013. Submitted: 12/20/2006 (3915)

If these are in as good condition as he says, that is a pretty good price.

be sure not to get them out of a sedan though. the sedan seats dont have the lever on the side that flips the seat forward for rear seat access.

vaders are just a type of seat that came on the e36 M3. they look cool, but otherwise arent anything special. they are called "vaders" because the shape of the headrest is reminiscent of darth vader.

Sedans didn't have Vaders. Only coupe's.

So you won't find a set with unfoldable backrest.

There's 2 versions of the vaders, only difference being the headrest. On older ones, the headrest if flat, where on the new ones, it's pronounced.

Side by side you'll see it immidiately.

I emailed the guy about the Vader seats to see if he still has them. My seats are not in horrible condition, but I dont think they were taken very good care of over the years. With a vert, they should have conditioned with some type of leather conditioner over the years to keep them from cracking. I will keep you up to date.

a lot of people dont fit the vaders in verts as the headrests dont match the rears giving a slightly uneven look when the tops down, its only personal choice at the end of the day,you put some e46 m3 sports in:eek: , very comfy seat with the addition of them been electric and they look great in the e36.