WTB: Seats with better support for my Z4 Coupe

[Chris Modiano]

My biggest pet peeve about my Z, and my old Miata, and most cars I drive is that I flop around in the seat and waste a lot of energy and concentration having to bolster myself against a door or something. I'm now willing to throw a few bucks at this issue.

I'd be interested in perhaps the stock sport seats, or whatever's in the M as long as it could all be fitted into my car without much agony. Keeping the heated seats is a plus.

Also open to suggestions for aftermarket seats as well. I have a tan interior with wood trim, and though good support is important to me, I'd also like something that still looks classy and fits with the GT image of the car.

P.S. I also WTB an aftermarket muffler if you have that...

[3002 tii]

I had the m sport seats on my 3.0si and I didn’t think it provided great lateral support. It was only when I went aftermarket I was able to focus on the next corner without bracing my left leg against the door.

Re muffler, I would do resonator delete first and go from there. The few plug n play muffler options for the 3.0si are quite expensive.

[Chris Modiano]

I had a feeling M seats wouldn't do the job either... I'll look into aftermarket, thanks.

And I'd never heard of the resonator delete mod, but it sounds incredibly exciting. Does it have much of a drone? Is this a DIY type thing, or do I gotta take it to a shop?

[3002 tii]

Originally Posted by Chris Modiano

I had a feeling M seats wouldn't do the job either... I'll look into aftermarket, thanks.

And I'd never heard of the resonator delete mod, but it sounds incredibly exciting. Does it have much of a drone? Is this a DIY type thing, or do I gotta take it to a shop?

You can change/delete the resonator, muffler or both. Deleting out the resonator and welding in straight pipes in between is the cheapest. If you still find the sound lacking then you could replace the muffler. Any competent shop should be able to do this pretty easily.

Drone from just a resonator delete on an otherwise stock exhaust should be minimal.

PM me if you have more questions.

[mmm-five]

After years (and 140,000 miles) of saying that I thought the standard M seats were useless, and getting a very sore knee, I've settled on a pair of Recaro Pole Position ABE seats.

Unfortunately, the black ambla leather & beige dinamica suede option is no longer available, so I've had to settle on the silver dinamica and see if I can dye/retrim it.

[Azeka1]

+1 on the Recaro Pole Position seats wrapped in your choice of color combo.

If a full bucket is not desired to retain the reclining option, I would also suggest something like the Recaro Sportster. Here is a very nice set currently for sale on Rennlist installed in a 911.
https://rennlist.com/forums/parts-ma...ver-backs.html

Sounds like either of these options would achieve exactly what you're looking for.

[Chris Modiano]

Dear god those are perfect. I guess the good thing about expensive seats is I could bring them to my next car (want to get a Boxster after this. A minimum of 15 months away for sure). Buttt I'm going to be changing jobs in a few weeks, and will take a bit of a pay cut for year 1, so I'm trying to restrain myself, and would like to do seats safely under 1k a piece, not including hardware I guess. Those are just too fancy for me at the moment. I traded in my old car for a Jeep Wrangler beater a few weeks ago, and it literally cost me the same as those seats!

[bananabun]

These are a bit worn but maybe they can be reconditioned?

http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=595975

[Chris Modiano]

Man you guys are good at forums. Thanks for digging that up. I signed up for an account on that forum, but it says I still don't have sufficient privileges to look at the picture... so.. I'll try to find more info.

How complicated is it to deal with the passenger airbag sensor situation? Can I transfer any parts from the old seat to the new one? Or buy the sensor myself for hopefully a not insane price?

[bananabun]

I'm not sure. I didn't address it when I got aftermarket seats so would be interested in knowing that, too. I think the sensor mat itself retails for around $50ish

As for the M3forum, it's a PITA but there are good deals to be had since the E46 and E86 platforms share many parts. Let me know if you want me to PM the seller.

Originally Posted by Chris Modiano

Man you guys are good at forums. Thanks for digging that up. I signed up for an account on that forum, but it says I still don't have sufficient privileges to look at the picture... so.. I'll try to find more info.

How complicated is it to deal with the passenger airbag sensor situation? Can I transfer any parts from the old seat to the new one? Or buy the sensor myself for hopefully a not insane price?

[Vanne]

Chris,

Mate, if your only keeping the car for another 15 months mate, i wouldn't bother with aftermarket seats mate. Its quite involved. esp when you start considering having to code the airbag. By the time you have it installed, there will be only about 12 months left to drive the car. Anyways, thats just my rubbish opinion.

either way, enjoy.
V.

[wdb]

I replaced the stock seats with M Sport seats in my 3.0si. I can't honestly say that I ever thought much about how much better they kept me in place laterally, but then I've never tracked the car.

Tan interior, wood trim, classy looks, support. Sounds to me like custom trimmed aftermarket seats, which more than likely means giving up whatever electrical gadgetry is associated with the stockers.

I'd look at reasonably priced aftermarket 'sport' seats like Cobra, and I would also keep it simple and easily reversed. After all the next owner might take 'GT' in a completely different light.

[Chris Modiano]

Ehhh 15 months is hopeful. And if I can add these seats, it'll up my enjoyment of the car exponentially, and I'd end up keeping it longer. Having these stupid bench seats in the car makes it so I really cant drive it fast in any way other than a straight line. The heated seats are great in the northeast, but I think doing this might be the right thing to do. I should probably buy an apartment before I buy a stupid car anyway. So, basically, by buying parts for my car, I'm being financially responsible!

Wdb, I agree about having to give up the heated seats. I'm kind of starting to settle on the entry level Sparco fixed back to keep the seats down, and don't sell the stock seats so I can sell the car with them when the day comes. That is unless some really nice deal doesn't pop up for a used pair online, like the Recaro thing a few posts up (still waiting to get forum privileges to look at pictures, or post replies...). I don't think I can justify the $$$ to re upholsterer, so black suede it is. Hopefully it matches somewhat well.

Anywho, regarding the occupancy sensor on the passenger seat, if I do not address it, will I get an airbag light? Or does the airbag just default on or off?

[Vanne]

No worries mate, just so you know before going all out... these cars have a way of doing that to you..

Yeah mate , you'll get the airbag light. which isn't a big drama in itself, but can be annoying, and if you live anywhere where they scrutinise your car for rego, this can be a major pain in the butt.

There are a few ways you can "not get" the airbag light, but that will mean removing the seatbelt tensioniors (nfi how to spell that) with the seat belt receptacles from your old seats and re-installing them. The pax occupancy sensor isn't such a big deal, and simple pax simulators are pretty much available on ebay.

You can also, just code all that out, but will mean you need someone to do that for you, or do it yourself, depending how comfy you are with coding on this platform.

anyways, aftermarket seats are awesome, but you gotta do it right.

enjoy the hunt for your new seats and keep us posted on how you go.

[Azeka1]

You can always try a $40 emulator like this: https://m.ebay.com/itm/Seat-Occupanc...-/322485054023

Maybe someone with experience can chime in on whether they work as advertised?

[3002 tii]

Originally Posted by Azeka1

You can always try a $40 emulator like this: https://m.ebay.com/itm/Seat-Occupanc...-/322485054023

Maybe someone with experience can chime in on whether they work as advertised?

That’s what I did and worked out fine, no airbag light