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*UPDATE* Solution for fitting these seats to a US car can be found here (Post #108)
Searched around but could not really find a solid answer. Does anyone know if the GT2 bucket seat (foldable one) was successfully fitted into 991.2 with the airbag adaptor? I reached out to suncoast and it looks like the 991.2 airbag adapter is not compatible with the GT2 bucket adapter. However, I've been few European Carrera T spec'ed with the GT2 bucket seat, so it seems like the solution is there.
How I Installed 991 Euro Spec Folding Sport Bucket Seats (P03) in a US Car
!!! WARNING and Disclaimer !!! This is not a guide, it’s just documentation of what I did, and I am NOT recommending you follow suit. Much of what is detailed below is tricking the car’s air bag system into thinking these seats are compliant. Any tampering with the car’s air bag system will put yourself and your passengers at risk. I do not take any responsibility for what you do with the information detailed in this post/thread, this information is offered for you to use or not use at your sole discretion and understanding of the serious risks involved.
When I installed these seats I quickly found out that neither seat is plug-n-play, and that I got an airbag light on my dash after installing the seats.
These are the options I had:
Live with the airbag light always on (and potential risks associated with that).
Have my car coded to remove/fix the airbag light. (A few places, like BGB Motorsports, have been able to do this)
Remove parts from my original US seats and retrofit them to the Sport bucket seats. (Least expensive solution)
Buy the necessary parts and install them on my new Sport bucket seats.
The details below show how I went about option #4 to eliminate the airbag light by "satisfying" all the car’s requirements (i.e. tricking), as well as how I retained the seat heating functionality on the Sport bucket seats.
Error Codes
These are the error codes I got when I installed the Sport bucket seats without any modifications.
Driver’s Side:
002804 - Seat position sensor driver 5%, open circuit
Passenger Side:
002B04 - Seat position sensor passenger 5%, open circuit
002104 - Front passenger buckle, open circuit
00611F - Seat occupancy detection, open circuit
Parts
Here are all the parts I bought to solve these error codes. I tried not to remove anything from my original seats (except one thing because I wasn’t sure if a new part would work without coding).
Ordered from the Dealer:
(1) 991.622.784.01 - Passenger Seat Wiring Harness. This is the simplest harness I could find with all the connections I needed for the passenger side. It’s from a 991.2 GT3 with 4WSS+ w/ seat heating. However, I did need to modify this harness to use the correct connector for the seating heating on the sport bucket seat.
(1) 991.803.184.07 - Passenger Seat Belt Buckle.
(2) 9P1.980.341 - Seat position sensor. Need one for each side (driver seat and passenger seat). This actually isn’t the correct part number for a 991, because the dealer was having trouble figuring out the right part number. It’s for some other car in Porsche’s lineup (Cayenne?), but it worked well enough (even though it looks very different).
(1) 9P1.971.391.C - Driver Seat Wiring Harness. This was a sacrificial part for me. I used it to pull some pin/wires from to make my seat position connection on the driver’s side sport bucket seat. And I used it to pull a seat heating connector off of, so I could splice it on to the passenger side harness I bought (which had the wrong type of seat heating connector).
Found on eBay:
(1) Passenger Occupant Sensor Pad. There isn’t a good way to buy just this part from the dealer. It’s sold as a matched set with the sensor module, sensor pad, and seat cushion, which are all calibrated together (see service manual warning below). Also, this matched set is very expensive (I’ve heard something like $2500?). When searching eBay, any Porsche/Audi/VW pad ~should~ work as long as it has the right connector (typically from around 2012 to 2017 model year vehicles)
(1) Male Seat Belt Buckle Clasp. Bought this to leave permanently installed in my new Passenger Seat Belt Buckle.
Reused from Original Passenger Seat:
(1) 970.618.245.03 - Passenger Occupant Sensor Module. I’ve heard this part is coded to the car, and I couldn’t find one on eBay for cheap enough to test out that theory, so I just removed it from my original passenger seat (which was very easy to do).
Here's a warning from the Service Manual about replacing the Occupant Sensor.
Here's one example of an Occupant Sensor Pad that can be found on eBay. They can be found in several different shapes. This particular one from a Porsche Cayenne ended up fitting very well.
Most important thing to pay attention to when I was shopping for one of these Occupant Sensor Pads on eBay is that the black connector (pictured above) has a 3-pin layout (pictured below).
Here's a picture that shows the difference between the original 991 Seat Position Sensor, which I couldn't find the part number for, and the Seat Position Sensor I ended up purchasing for this project (which ended up working out fine).
Solving the Airbag Light on the Driver Side Sport Bucket Seat
Overview of Steps:
Add Pins for Seat Position Sensor to the main connector of the existing bucket harness
Connect Seat Position Sensor
First I started out by un-taping part of the new Driver Seat Wiring Harness I purchased. I wanted to harvest two things from this harness. The Seat Position Sensor Connector and pins, and the Wide 4-pin Seat Heating Connector (to be used later...)
This was relatively easy to un-tape. I also think I could have removed the Seat Position Sensor Connector and pins from my original driver's seat harness (if I didn't want to buy this extra harness), without being destructive to the harness.
Here's what the Seat Position Sensor Connector and pins looks like once removed from the main harness connector.
Then I simply wired that connector I just removed to the Driver's Seat Harness that comes with the Bucket Seat. Here's the pin layout:
Here's what the main harness connector will looked like once I was done. Also note that each of those pin blocks within the yellow connector (the grey, grey, and black pin blocks) easily slide out; the yellow plastic is just a shell holding all those blocks together.
Here's the completed underside of the Driver's Side Bucket
Solving the Airbag Light on the Passenger Side Sport Bucket Seat
Overview of Steps:
Install new Passenger Seat Wiring Harness
Reuse Thorax connector from existing bucket harness
Install and Connect the new Seat Belt Buckle
Connect Seat Position Sensor
Connect Passenger Occupant Sensor Module
Connect Passenger Occupant Sensor Mat
Once I did all these steps, this is what the completed underside of the Passenger Side Bucket looked like:
Fixing the Seat Heating on the Passenger Side Sport Bucket Seat
Overview of Steps:
Splice the seat heating connector from new Passenger Seat Wiring Harness to correct seat heating connector needed by existing bucket harness
The new Passenger Seat Wiring Harness that I bought doesn't have the right 4-pin Seat Heating Connector needed by the Passenger Side Bucket Seat. It does have all the seat heating pins and wires, but they are just going to the wrong type of connector. So I spliced those wires onto a connector that I harvested from the Drivers Seat Wiring Harness. I created a custom Molex connector to join the two halves.
The Passenger Seat Wiring Harness that I bought has this connector:
But I need a connector that looks like this, so I clipped this connector from the Drivers Seat Harness that I bought.
Then I followed this pin layout from the original Passenger Side Bucket's harness seat heating connector:
And created this custom seat heating adapter/connector:
Result
The seats look great, and no airbag light!
Bonus Parts
Plastic Trim Pieces. These go on the front of the slide rails. If I already had manual fore/aft adjusting seats, then I could have just reused all my existing trim. But with the fully electric seats, I could only reuse 2 of 4 of these trim pieces (plus I broke 2 of them, so I just bought a whole new set).
!!! WARNING and Disclaimer !!! I repeat, this is not a guide, it’s just documentation of what I did, and I am NOT recommending you follow suit. Much of what is detailed above is tricking the car’s air bag system into thinking these seats are compliant. Any tampering with the car’s air bag system will put yourself and your passengers at risk. I do not take any responsibility for what you do with the information detailed in this post/thread, this information is offered for you to use or not use at your sole discretion and understanding of the serious risks involved.
I don't believe Porsche supports these seats in the U.S., likely as a result of having to certify yet another seat for the U.S. market and a decision that most customers would prefer the new 918-style bucket, and their absence from Suncoast and other usual vendors who sell desirable RoW parts is interesting.
For all that, they certainly are appealing. I saw a set of them in a 991.2 Carrera GTS while in the UK last week and was reminded how well they fit my form and how their ultra-thin backrest might even add a bit of leg/knee room for rear-seat passengers.
In the US seats must now be height adjustable which the folding buckets are not. That is why they are not sold in the US on new vehicles. Can’t help on the airbags.
I don't believe Porsche supports these seats in the U.S., likely as a result of having to certify yet another seat for the U.S. market and a decision that most customers would prefer the new 918-style bucket, and their absence from Suncoast and other usual vendors who sell desirable RoW parts is interesting.
For all that, they certainly are appealing. I saw a set of them in a 991.2 Carrera GTS while in the UK last week and was reminded how well they fit my form and how their ultra-thin backrest might even add a bit of leg/knee room for rear-seat passengers.
The one in that link is actually somewhat cheaper than what I've been seeing, ~8k as opposed to 10k+. It is definitely on another level given a Recaro pair would probably run you about 2k. So 6k to have side airbags and the OEM look, might be worth it for someone (assuming the fit is there)
I don't believe Porsche supports these seats in the U.S., likely as a result of having to certify yet another seat for the U.S. market and a decision that most customers would prefer the new 918-style bucket, and their absence from Suncoast and other usual vendors who sell desirable RoW parts is interesting.
For all that, they certainly are appealing. I saw a set of them in a 991.2 Carrera GTS while in the UK last week and was reminded how well they fit my form and how their ultra-thin backrest might even add a bit of leg/knee room for rear-seat passengers.
If that is the case, anyone can confirm the 991 version GT2 bucket seat is plug and play in the 991.2?
I would totally opt for getting 918 LWB but except they're nearly impossible to get them here in the US after configuring the car. And folks are selling them at the cost of a kidney. I wish Porsche would allow folks to order them after delivery as long as the car was qualified to order from the beginning. 1 per customer attached to the VIN or some type of rule.
I have done that with the carbon fibre GT2 Foldable seats and they worked fine. It takes a good Porsche Mechanic to switch over the electronics to stop the faults. I am really happy with the result and I love being able to access the rear seat with these seats.
The new 991.2 GT3 seats are fixed and I think are quite difficult to access the back area.
I put mine in from my last car and they work.
I had them in my last 997.2 and they were successfully installed in the 991.2. I think they took apart the electronics from the original 991.2 seats and reinstalled them in the GT2 Carbon buckets. I wanted this to use a HANS device with a proper track set up.
It can be done with a good Porsche Mechanic who is willing to be a little creative.
Good Luck
We have a full set of the Euro-spec carbon fiber 997 GT2 folding bucket seats for a 991. They are not US-compliant and do not have the airbag warning sensor but if anyone is interested shoot us a PM and we can give you some more details. These will NOT be covered under any Porsche warranty as these are not intended for the US market.
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So the 918 LWB are $5200 in a Carrera T. Looks like the 997 GT2-style buckets—which aren't available in any US 991 and fit my body better than the 918 seats while offering access to the 991's rear seats and cargo area—go for $8k~, and my guess is they will retain a fair bit of that value. And you still have a pair of 4WSS+ that can either be stored in pristine condition or sold. These don't seem like a bad value to me, especially if the 991 version of the 997 GT2 seats Carnewal is selling (and Suncoast, it sounds like, can get) are plug and play. If not, and the harness or sensors need some work to work in a U.S. car, I'd love to learn more about that.
I will say the 997 GT2 seats looked great in the 991.2 GTS that I saw in England, maybe better in a 991 than in a 997—which I would not have predicted.
I followed up with carnewal and they confirmed will fit in 991 and it's plug and plug. Only thing need to do is getting someone with PiWIS to disable the weight sensor (Passenger weight sensor?). The price for a pair is pretty tempting.
I wonder if anyone in the Bay Area has them in 997 I could sit in.. and wonder how they are in height.
I followed up with carnewal and they confirmed will fit in 991 and it's plug and plug. Only thing need to do is getting someone with PiWIS to disable the weight sensor (Passenger weight sensor?). The price for a pair is pretty tempting.
I wonder if anyone in the Bay Area has them in 997 I could sit in.. and wonder how they are in height.
You can also find them in a 987 Boxster Spyder or Cayman R. There are a lot of these seats around in the Bay Area, so hopefully a Rennlister might be able to help. Mooty may even know of a pair near you.
Height is the one bummer with these, as they sat me up a bit higher in 987s or 997s that I like. It wasn't bad, and I figured that I might have a shop modify the stock brackets or make me new brackets if I owned a car with them. They looked like they sat lower in the 991 I saw with them, and I now wish I had asked to sit in the car.
From what we've heard there is a special European/German software that US dealers cannot use. We are putting Recaro Profi SPG's in our 718 track car and we have to take the car to BGB Motorsports to have the codes clear. We have a feeling Porsche wrote the US PIWIS software so you can't code out safety warnings like the seat occupancy. This is uncharted waters for us as we haven't tried swapping out Euro seats until just this week. We got error lights but our techs couldn't clear them (and we're a Porsche dealer). If someone has a way to clear codes with a US PIWIS we're all ears!
You can also find them in a 987 Boxster Spyder or Cayman R. There are a lot of these seats around in the Bay Area, so hopefully a Rennlister might be able to help. Mooty may even know of a pair near you.
Height is the one bummer with these, as they sat me up a bit higher in 987s or 997s that I like. It wasn't bad, and I figured that I might have a shop modify the stock brackets or make me new brackets if I owned a car with them. They looked like they sat lower in the 991 I saw with them, and I now wish I had asked to sit in the car.
Agree. I think worst comes to worst I’ll see if I could get a custom made bracket that sits lower.
I’ll reach out to Mooty to see if there’s anyone I could meet to sit in the car. Thanks!
Originally Posted by SuncoastParts
From what we've heard there is a special European/German software that US dealers cannot use. We are putting Recaro Profi SPG's in our 718 track car and we have to take the car to BGB Motorsports to have the codes clear. We have a feeling Porsche wrote the US PIWIS software so you can't code out safety warnings like the seat occupancy. This is uncharted waters for us as we haven't tried swapping out Euro seats until just this week. We got error lights but our techs couldn't clear them (and we're a Porsche dealer). If someone has a way to clear codes with a US PIWIS we're all ears!
That’s a bummer but good to know I guess. It sounds like the only gating piece is the occupancy sensor warning (which to activate the airbag). Again, I presume you are right on about the US PIWIS not able to clear the code. Again, I‘ve seen folks on the forum taking delivery of the T with the GT2 bucket seat but they are all in Europe.
07-03-2018 | 01:33 AM
GT2 bucket in 991.2
Need to find out if it works first!
