Installation of e36 M3 Vader Seats in 1989 325i

[4a2bahn]

I am posting some pictures of my clean install of e36 seats into e30. The seats fit perfectly from center console to the door. My original delema was the bolts that hold the seats in place were not in the same place in two cars. I had to manufacture custom brackets that adopted the seats into the car. I got some help from the web. As I suspected it has been done before. Here is some other posting that I found which helped me with my istall. Enjoy!



V2 Installed


Stock vs Vader Console Space


Final Product

[4a2bahn]

Larger version of mine:

[hsvturbo]

Thats cool! Will the e36 seat bottom be at the same elevation as the e30 seats?

[ca180]

Great write up!

What he said ^, same height and everything? What do those seat run anyways?

[Stück]

Good work with the brackets, but seriously tacky on the boots...

Biggest issue with the vaders is the fact that 2 manual vaders weigh as much as 3 e30 sport seats. An extra 40-45lbs from seats that really aren't that great isn't a winning combo for me.

[4a2bahn]

The height of the seats is the same as in E36. They are adjustable, so you can move them up and down depending on your comfort. You don't have to specifically install vaders. I put them in because I have the same seats in my e36 and I love the look and comfort of them. Extra 40 don't bother me because I am not splitting seconds on the track. You can get used vaders for about $600 on this site, maybe from someone who wants to make his car faster, but other e36 opitions are avaliable.

[ca180]

You selling any of those adapters?

[4a2bahn]

I did it just for fun, not to make money on them. You can make them yourself or ask your local machine shop to make them for you. I purchased steel and all bolts at my local home depot for about $40, and after that measure, cut and weld. I suggest cutting brackets first and making holes to secure them to the floor. After that place the seats on top to mark where to drill holes for the bolts that will hold the seats. Beyond that the only tricky part is modifying the seat belt rail which normally is on the floor right behind the seat. Because these seats are longer, stock rail will get in the way of seats, so you will need to cut out 6" from it. We cut away correct lenght, and then welded it to a triangular shape braket which bolted to the bracket on the floor (which was purposely extended to the back for this) - see attached pictures.

[jjcarr]

I did a similar install of e90 seats in my 318is, however one thing I did for safety is get the highest grade bolts from a screw and bolt specialty place. I figure in an accident I don't want cheap bolts shearing off.

[dhob0100]

Dude great job on the the seat installation. I have always wanted a set of those seats to put in my E30. I am seriously thinking about doing the same thing. One question you have a measurements that would make the process a lot less painful.


Ps. Also in the market looking for a e36 m3 as well.

[ChuckDizzle]

they look great

if it were just a straight swap, I'd do it for fun and put my vaders in my IX while the M3 takes the year off.

[EauRouge2002]

What did you do about the seat belts? Did you bolt the E30 receivers to the Vaders?

[325bob]

Good work with the brackets, but seriously tacky on the boots...

Biggest issue with the vaders is the fact that 2 manual vaders weigh as much as 3 e30 sport seats. An extra 40-45lbs from seats that really aren't that great isn't a winning combo for me.

LOL, I'm going with E36"lightweight" front buckets, they feel like twice the e30 seats.I'm hoping the S/C boosted S50 will counter the extra weight

[tantumaude]

Hate to revive an old thread like this, but is there any chance you'd have the measurements for these brackets, specifically the length of the long part between the two plates?

[4a2bahn]

You can basically figure it out by the measurements posted in this write up:

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/show...=e30+e36+seats

I did it a little different with continuous bracket from front to back, which is safer than the option in the write up, but basically the measurements above can be used to calculate bracket dimensions away from the original E30 seat mounting holes.

[SpartanEuro]

Thanks for the link! That's good info to have in your back pocket