Retrofitting extras???

killa_z

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• Sep 27, 2007

• #1

how much hassle is it to fit the follwing after buying a car which doesnt have the following (if possible):

front centre armrest
cruise control
heated seats


am looking for a car and am thinking it can be a little quicker if i wasnt looking for one meeting the overspecific criteria i have in my head with my budget so was wondering if it is possible to make these add ons later on

 

mitch78

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• Sep 27, 2007

• #2

:thumbsup:

 

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Boydie

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• Sep 28, 2007

• #3

Myself and a mate fitted the arm rest - easily done but quite brutal, you have to butcher your centre console

we put the template down, heated up a scalpel (spl) and drew round it for our outline, then used a jigsaw to cut it out roughly then re-heated the scalpel and neatly trimmed the edge - perfect job in my opinion!

 

killa_z

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• Sep 28, 2007

• #4

i figured as much as far as the armrest was concerned but am more unsure about the heated seats, possible?

 

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jasaudi

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• Sep 28, 2007

• #5

The heated seats will be possible, but and it is a big but you are going to have to strip the whole seat down to fit it. This will then mean restretching the leather onto the seat etc.

Of the jobs you mention, this is the one where if you screw it up it is a costly fix either because you could mess up the leather. running wires etc easy but you will need to ensure you use heavy gauge wires or they could overheat and cause a fire. Not an issue but make sure you don't under spec it.

 

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Savage

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• Oct 1, 2007

• #6

I was wondering about the heated seats.

I had an old Cavalier Turbo, an option was heated leather. The car I bought didn't have heated leather, just normal leather. THe funny thing is, all of them came with the heated seats and the wiring loom + all the clips installed - VX just didn't install the buttons in the dash and wire them up. So a £15 button set and a bit of rummaging behind the dash gave me the heated seats.

 

JamS3

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• Oct 1, 2007

• #7

Audi dont do this I'm afraid, you would think it would make sense but no wiring loom or heating elements in the seat if non heated option is specified.

 

benw123

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• Oct 1, 2007

• #8

With regard to heated seats, occasionally on eBay you might find a leather interior for an A3, and these have the wiring looms inside with connectors ready. The question is whether the rest of the loom is available inside the car, much like Savage described with the Cavalier. I think stripping down the seats is going to be difficult and prone to damage too.

 

JamS3

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• Oct 2, 2007

• #9

I did buy a leather interior for my Golf VR6 once from a scrappy and they were heated. I only had to buy a OEM switch to fit in the dash and then took it to a local auto electrician who got the wiring diagram from the local VW dealer and they built a loom which worked themselves for not much money really.

The heating was fully adjustable just like OEM.