M3 seats in a '99 328i

I got a set of '01 M3 seats for my '99 328i on eBay for mad cheap and installed them this weekend. Here's a couple pointers that I didn't quite get from the prior write-ups on this, and also something that's an issue I didn't see from any other writeups.

1. The heads of the bolts/nuts that hold the seats down fit perfectly in my spark plug socket; none of my metric sockets were just right.

2. The seat hold down bolts are easily cross-threaded, take your time and be patient as the bolts are much harder than the threads on the car body. Don't ask how I know this.

3. The outboard seat rail, containing the anchor/attachment point for the seat belt (not the buckle!), must be swapped to install coupe seats in a sedan. I didn't understand this until I dropped the seat into the car.

4. On my car at least (early build '99) the rail with the buckle and attached pyrotechnic belt tensioner needs to be swapped because the wiring is different, or so says my dealer who couldn't get the SRS light turned off and said the computer told him the wiring wasn't as expected. I haven't seen anything about this before.

5. If you break the handle that controls the thigh support extention, you'll have to have that whole mechanism replaced, at a cost of $65 for the part and 3+ hours labor ($81/hour at my dealer). As a corrolorary to this, when shipping seats such as by FedEx ground make sure to put a declared value that'll cover repairs like this - mine were only declared for $250, but that's what I paid for each so I can't complain...

Even with some minor install hassles the supreme comfort of these seats over the premium package park benches I had in before is just amazing. Still not quite as good as Volvo seats, but darned close, and better for sporty driving when you crank those side bolsters into your body until it hurts and get into the perfect position and know that you're not going to move.

Scott