How to fit pre facelift seats into a facelift car ? Help needed !!

[Sidubber]

Hi, Need a bit of help please. I have a 2002 facelift car with sports electric heated seats. I want to fit pre-facelift Z3M seats but the wiring is different. My facelift car has 1 large yellow connector (see pic) and the pre facelift seats have 3 or 4 connectors (See pic). Can can anybody who has done this or knows of this being done please get in touch ? I know BMW sell adaptor looms to fit facelift seats into pre-face lift, but not the way I need.

 

[Sean d]

Hi, Need a bit of help please. I have a 2002 facelift car with sports electric heated seats. I want to fit pre-facelift Z3M seats but the wiring is different. My facelift car has 1 large yellow connector (see pic) and the pre facelift seats have 3 or 4 connectors (See pic). Can can anybody who has done this or knows of this being done please get in touch ? I know BMW sell adaptor looms to fit facelift seats into pre-face lift, but not the way I need.

I did this and purchased wiring harness from BMW

 

[mrscalex]

I did this and purchased wiring harness from BMW

Was it for pre-facelift seat into facelift car though? I’ve never found that part.

Only for facelift dear into pre-facelift car.

 

[BMBabe]

@Mnbrennan has M seats in his prefacelift 2.8 Maybe he can shed some light

 

[GazHyde]

A pic I put together some years back...

PN you require is 61106916218

Gaz

 

[GazHyde]

Also this write up by @Jack Ratt

https://zroadster.org/threads/installation-of-facelift-sports-seats-into-pre-facelift-zed.13045/

 

[Jack Ratt]

@GazHyde The original request by Sidlubber is how to fit pre facelift seats into a facelift car. My mod was the other way round and so the looms from BMW wont work I'm afraid

 

[mrscalex]

Unless anyone can present hard evidence to the contrary then I think we should try to stop this confusion which crops up every time! It could result in someone paying quite a lot of money for the wrong part.

The BMW loom is for a facelift seat into a pre-facelift car. Because BMW have a responsibility/wish if you bought a facelift seat to make it fit into a pre-facelift car. They would have no motivation to help you put a pre-facelift seat into a facelift car. Why would they? They wanted to sell you a new facelift seat instead.

If I'm wrong I apologise unreservedly. But to prove BMW do looms both ways we would need the part numbers and preferably pictures of both parts covering both directions

 

[Sean d]

Unless anyone can present hard evidence to the contrary then I think we should try to stop this confusion which crops up every time! It could result in someone paying quite a lot of money for the wrong part.

The BMW loom is for a facelift seat into a pre-facelift car. Because BMW have a responsibility/wish if you bought a facelift seat to make it fit into a pre-facelift car. They would have no motivation to help you put a pre-facelift seat into a facelift car. Why would they? They wanted to sell you a new facelift seat instead.

If I'm wrong I apologise unreservedly. But to prove BMW do looms both ways we would need the part numbers and preferably pictures of both parts covering both directions

My car was a facelift, I fitted a pair of prefacelift seats that I got of Lowrider, I also used a cable that I got from BMW to join them, maybe my car had an older loom, it had the big yellow block

 

[Uncle_Clanger]

I'm hoping for definitive answers myself as I still have a pair of replacement sports waiting to go in my facelift. I got cold feet last year when I noticed the absence of a yellow plug and they have adorned my room ever since.

 

[spurs fan in a coupe]

No idea what cables are available, but I have car side connectors if you need them mate?

I’ve saved them from various breaker projects, they’re a few other breakers too who might have parts.

 

[Sidubber]

Hi Guys, thanks for your input.
@Sean d So when you done this to your car, Your car definitely had the single yellow male plug, and the seats you fitted did not have the yellow female plug. they had 4 plugs ? is this correct ? Come on Sean, tell me what I need to hear lol

@spurs fan in a coupe Hi mate, my next question was to ask you if you had the wiring from a scraper !

 

[Sidubber]

Hi guys, just found real life pictures of the adaptor harness 61106916218. This harness if definitely for fitting face lift seats into a pre-facelift car.

 

[Sean d]

Hi Guys, thanks for your input.
@Sean d So when you done this to your car, Your car definitely had the single yellow male plug, and the seats you fitted did not have the yellow female plug. they had 4 plugs ? is this correct ? Come on Sean, tell me what I need to hear lol

@spurs fan in a coupe Hi mate, my next question was to ask you if you had the wiring from a scraper !

I'm really sorry but I can't remember for sure which way round things where, my car was facelift but may have had a prefaclift loom, but surely the loom will work both ways.

 

[Sidubber]

Hi Sean, no, unfortunately wont work both ways,

 

[Mario]

I have successfully done this conversion - what I did is swap the entire seat base completely with the wiring harness and side panels moving them across to the donor seats I don't remember exactly but I think the motors have the same connector on both and if not it's easy to swap the motors also, you will need to swap a few connectors but it's doable because once you remove the base entirely the only thing you are left with is the heated seat plugs from the back and the base which is the only thing you need to modify if you are swapping heated seats for heated seats as they come as one cable on facelift and as two different pigtails on pre facelift if I remember correctly. You will also have to swap the pre-tensioner pigtails for the seat belt clasp but that's super easy. PM me if you need more info.

 

[Sidubber]

Hi Maro, Thank you for your reply, any info you can give me will be great. I have harnesses from a scrap car that I was going to use and convert my car harness to the old style, as I dont have both sets of seats side by side to swop over, as the other set belong to another forum member. When you say swop the entire seat base could you give me more info on this ? does this involve removing the cushion? or removing the cushion and base in one piece ?
Thanks Simon

 

[Mario]

What I mean is the assembly with the motors and the rails can be detached from the actual seat base/frame, alongside with the wire harness and the black plastic piece on the side that has the handle and the switch to move the seat around. you are left with then the seat base and backrest attached to the frame and the cables for the seat heating on one side and the motors rails and the side panel on the other which you will transfer to your donor seats. The rails/motors assembly separates with two bolts that are located towards the back then it slides out moving the assembly towads the back of the seat, the side panel has two bolts on the side and one on the front then two bowden cables that are under the frame, you will see them moving when you move the handle, slide them out of the "catch" and you are golden.

 

[Sidubber]

Mario your a star, If this works reasonably easily I will owe you a beer !

I will pull a seat out and have a try

 

[Mario]

Let me know how you get on, it's definitely possible that's how I got the seats on mine.