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Thread: Manual to Electric Seat Swap and B Pillar removal

  1. #1
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    Thumbs up Manual to Electric Seat Swap and B Pillar removal

    So, as promised, i would do a write up, how-to if you will. Well it didn't work out to well. This is my first one so take it with a grain of salt. My videos didn't come out, so i cant use those. i will explain as best as i can.


    So I removed my front Tan Manual seats (For sale) By using the 17mm.
    2 front Nuts

    2 rear bolts


    Don't worry i cleaned my carpet before seats went in.

    To remove the seat belt from the seat, you need this.


    which looks like this...


    If you would like to make sure you dont scuff or crack your b pillars, remove them.

    Unbolt your seat belt from the pillar. (17mm)

    This is what i couldnt find, so i hope this helps.

    Take a flat head screw driver to this and push up and in while pulling on it.

    here

    This is what it looks like removed... To put it back on it helps to put it on bottom to top. let the tab go in first. Hope that makes sense.


    Back to the seats. My Dad helped me with the electrical so i hope this makes sense. There was a red wire (in my car, dont know about others) that was hot with the auxiliary turned on. This is what i tapped into.

    Remove armrest, On Board Computer and sun glass cubby. Also, remove the pannel that goes from under your seat to the pedals. Sorry i don't know the name. Kick panel maybe?

    We spliced the Red wire (12v cigarette lighter i believe) to a 30amp fuse.


    Ground



    routed it under shifting counsel, under the carpet to the seat base.



    Had the male and female ends to the electric seats. so i just wired them up.



    Then i tested polarities.

    They worked so i put them in. Put the seat belt on the seat while it is sideways in the car.

    I also got black (instead of tan) B pillars put in. They were scuffed up and so i wet sanded them and used adhesion promoter and black spray paint. They look good.




    And here they are installed. Very clean and no wires out.




    I will put a video on soon so i can do a walk around and talk about it if you guys want.

    I hope this helps and i will answer any questions if i know them.

    Let me know what you think!!!

  2. #2
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    All the e36's Ive had have had constant power to the seats. Very handy if you need to move them forward or back to do work in the car. It doesn't drain any power having them hooked up that way.

    Very Nice DIY. Even without the videos. Your pics are great. This subject comes up fairly often so I'm sure it will get used often.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by flyfishvt View Post
    All the e36's Ive had have had constant power to the seats. Very handy if you need to move them forward or back to do work in the car. It doesn't drain any power having them hooked up that way.

    Very Nice DIY. Even without the videos. Your pics are great. This subject comes up fairly often so I'm sure it will get used often.
    Thanks i appreciate it! My Dad and i were going to do it on a constant, however.... my car didn't come wired for fog lights...i hooked my fogs up to the 12v from that cigarette plug.. I have a little switch by the shifter to turn them on and off. So i decided to make it really easy and just tap it on that power source since it was right there (by the kick panel) with a fuse. so it was really easy that way for my dad (he did most of the wiring). Plus we didn't know which wire we could have used to have them run all of the time.

    And for me it isn't that big of a deal to just but the key in to get them to move. Yet at the same time, if i knew which wire that was that i could tap into, i would have done it.

    Yes and i really hope that this helps some people. I think it might give people some direction. This is coming from someone who has never done this project/swap... and it works!

    Thank you for the input though. It means a lot.

  4. #4
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    Oh wow, good timing. I'm planning on doing this exact swap tomorrow morning. I saw in another thread that the wiring from the seat was the complete opposite of the norm, and the brown wire is positive, and the red wire is ground. Is that what you found?

  5. #5
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    You must have a saloon, as the other models don't have the seatbelt attached to the seat frame.

    When I did this on my car, I used the original retrofit wiring looms that route the seat power through the fusebox.

    Good you put the extra 30A fuse in the line somewhere to prevents burned wires or even worse, a torched car.
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  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by MParallel View Post
    You must have a saloon, as the other models don't have the seatbelt attached to the seat frame.

    When I did this on my car, I used the original retrofit wiring looms that route the seat power through the fusebox.

    Good you put the extra 30A fuse in the line somewhere to prevents burned wires or even worse, a torched car.
    That's what I've been planning on doing as well, so that I can use the factory fuse locations. Did your car have power originally? How far up did you have to go to find the wires?

    Also, do you remember if the E46 seats had the power/ground wires flipped? AKA power=brown and ground=red?

    If I can get that squared away I'm pretty sure I have all of the information I need to do this tomorrow. I feel like a kid on Christmas eve. Who's about to have badass adjustable bolsters.

  7. #7
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    I just want to add to this just in case anyone is having similar problems with seat belts. Check your manual... I believe there is a lifetime warranty on seat belts so take it in to a dealer if that is so. Don't make more trouble for yourself if you have to. My owner manual says "that there is a 'torx head' screw driver with a 'palm wheel' that you put together and 'wheel' the position of the sealt belt back to correct position and use the seat belt manually". The place to 'wheel it back' is on the 'b' pillar, at the bottom, behind a plastic plug. Take off the plastic plug and 'wheel' the seat balt mechanism back. The 'b'pillar is the cars '2nd' pillar right next to your head as you drive. The 'A' pillar is where you r outside mirrors are attached. Hence the 'c' pillar holds the rear window in place. This may seem dumb to mention but it took me 10 years to find out an answere to "what are these pillar things".


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    Last edited by jaylin; 06-29-2012 at 11:30 AM.

  8. #8
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    You can easily attach the belt outside the car onto the seat before putting it back into the car, just roll out the seatbelt and bolt it onto the seat, makes it much easier.

    Quote Originally Posted by MParallel View Post
    You must have a saloon, as the other models don't have the seatbelt attached to the seat frame.

    When I did this on my car, I used the original retrofit wiring looms that route the seat power through the fusebox.

    Good you put the extra 30A fuse in the line somewhere to prevents burned wires or even worse, a torched car.
    You sure? When i got my vaders i took them from a coupι and they where bolted onto the seat frame side just as in my sedan.

    I think that only the cabrio has a different seatbelt attachment because it's a cabrio and obviously doesn't have B-pillars

  9. #9
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    The belts in my '95 coupe aren't attached to the frame of the seat at all...

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by SlimKlim
    The belts in my '95 coupe aren't attached to the frame of the seat at all...
    Oh dang. Where are they?

    Quote Originally Posted by SlimKlim
    Oh wow, good timing. I'm planning on doing this exact swap tomorrow morning. I saw in another thread that the wiring from the seat was the complete opposite of the norm, and the brown wire is positive, and the red wire is ground. Is that what you found?
    No. But it's ok. You just need to test the polarity. Get som extra wire and run it to the outside of your car to check the direction they move. If you push forward and they go backwards, then all you have to to is flip them. You know? Hope that helped.

    Quote Originally Posted by MParallel
    You must have a saloon, as the other models don't have the seatbelt attached to the seat frame.

    When I did this on my car, I used the original retrofit wiring looms that route the seat power through the fusebox.

    Good you put the extra 30A fuse in the line somewhere to prevents burned wires or even worse, a torched car.
    Yeah I didn't know they were different. If I had more time I would have don't the fuse box. But what can I do now? Haha.

    I even used thicker gauge wire. And I'm glad I went 30a fuse. Have to be careful.

    Quote Originally Posted by M Quick
    You can easily attach the belt outside the car onto the seat before putting it back into the car, just roll out the seatbelt and bolt it onto the seat, makes it much easier.

    You sure? When i got my vaders i took them from a coupι and they where bolted onto the seat frame side just as in my sedan.

    I think that only the cabrio has a different seatbelt attachment because it's a cabrio and obviously doesn't have B-pillars
    See! Good point. I didn't think a bout just pulling my seatbelt out long enough to the outside of the car.

    I really hope that this is helping some people out there.
    Last edited by CHobbs59; 06-29-2012 at 02:54 PM. Reason: Automerged Doublepost
    1999 BMW M3 Estoril Blue Coupe 5spd.
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    TMS adj trailing arms in rear.
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  11. #11
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    My belts come out of the B-pillar and are attached to the body of the car at the bottom. Maybe its an OBD-1 thing? I dunno.

    When you say run them to the outside of the car, what do you mean, you just wired up the seats and tested them by connecting them directly to the battery? If there is no harm in wiring it up backwards I'll just wire them from the fuse box and if I accidentally do it backwards I'll just swap the connectors I guess.

    I found the pin # information in another thread, so I think I can use that to make sure I do it properly the first time. Thanks for the reply! It good to know other people are doing this swap without too much trouble.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by SlimKlim
    My belts come out of the B-pillar and are attached to the body of the car at the bottom. Maybe its an OBD-1 thing? I dunno.

    When you say run them to the outside of the car, what do you mean, you just wired up the seats and tested them by connecting them directly to the battery? If there is no harm in wiring it up backwards I'll just wire them from the fuse box and if I accidentally do it backwards I'll just swap the connectors I guess.

    I found the pin # information in another thread, so I think I can use that to make sure I do it properly the first time. Thanks for the reply! It good to know other people are doing this swap without too much trouble.
    Mine is obd1 as well.

    What I mean is.... Take some extra wire and hook it up outside of the car. I had my seats right by my door and ran wire from the power source That I was going to use in the car. Just to make sure the connection was set up right before I put the seats back in.

    Yeah it wasn't too bad. It was actually really exciting.
    1999 BMW M3 Estoril Blue Coupe 5spd.
    GC 2 way adjust Coilovers.
    TMS adj trailing arms in rear.
    Racing Dynamics Front strut bar.
    Eibach Front swaybar
    UUC Lightweight Flywheel. UUC SSK.
    Depo Glass with HIDs

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by CHobbs59 View Post
    Mine is obd1 as well.

    What I mean is.... Take some extra wire and hook it up outside of the car. I had my seats right by my door and ran wire from the power source That I was going to use in the car. Just to make sure the connection was set up right before I put the seats back in.

    Yeah it wasn't too bad. It was actually really exciting.
    Oh I gotcha. I have the new one sitting down in my basement right now. I picked apart the big huge connector and it instantly became way more decipherable. Gonna get an early start tomorrow and try to beat the heat, I'm so excited to get these in!

    Figure I'll label all the wires I want on the seat, then pull my interior and find the power leads, and figure out what's gonna line up with the seat belt buckle switches, then file down the brackets and hopefully be done by lunchtime.

    Can't wait to adjust the bolsters till I can't reach the radio.

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by SlimKlim

    Oh I gotcha. I have the new one sitting down in my basement right now. I picked apart the big huge connector and it instantly became way more decipherable. Gonna get an early start tomorrow and try to beat the heat, I'm so excited to get these in!

    Figure I'll label all the wires I want on the seat, then pull my interior and find the power leads, and figure out what's gonna line up with the seat belt buckle switches, then file down the brackets and hopefully be done by lunchtime.

    Can't wait to adjust the bolsters till I can't reach the radio.
    Hey did you do the swap? Just Checkin in on ya.
    1999 BMW M3 Estoril Blue Coupe 5spd.
    GC 2 way adjust Coilovers.
    TMS adj trailing arms in rear.
    Racing Dynamics Front strut bar.
    Eibach Front swaybar
    UUC Lightweight Flywheel. UUC SSK.
    Depo Glass with HIDs

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by M Quick View Post
    ...You sure? When i got my vaders i took them from a coupι and they where bolted onto the seat frame side just as in my sedan.

    I think that only the cabrio has a different seatbelt attachment because it's a cabrio and obviously doesn't have B-pillars
    Never seen that before. Maybe it's a country spec thing.

    Has nothing to do with me having a cabrio and no B-pillar. We are talking about the lower anchor point, not the top one.


    Quote Originally Posted by SlimKlim View Post
    That's what I've been planning on doing as well, so that I can use the factory fuse locations. Did your car have power originally? How far up did you have to go to find the wires?

    Also, do you remember if the E46 seats had the power/ground wires flipped? AKA power=brown and ground=red? ..
    Well since I stated "When I did this on my car, I used the original retrofit wiring looms" that should pretty much imply that my car didn't come with electric seats. Which it indeed didn't.

    I didn't find the wires, they were not in my car

    Don't know about the E46 seat, but no brown wire should ever be anything else as ground.
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  16. #16
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    I've got a quick question. I have been thinking about doing this project because my seats are peices of junk, but I need to know if I will lose any head room with the electric seats. I'm tall and I fit pretty well with my manual seats, do you think I will lose space with the electric ones, or for that matter with vaders, or electric vaders?

  17. #17
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    I've had both frames side by side and if there is any height difference at all, it must be marginal.
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  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheGuy34
    I've got a quick question. I have been thinking about doing this project because my seats are peices of junk, but I need to know if I will lose any head room with the electric seats. I'm tall and I fit pretty well with my manual seats, do you think I will lose space with the electric ones, or for that matter with vaders, or electric vaders?
    It might depend what year. I noticed that I sit lower. But that could be just me.
    1999 BMW M3 Estoril Blue Coupe 5spd.
    GC 2 way adjust Coilovers.
    TMS adj trailing arms in rear.
    Racing Dynamics Front strut bar.
    Eibach Front swaybar
    UUC Lightweight Flywheel. UUC SSK.
    Depo Glass with HIDs

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by CHobbs59 View Post
    It might depend what year. I noticed that I sit lower. But that could be just me.
    With electric or manual seats?
    1998 BMW M3 3.2 Cabrio • Alpinweiί III on Schwarz • German spec • 1 of 12
    SMG • SRA • PDC • AUC • OBC • GSM • HK • UURS • IHKA • FGR • MFL

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  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by MParallel

    With electric or manual seats?
    I sit lower with my new electric seats. The nuts stuck out more on the electric than on the manual. Might be that's where it is lower.
    1999 BMW M3 Estoril Blue Coupe 5spd.
    GC 2 way adjust Coilovers.
    TMS adj trailing arms in rear.
    Racing Dynamics Front strut bar.
    Eibach Front swaybar
    UUC Lightweight Flywheel. UUC SSK.
    Depo Glass with HIDs

  21. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by CHobbs59 View Post
    Hey did you do the swap? Just Checkin in on ya.
    He sure did (I'm his roommate) - the seats work but do not have heat hooked up yet. He's going to get stock E36 heat buttons to wire up.

    They're SO comfy.

    http://imgur.com/a/DHD0g
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  22. #22
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    I saw in another thread that the wiring from the seat was the complete opposite of the norm

    Last edited by fiteallison; 07-05-2012 at 10:30 PM.

  23. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by icebook1

    He sure did (I'm his roommate) - the seats work but do not have heat hooked up yet. He's going to get stock E36 heat buttons to wire up.

    They're SO comfy.

    http://imgur.com/a/DHD0g
    I know. Later down the line I will do the swap again.

    That's good man! He is making it look clean and doing it right.
    1999 BMW M3 Estoril Blue Coupe 5spd.
    GC 2 way adjust Coilovers.
    TMS adj trailing arms in rear.
    Racing Dynamics Front strut bar.
    Eibach Front swaybar
    UUC Lightweight Flywheel. UUC SSK.
    Depo Glass with HIDs

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