Mine are the 991 version, and they do have the porsche crest in the headrest as well as the seat heating.

One easy way to tell which seat is which, is the base cushion on the 997 looks like it’s 2 pieces and the base cushion on the 991 looks like it’s 3 pieces (they are both just a “look” because it’s actually just one large foam cushion)

 

^ Been trying to figure out why mine have no crests, and suspect it's just down to batch. I believe no crest is what you would have seen in a RoW car equipped with these seats from the factory—unless the crest was optioned—while maybe Porsche felt those upgrading after the fact would like to have the crest? Who knows...

Prepare to have mind blown (as I regularly do while working on 000-level stories): My seats have 991 numbers all over the stickers on the bottom (along with Made in Romania), have heat, and are clearly the 991 version...but have the lower cushions have 2 "panels," or just one stitched seam. The setback cushions appear to have 3 panels/2 seams.

Not sure I ever would have noted the difference in the seat cushions. Thanks for that!!

 

Well there goes that theory. Guess there’s no easy way to tell. 😆

 

The more I study Porsche—in smaller or larger strokes—the more I realize how little I know. Part of what makes it interesting to me.

Hit a snag tonight in test fitting my driver's side bucket: Airbag light is on, and the seat heater switch lights up for maybe a second before going dark. Looks like I have some trouble-shooting ahead of me, but the first thing I noticed is that the stock US driver's side 4WSS+ seat's buckle does have wires coming out of it—which the RoW GT2 seat does not. There are also three pins and one spade missing in the RoW plug under the seat vs the US plug. Suspect 1-2 of those have to do with the seatbelt angle motor in the US seat, and maybe 1-2 of those have to do with the seatbelt wiring. Ah...this is gonna be more fun than I thought to get full functionality. Guess I will uninstall the RoW seat and order a LH buckle if the RH buckle I ordered looks good. Need to think about wiring from the new buckle to the RoW connector, and whether an additional harness is needed, and then to figure out if the reason the seat heater isn't working is because the car doesn't "see" the seat properly or something more hasslesome.


^ US driver's 4WSS+ connector


^ RoW driver's 991 folding LWBS connector

If someone sees something I don't, or am missing, I am all ears!

Also, first impressions from a quick test drive around the block:

• Seat position is fine, although I probably would like to sit 5/8- or 3/4-inch lower
• Not sure lateral support is any better than 4WSS+; wish I sunk into the seatback a bit more
• Plenty comfortable
• They look great in the car...much better to these eyes than 4WSS+

 

What I learned last week is the driver's seat is not plug and play. It's missing the seat position sensor, so it will throw an airbag light. ...this is the last part I'm waiting on, maybe I'll get it tomorrow. I know which pins to wire it into, because I dissected part of an 18-way driver's side harness.

 

btw, I can see the seat belt wire pins are there for your "^ RoW driver's 991 folding LWBS connector", they are the 2 on the far left of the picture above the "19". So not sure why you don't think the RoW driver's side buckle doesn't have a wire coming out of it. If it didn't have the wire, those pins wouldn't be there (check your passenger side seat. no pins.)

As for the missing pins. Pin 3 and 10 are for the seat position sensor. You'll have to add those. (I have a writeup coming soon. As soon as I confirm I've solved mine)

 

Thanks for posting, guys. I've never seen a heated LWBS before. Interesting.

And to clarify, the seats in discussion here are the folding LWBS as were the GT2 variety supplied in the 997 / 987 gen cars, correct? Just a 991 version as offered in Europe.

 

Yes, aka "991,981,718 Factory Option P03", "991 Folding Buckets", "991 Sport Buckets ", "GT2 Seats", "ROW 991 Buckets", and maybe more nicknames...

 

If I recall, these are made by Recaro, correct? I wonder if they have some sort of work-around on these?

 

^ Forgot one, in bold.

Thank you! The LWBS is coming back out today, but a quick tactile check makes it obvious you are right. Very curious for your writeup—but it sounds like 5-6 things are needed to make these seats work with full functionality:

1. US passenger seat buckle with proper stem length/angle (will report back)
2. Harness for above?
3. Occupancy sensor
4. Harness for above?
5. Driver seat position sensor
6. Harness for above?

I have to say my test fit made it apparent that the pursuit is well worth it. The seats are comfortable, save weight, look great, and add space for those of us who need those back seats.

One thing I did notice yesterday was that the driver's seat is "tipped" slightly to the right. Checking a seam in the seatback of the stock 4WSS+ on the passenger side with a small level, it is...level. The same seam as well as the harness frame on the driver's side P03 folding bucket is...slightly off level—matching the visual. I'll have to see if I bolted it down "cocked," but it seemed to sit on its bosses correctly. If so, I suppose two washers on the inside bosses would be all that is needed, but I'd rather avoid using washers. What do you guys with these seats see?

^ Super useful info. Years ago, I bought an expensive German-made tool for adding and subtracting pins from multi-pin connectors from a very cool store called Electronics Plus in San Rafael, which is something of a time warp. Sounds like it may come in handy again. Question: Do the factory wiring harnesses come with pins ready to be added? I am sure it is too much to ask that they come with indications of where they should go...probably leaving that to the Service Manual.

Precisely.

"P03 Folding Bucket seats" seems like one way to nail down what these seats are, as the naming among all enthusiasts has been all over the map. I wonder if "P03" was used as the spec/option code back in the 987/997 era. Would be nice to nail down a naming convention, even an informal one among enthusiasts, as "991 bucket" seems to prompt thoughts of 918 buckets every time—especially in North America. Which is understandable.

 

Good news, I got it solved! No airbag light on either seat, and the seat heaters work on both seats.

No, they don't. I ended up buying 1 additional 18-way wiring harness that I took apart to harvested pins/wires from. Nothing I've found that tells me what each wire does, other than tracing the wires on the harness I took apart myself.

On the main connector end (the one you took a picture of), the pins/wires are super easy to remove (which was very fortunate). However, every other connector on the harness is super difficult to remove the pins (you'd definitely need a specialized tool to make it easy).


I'm not sure why this is happening for you. But you are missing some additional pins (pins 4, 5, and 6) from the connector, which my driver seat came with. Those pins however, are going to a control box (big black box under the seat), part # 970.618.537.13. Funny part though, is I don't even know why that control box is there, or how it could be related to the seat heating, because it has 2 input connectors going in and 0 (of 1) output connectors coming out. If you're missing this, and think it's related, you can buy that part and scavenge the connectors/wires/pins from my 18-way harvesting harness if you want...

Specifically, you're missing the Red/Black-Stripe and 2 Orange wires, which are going to the control box (the 2 orange are inside the brown connector)

 

"P03 Folding Bucket seats" seems like one way to nail down what these seats are, as the naming among all enthusiasts has been all over the map. I wonder if "P03" was used as the spec/option code back in the 987/997 era. Would be nice to nail down a naming convention, even an informal one among enthusiasts, as "991 bucket" seems to prompt thoughts of 918 buckets every time—especially in North America. Which is understandable.[/QUOTE]


From https://www.stuttcars.com/technical/...7.2-2010-2013/

 

Congrats! Good news, and I hope you'll spill the beans on parts and procedures needed when you have some time. I am seeing this more and more as a minor "project" all its own, but a worthwhile one. Maybe...

^ Also good to know. If you ever need to borrow that tool (assuming it is helpful), you are welcome to do so.

Well, I think I found the reason the seat heat buttons light up and then go out: While my P03 folding bucket seats do have heating elements in their seat pads (the good news), those heating elements aren't plugged into anything (the bad news). That would probably explain it. I wonder if it's just a missing harness, and the regulators are mounted elsewhere, or if the regulators are attached to the bottom of the seats. Will look at my stock seats to learn more, which means I probably need to unbolt one of them again.

No 970.618.537.13 boxes like yours under my folding bucket seats, and no harnesses to the main connector or to the plugs for the seat pads. Looks like I am going to need some stuff, thanks to your post, although I am not sure what to make of the box under your seat (which I may need). A bit of digging seems to suggest p/n 970.618.537.13 is a memory control box:
https://www.porschepartsnow.com/oem-...le-97061853713
https://www.partssociety.com/product...1853713-19-278
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...81260-0699.pdf

But I cannot figure out why it would be on a bucket seat unless it also handles the seating position sensor and/or heating elements? (EDIT: No such box apparent under my stock US 4WSS+ driver's seat.) But then that prompts questions raised by your detailing of the way it is wired…

Well, there goes that idea—unless it is used to separate 987/997 era versions from the 981/991 era versions.

 

Thanks. I will try to work on the full write up sometime this week.

On the harness connector which you took a picture of, you do have all the seat heating pins available. As far as I know, those are 1, 2, 8, and 13. So now it's just a matter of wiring them up to a harness that connects to the pads.

Yes, I think you're right that it's a memory control box. On my 18-way seats, both the drivers side and passenger side have that box. On my Sport Bucket Seats, only the drivers side has that box (but with very minimal amount of wires going in, and none coming out). However, I can't imagine it's actually doing anything. I probably wouldn't bother with adding it to your Sport Bucket Seats.

I just checked the UK configurator for a 991 GT3 RS, and the option on the build sheet is called "P03 Sport bucket seats"

 

This is fantastic! My seats arrive Friday from Gert Carnewal and I came across this thread at the most opportune time. I'm anxiously looking forward to your final writeup later this week so I can get the necessary parts on order. Although we’re in the onset of winter here in the northeast, track days are only a couple months away and I can’t wait to get ‘strapped’ into a properly sorted 991.2 C4S on VIR the beginning of March.