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DIY: Power Seat Retrofit w/Memory!! Pics!!

315K views 198 replies 74 participants last post by  DeeJE46 
#1 ·
Ok well I've done the heated seat retrofit and now it's time for my wite up on a power seat retrofit considering I got a great deal on some power seat frames.

Basically some tools you will need:

- Torque Wrench
- 17 mm Socket
- 16 mm open ended wrench
- 8 and 10mm sockets
- Crimping Tool
- Pliers
- Philips Head Screw Driver
- Flat Head Screw Driver
- Assortment of Torx bits/sockets
- Some extra 1 Time plastic Rivets (you can buy the cheap kind at autozone for about $1.69 for a 15 pack but they tend to break easily) I recommend the ones from the dealer they are still fairly cheap yet more durable
- Some Special BMW Contact Pins for the Fuse panel and Seat Harness connectors
- Some 12 Gauge Wiring Red, Black and 16 Gauge Red/Yellow
- 2 - 30 Amp Fuses
- And Some Patience....

Ok lets start. I'm not oing to go into great detail on how to remove the seats but if youhave any questions check out my DIY Heated Seat Thread and/or ask any questions.

The Power Seat Frames I received were not complete so I needed to transfer a coupe parts from my manual seats to them not a problem..





Step 1: Disconnect your battery and remove seats making sure to unplug the seat connector with the 17 MM socket.

Step 2: Start diassembling your manual seats removing the padding and cushioning first.

Then you can start disassembling the metal frame portions to transfer them to your power seats.















 
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#2 ·




The finished product of the bottom portion of the frame:



Step 3: Now to re-wrap the cushioning and padding back onto the seats. The leather has lips along the edges that clip to the frame of the seat note these in the pictures. Also you will have excess fabric that are HOG RINGED to the underside of the seat cushion a pair of pliers or better yet 2 pairs of pliers can easily undo the HOG RINGS and one pair is sufficient to close it back up.











The finished product thus far:



Step 4: Now it's time to put the portion that holds both the button controls and the trim peice.This peice is held on by 4 Torx bolts. Practically all bolts to the frame are Torx Bolts to be exact.

 
#3 ·










Make sure you plug in the connector and just a not on the drivers side there is an extra connector.

Status thus far:



Step 5: Putting back on the back portion of the

You side the whole back part over the points you removed them from it's only held in by 2 large Torx Bolts. I know in the next pic the leather looks a little ripped mainly because the upholstry shop had no idea what they wee doingwhe they put in my heated elements (They overlapped the leather wrong and a portion of the seat at the corners was showing when it wasn't suppose to) that is why I needed to buy some of those 1 time plastic rivets.







Finished seat with the Power Seat Rails (Passenger Side):

 
#4 ·


Step 6: Everybodys favorite part... the wiring well it's not too bad.

Remove the Glove box and drop down the fuse panel.

Anyways I like to wire (especially OEM equipment) to the fuse panel as it was meant to be so that is what I did. Fuse positions #65 and #70 are vacant andare dedicated to the Power Seat Adjustments with a 30 Amp fuse in each slot.

You only have to run:

12 Gauge + and - to the Passengers side seat and....

12 Gauge + and - to Drivers side seat plus an additional wire for the K-bus location in the fuse panel. This is to activate the memory controls for the drivers side seat.



I pulled the carpet up to run the Positve and K-Bus wires from the drivers and Passengers side to the fuse panel.





Ground Wires can be connected to te Grounding Points under each ft sill oboth Driver and Passenger side. That is how I had done it for the Heated Seats.

When trying to gain acces to fuse locations #65 and #70 there was no wa in hell I could gain access to the because of the stock wiring harness being in the way (I you added stuff to the fuse panel you know what I'm talkng about) I had to remove 3 torx screws under the fuse panel and then the ~ 13 8 mm hex socket bolts i order to remove the fuse assembly from the panel itself.



This gave me plenty of room to work with and plug the socket contacts into the panel. (Just a note the largest size wire you aregoing to fit in the regular slots in the fuse panel is 12 Gauge, anything else forget about it.)







Step 7: Once the wires are all set at the fuse panel 1 socket to Fuse Position #65 and one to #70 and the Ground conectors are connected underneath the footsills and the K-Bus wire is connected to the comb connectors in the fuse panel area the section with all the Red/White/Yellow wires.

Then it's time to work at the Diver and Passenger Side Seat Plugs. This is fairly simple.

These are the contacts that work for Pin's #13 and #14 P/N# included in Picture.



Drivers Side (25 Pin Plug)

Pin 13 - Power (Connect the 12 Gage Wire you ran to the seats at this Pin)
Pin 14 - Ground (Connect Ground here)
Pin 15 - K-Bus (Connect the wire that went to the comb connector full of Red/White/Yellow wires to this pin, it is for the memory fucntion ONLY and will not affect the Power seat Motors)

Passengers Side (25 Pin Plug)

Pin 13 - Power (Connect the 12 Gage Wire you ran to the seats at this Pin)
Pin 14 - Ground (Connect Ground here)

Note: You do notneed Pin 15 to the Passenger side for the Passenger does not have memory controls haha too bad.

Once your all set with that put the carpet back, foot sill covers and seats back everything is the reverse of removal. And then Test out your new Power Seats.

I know people have mentioned not getting thier memory function to work and the problem is that they didn't know where to connect the extra Pin #15 to. Memory functions worked perfectly for me and I'm actually quite impressed with these power seats.
 
#115 ·
Hi mate savage job i bought a set of electric connected up the live and earth wire and nothing the guy i bought them said they worked fine, i tried the motors individually and there working ok just wondering is there a fuse or a relay in the black box under the seat before i pull them apart.
Thanks,
Gyves:bow:
 
#14 ·
bishop4142 said:
how much weight does it add?
These weighed in at 52 lb's total so 26 lbs each



I just weighed my manual seat frames and they weighed in at 20 lb's each

I'd say the Heated elements being generous here weigh in at ~ 5 lb's each seat

Weighed one of the power/heated seats and came out to about ~ 60 lbs

So the Power/Heated seats weigh in at ~ 60 lbs + or - 5 lb's

Vs.

Manual Seats at ~ 50 lb's + or - 5lbs

So I probably added 10 - 15 lb's not to mention the extra wiring needed to be run to the center console and fuse panel but that is neglegable.

Just imagine if I retrofitted Lumbar Support as well that would probably add another 10 - 15 lb's for a total of about 70 - 75 lbs!!

These are all estimates I don't have a scale big enough to measure then accurately but I think they are pretty close considering the Power Seat frames weighed in by UPS at 26 lb's each so my #'s aren't completely off.

Jared
 
#15 ·
Dookiegraphics said:
can u write up a list of part numbers for the seat bracket/slider and what not. also part number and total cost for this retrofit? this is great for those that has been thinking about this mod!!! (LIKE ME!!)

:)
It would be much easier, less expensive andtime consumingif you found someone selling just the frames or whole seats. Here are links to the parts you would need if you were going to just swap out your frames. Youdon't need all the parts

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=AM33&mospid=47718&btnr=52_2307&hg=52&fg=10

1 - ELECTRICAL SEAT MECHANISM, RIGHT - 52107111870
ONLY WITH: WIRING CO-DRIVERS SIDE - 61117111902
1 - ELECTRICAL SEAT MECHANISM, LEFT - 52107111871
ONLY WITH: WIRING DRIVERS SIDE - 61117111903

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=AM33&mospid=47718&btnr=52_2304&hg=52&fg=10

1 - COVERING OUTER LEFT SCHWARZ (Color depends on your interior color mine was black though) - 52108240091
1 - COVERING OUTER RIGHT SCHWARZ (Color depends on your interior color mine was black though) - 52108240092
1 - ACTUATION UNIT LEFT - 61308099071
1 - ACTUATION UNIT RIGHT - 61308099072
1 - SUPPORT F LEFT SEAT ADJUSTMENT - 52108240107
1 - SUPPORT F RIGHT SEAT ADJUSTMENT - 52108240108
2 - SET OF FITTINGS FOR SEAT ACTUATOR UNIT - 52108240494

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=AM33&mospid=47718&btnr=52_2285&hg=52&fg=10

2 - SEAT PAN - 52108226420
2 - ELASTIC MAT - 52108099027
1 - COVERING INNER LEFT SCHWARZ (Once again color will vary) - 52108226407
1 - COVERING INNER RIGHT SCHWARZ (Once again color will vary) - 52108226408
2 - SET OF FITTINGS FOR SEAT SHELL - 52108240499

Remember you can always swap parts of your seats to the new ones most of the parts are the same. I think this applies up to 03/2003 or so realoem says

Jared
 
#16 ·
Looks good Jared. Glad you got everything to work. I'm surprised the frames for coupes and sedans are different, since all the linkage associated with them folding forward is inside the seat itself, not the frames.


Ivegotissues666 said:
I'd say the Heated elements being generous here weigh in at ~ 5 lb's each seat

Just imagine if I retrofitted Lumbar Support as well that would probably add another 10 - 15 lb's
you're quite high for your estimates. The heating elements are about 3-4oz a piece, so that' 1/2lb for the pair and the lumbar support is about 1lb in total including the airpump.
 
#17 ·
LAFENGAS said:
Looks good Jared. Glad you got everything to work. I'm surprised the frames for coupes and sedans are different, since all the linkage associated with them folding forward is inside the seat itself, not the frames.

I had no idea they were different I thought they would have been the same


you're quite high for your estimates. The heating elements are about 3-4oz a piece, so that' 1/2lb for the pair and the lumbar support is about 1lb in total including the airpump.
Really? The lumbar only weighs that much from the pictures I've seen it looks like it weighs more never actually held the parts.

Oh BTW I removed that peice I was talking to you about (Did you get the pictures). The bolt was indeed welded together. What type of bolt would you reccommend replacing it with would like a stainless stell hex bolt do? Or sould I go get it welded back onto the rail.

Thanks Jared
 
#18 ·
Ivegotissues666 said:
Really? The lumbar only weighs that much from the pictures I've seen it looks like it weighs more never actually held the parts.

Oh BTW I removed that peice I was talking to you about (Did you get the pictures). The bolt was indeed welded together. What type of bolt would you reccommend replacing it with would like a stainless stell hex bolt do? Or sould I go get it welded back onto the rail.

Thanks Jared

i was looking back at my PM sent box to look for my response to you..i guess i never sent you a response. sorry.. I know my response mentioned "pictures were too blurry"

i'll give you a response when i take a look at my seat frames and can recommend a bolt.
 
#20 ·
manydubs said:
Now convert those seat bottoms to sport with leg extenders! Power is great but what about those of us over 6ft, which these standard seats cause legs to cramp!

:)
I know what you mean and considering even though I'm only 5' 8" I still could use the extra thigh support. But basically unless I come across a good deal for a PAIR f the seat bottoms or the whole seats I won't be paying upwards of close to $800 for the seat peices and thats $800 per side :yikes:

Other than that converting them should be basically the same as non-sport since the seat frames seem to have the same P/N's

Jared
 
#23 ·
Airbalancer said:
Nice DIY
I have Power Sport heated seats but no memory
would love the get the memory
did not see a # for the memory parts
can this be done?
Didn't even know memory was an option. I thought all power seats came with memory?

But anyways you would just have to buy the power seat switch for the drivers side with the memory button then run a small 16 gauge wire from pin 15 under the drivers seat connector to the glove box where the k-bus connector is. Pretty Simple!

Although what could be a problem is that your power seat harness on the drivers side might not have the neccessary pin 15 that you need. I would double check first. Make sure that if you unplug the seat connector that you DISCONNECT THE BATTERY FIRST! Otherwise you will trip the airbag light.

Jared
 
#29 ·
Didn't even know memory was an option. I thought all power seats came with memory?
In US, all power seats have memory; I cant speak for other markets, but they obviously did not.

here is a quick run down on E46 sedan seats... I'm just posting here cuz this was discusssed in other forums and I'm sure that this thread is often searched for... eventhough this is mostly about sport seats:

1. Sport seats come power and manual.
They came manual on all 323's (MY '99, '00), 325's (MY '01+) and 328's without premium package or without the power seat option, obviously.
2. Sports seats came in manual on 330's w/o PPin '01 ONLY; in '02 all 330 seats were powered.
3. There is a power lumbar support option, and that came ONLY on 328's and 330's with sport and premium packages and those seats were only power.
4. All seats were available heated, either as a stand alone option, or part of the cold weather package.

This is US market only.


BUMP, for a great thread and adding some info here.
 
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