vange_c4s

hi everyone,
so my seat has been uncomfortable since i got the car. looks like the bottom seat cushion has gone flat, and i sit in a hole. i arranged for a local guy to look at it. he proposed placing some foam he has under the existing seat cushion to build up the height. so out came the seat and off to the upholsterer this morning. should have it back in a few days. i hope it works well.

Barn996

Great idea, hope it comes back and does the trick for you comfortwise.

redridge

ummmmmm..... pics?

vange_c4s

hi ferdinand,
no before pix. general discription - the gathered leather pleats on the other seats was flattened out and not gathered. passenger has it to but not so bad. i will try some pix. maybe result of florida pre-life? strange indeed. but bummer no call from the upholsterer. it has been the better part of a week. i miss my c4s.

vange_c4s

i cant even believe it. called the upholsterer this morning about my seat. should have been ready three days ago. i get "oh we are really busy with big jobs that need to be completed by the holiday weekend". i explain that i cant drive the car without the seat. i get "well maybe i can fit it in next week if i can". i say fine. then i get in my car and drive down to pick up the seat. are you kidding?! long story short they are going to take care of me in two weeks. till then flat cushion. but i get to drive...

porka

get some 997 gt3 seats - they are so much more comfortable

fpb111

Order replacement foam from Sunset or Vertex for ~$80 and put it in yourself.
I have tried two different stock foam bottoms, picked the most likely and added some extra foam to it and reinforced the plastic seat bottom with aluminum. Now I have a bottom that fits mine.

vange_c4s

hi frank,
i thought about replacing the foam myself - but there are some clips that you need to crimp in place using a special pair of pliers. dealer told me in need to purchase these and other plastic clips as the old ones will be destroyed during cushion removal process. i am not sure how difficult it is to do. can you put a complexity factor on it/share your experience? i like to do repairs/mods myself if possible. thanks

ivangene

fixed

fpb111

I can't get pics right now but I will add some in a couple of hours.

I think the hardest part is removing the seat from the car.

I have an 03 with sport seats. Manual up/down & sliders - electric back angle.
This is what I had to do with these seats.

With the seat out:
I setup my Black and Decker workmate (BDW), perfect height for my seats, covered it with towels and put a towel on the floor where the headrest can touch.
Then put the seat, upside down, seat back away from me on the BDW.

You have to take the 2 screws out of the electrical switch escutcheon and disconnect electrical bits enough to get it out of the way. tools I used = small phillips and fingers.

The lower seat cover was held on by plastic channels that are attached to the covering. They slide over the edge of the seat pan. Push down on the seat and unclip the channels. - tools = hands fingers

The foam is held in place with a series of expanding plastic push throughs strung on a plastic ribbon that is threaded through the foam. I used a small pliers to compress the ears enough to slide the pins back through the holes in the pan to remove them. They get brittle so be gentle or just order them with the new foam.

If you flip the seat over at this point you can replace the foam with a little aggravation.

You can remove the seat bottom by pulling the pins out of the nylon clamps and unclipping the seatbelt wire. Lift the unit at the front and slide it out of the pan. You can actually do this while the seat is in the car and just wrestle with the escutcheon/bottom pan/foam/covering on a bench out of the car.

The 2nd through 4th times I took the bottom out I released the nylon clamps on the front rail, pulled the big pins, took the seat belt wire out of the clips on the bottom pan lifted the front slid the rear out and took it to the bench
The main connector can be removed from the pan by twisting it 90 deg and sliding the switches/escutcheon/harness through the hole in the side of the seat and leaving it in the car with the seat frame. The seat belt connector is held into the main connector by a sliding piece that can be removed to free it.

vange_c4s

thanks. sounds like i can do it. did you break any of the plastic push thrus - should i order the ribbon of them up front?

so big bummer today. i put my seat back in, connected the three electrical connectors, tightened the seat bolts to 48lb.ft, and finished off with the plastic pieces. Started up and ready for a nice ride when the airbag fault light come on with a follow up by the same message in the display. dissapointment. shut it off and started again - same thing. double checked everything. still airbag fault. bigger dissapointment. did the forum search. appears i should have disconnected the battery first? now that fault is set, even though everything is probably ok i need to go to the dealer to have it reset? help!

fpb111

The fault light will come on if you put/turn key in ign without seatbelt wire hooked up. Needs dealer or Duremetric to turn off. Buy the Duremetric it will pay for itself quickly.
http://www.durametric.com/buyus.aspx

The seat cushion w/o heat is the comfort foam for me yours may be different. The sport foam is very thin.

Order the foam pins. I only have two or three left. You may not really need them, the cover and foam shape have held the seat together for me.

Pics = Seat pan assy, front locks, rear hooks, foam locator pins, comfort part number, upholstery edge slides off pan, seat mat PN - get one, sport foam PN

vange_c4s

hey frank - great pix!! i have comfort seats too. ok - so i need some parts. as far as my fault light. i never moved the car with the seat out so how could that be? then i remembered the window glass was in the way when i was removing the seat from the car. so i turned on the ignition so i could open the window.... so is that what set off the fault light? in the future does disconecting the battery prevent this fault? the seat needs to come out again! thanks

vange_c4s

forgot is the Durameteric Enthusiast Kit sufficient?

Thundertub

Sorry for this OT but I couldn't help notice that the photos above show the part was made in GRAET BRITAIN. Yes, it is spelled GRAET on the tag. I'm pretty sure the Britains don't spell GREAT any different than we do, unless it was done in a Gaelic factory. Does that mean they were really made in CHINA and just imported through Ireland and then to Germany?