OE Euro Seats Retrofit?

[wyatth]

So I’m on the hunt for heated seats, an option I wish my car came with. I do have power/memory, so loaded seats + HVAC button panel + coding is all I need to do to integrate factory heat.

At first I was thinking about just a clean set of US E90 loaded seats ...

... Then I thought, why not pay a little more in shipping and get a clean set of Euro seats (from Germany, LHD and all)? They have more support, look cool (albeit subtle), and would be unique ...

... Then I thought, why not pay a little more and get Sportster CS’? Okay this is getting carried away!

So I scaled it back to thinking about Euro seats. I’ve researched all I can and it doesn’t seem like anybody has done this (not surprising). I assume they’d bolt and plug right in. But I’m wondering if anybody has a clue about the other features:
- Airbags? Supposedly Euros have no occupancy sensor. I could code that out and then the pass airbag would deploy regardless of occupancy (as done with Recaro swaps).
- Other power/memory/heat differences? None come to mind.

Of course BMW said the US M3s have the 335i/flat bottom cushion for airbag reasons, but nobody seems to know exactly what that means. I suspect it’s actually because Americans are fatties. *Takes another bite of pumpkin pie.* But I’d also like to know exactly what I’m getting into and if it would all really be PnP before starting my hunt.

Slightly higher boosters + stripe on thigh brace.



Any tip or advice is appreciated!

[swagon]

EU-spec had front, side (in the bolsters) and head/ curtain airbags as well as active headrests, so I don't think there is a difference in airbags between ECE and US models. Some markets also had manual seats, with memory seats being optional. Germany had memory seats as standard but with no heating (if optioned with cloth, leather seats always included seat heating).

The manual seats are mounted noticeably lower than memory seats - I'd say it's at least an inch difference. But those were super rare in Europe, and not sure if ever available in the US.

[wyatth]

Thanks, swagon, very helpful. That also supports the thought that the seats are the same and BMW simply didn’t want to test/certify those seats for US regulations and instead used the already-approved 3 series sport seats.

I don’t necessarily need the seat any lower, and while I’d actually like manual sliders, didn’t expect to find leather/manual/heated seats... and now I know that wasn’t available in the Germany anyway! I’ll consider other LHD markets too but that setup is probably a unicorn.

Cheers,

[nrubenstein]

Honestly, by the time you deal with importing a set of Euro seats, you might actually find yourself wishing you’d just pulled the lever on the Recaros. The cost delta is probably not going to be *that* much, and they will also probably have a higher resale value in the future (if that matters).

[wyatth]

My original plan was just finding heated seats domestically, and reselling mine. This wouldn't cost much, and add the heat. Then I thought, if going through this all, why not end up with something cooler? So then I thought, for the extra cost of shipping from the EU, I could get some nicer seats. I found a seat dealer who will help me, and shipping is about $600. Stock seats tend to be in the $500-750/pair range. So rounding up, I'd be looking at $1500ish all in (I'd need heated modules, and the HVAC button with heated seat buttons).

F80 OEM (non-ZCP) seats are about that much, but I'd need the module and buttons as well, so only a little more expensive (assuming sourced locally). But I don't love the look of F80 seats in the E90 interior. I prefer the look of the OEM E90 Euro seats.

Recaro Sportsters in leather with heat and airbag, plug and play, are ~$5K shipped. No panel button needed (seat heater button on the Recaro frame), so that should be all-in. Quite the jump in price, but surely my preferred approach.

If no Euro seats come up within a couple of months, I'll consider the Sportster route. And this is likely, given that I think there are about 1200 LCI E90s ROW, deduct a portion for the UK and deduct a portion for Bamboo and Fox, and I'm left with what, 600 cars to source from? Long shot for sure. But I think for the price, if possible, it would still be a cool and worthwhile.

[swagon]

Here is an alleged seat heating retrofit for e9x on ebay https://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-OEM-E90...cAAMXQQJBQ8kJ-

Could be an option. Quick ETK search says that there was actually a seat heating retrofit for M3's but double check that for your US spec car. BMW have made quite a lot of retrofit kits for these cars but they're all mostly discontinued by now.

If you were to tear up the seats to put the heat pads under the covers, I'd also get them seat centers re-upholstered in Alcantara. Much better than non-ventilated leather in the summer and less cold in the winter too.

Keep checking ebay.com or ebay.de for seats.

[wyatth]

Thank you, swagon!

[New2Roundel]

Not sure how mandatory leather is, but the seats in my car are: cloth, manual, heated. So they're out there, but probably fairly rare.