A5 seats into an A3 ?!?

munchkincoupe

munchkincoupe

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I'm looking at fitting a set of front seats from an A5 coupe into my 3 door 8P1. I've been told they will bolt straight in with no alterations but will the airbag be compatible? does it just need a plug change or will it not work at all?

Thanks for quick replies
 
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Yeah they fit.. You need to chop one of the locator lungs off from under bottom of the seat, and the air bag plug.

That's it. Took me 20mins and I didn't even know if they was going to fit at the time
 
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Did you just attach the correct corresponding plug for the A5 airbag to the wiring in the A3 then or have you spliced the wiring together?

Did you need to get the airbag error code cleared too?

Thanks
 
audi upgrades
Like Warren said one locator lug needs chopping and then straight bolt on.
For the airbag, I replaced the plug and service cables of the seat with a new one from the S3.
Everything spot on.
FYI, I fitted the rear seats from a S5 as well but that was a more complicated project. Needed a capable fitter
who had to shorten the backrest of the S5 and fitted it on the frame of the S3. see photos.










 
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Excellent thanks ... I sort of understood that the front seats would bolt in but it's the electrics that concerned me .. Ive got the heated bucket seats and need to swap out "for access" and can't find the original s3 types so thought a retro s5 would be good ...

Any idea if the you need more plugs/ looms for electric controlled seats or would are they standard ( I've got heated etc in mys3) or would I need to fit another loom
 
Richie_h_uk said:
Excellent thanks ... I sort of understood that the front seats would bolt in but it's the electrics that concerned me .. Ive got the heated bucket seats and need to swap out "for access" and can't find the original s3 types so thought a retro s5 would be good ...

Any idea if the you need more plugs/ looms for electric controlled seats or would are they standard ( I've got heated etc in mys3) or would I need to fit another loom
Click to expand...

Under the S5 seat there is a electronics module that is connected to the MMI, that the S3 does not have. All seat cabling go through that module, therefore some work must be done to make all the connections correctly on the S3.
On the top part of the backrest of S5 seat there is a switch for the easy entry, that should move the seat forward/backward, only with the door open. So you have to find the cables and connect to your door or courtesy light switch.The heated seat cables must be bypassed from the electronics module. I have yet to connect the heated seats. plug housing and service cables are needed. I had an Audi technician do the work for me. I can give you more info after we finish work.
 
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Richie_h_uk said:
Excellent thanks ... I sort of understood that the front seats would bolt in but it's the electrics that concerned me .. Ive got the heated bucket seats and need to swap out "for access" and can't find the original s3 types so thought a retro s5 would be good ...

Any idea if the you need more plugs/ looms for electric controlled seats or would are they standard ( I've got heated etc in mys3) or would I need to fit another loom
Click to expand...

PMd
 
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Klick thanks for the info - it sounds a bit of a mission but doable. I'm assuming the A5 s line seats will be the same.

Would any Audi dealer or auto electrician do the electric work? Or is it a mate sorting as it were

The forward tilt switch linked to the door, do the normal seats not also have this Or would it be worth getting an older model a5 seat??

Sorry to be a pain and thanks for any help you can give
 
Richie_h_uk said:
Klick thanks for the info - it sounds a bit of a mission but doable. I'm assuming the A5 s line seats will be the same.

Would any Audi dealer or auto electrician do the electric work? Or is it a mate sorting as it were

The forward tilt switch linked to the door, do the normal seats not also have this Or would it be worth getting an older model a5 seat??

Sorry to be a pain and thanks for any help you can give
Click to expand...

if you mean the regular S3 seat, no. In the case of the S5 (I asume the A5 is the same), everything goes through the electronics module under the seat. If you do not put people in the back that can play with that switch while you are driving, then you can supply a + and earth to the seat and all electrics including lumbar support will work. Connecting to your door switch is a safety feature.
e.g. buy a plug cover from the S3's seat and service cables, fit them on the A5/S5 seat, then connect to the lumbar support of the car. All seat functions will work.

Contact NHN, I am sure he is capable of doing the job. I doubt Audi will accept to do it.
good luck
 
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Excuse my ignorance.... NHN??

So I guess I just need to take the plunge and buy them then sort the wires out ... I got a technical background so I should be able to figure it out..

Any idea where I can get the wiring diagrams from?

Thanks for all the help
 
Richie_h_uk said:
Excuse my ignorance.... NHN??

So I guess I just need to take the plunge and buy them then sort the wires out ... I got a technical background so I should be able to figure it out..

Any idea where I can get the wiring diagrams from?

Thanks for all the help
Click to expand...

NHN is a member on here, Nigel. He's a great guy, and will help you sort out just about any retro-fit issues, from seats to nav and more. If Audi make it, he can put it in you car. He can also supply just about any mods you fancy (from Audi).
 
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I managed to get the 2 diagrams for the electrical connection of the seats for A3 and A5.
hope this helps.



 
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I really really fancy doing this mod to mine, silly question but do the electric seats have a lever to move them manually or do I have to find manual seats?

I would like to have the airbags working though... side airbags pretty much saved my mates life...
 
it is unlikely but if youre up my way in scotland im sure we can come to some form of arrangement now i have gotten my garage clear with space for 2 cars :)
 
Ok so working on a friends car who has got himself A5 electric, heating and lumbar support... i have wired in the lumbar and electrics but the heating is really confusing me...

so if i wire the heating seat pad directly into a fused connection it works, but if i connect it as per oem A3 diagrams on elsa then the seats dont warm up at all. I have also tested my wiring by disconnecting a wire and a fault appears on VCDS on the Auto HVAC control unit but as soon as i reconnect the wire and rescan the fault disappears. how on earth though do i get the seats to actually heat up?
Has anyone actually managed to get heated seats working on A5 seats?
 
This is what I am trying to figure out with my audi s4 seats from a 2007. The heated seats are the only problem for me aswell. Does anyone have any experiance with these working with s4 seats in an a3?
 
and here i was today hunting A5 seats for my A4 cab
stright fit looks like there will be in there soon
 
i will be looking into it deeper and see if i can rewire the heated seats around the control module on the A5 seats as the A3 does not know how to talk to it. if i had more time on my hands i may have even tried to see if i could make the A5 control module talk to the A3 and see if i can even get memory seats working :p

this cold weather really does not help as its so hard to work on the cars later on in the day
 
Its one of my projects for next year once I put the seats into the trimmers gotta get engaged first though before I spend over a grand on trimming
 
Why not take the heating elements out of your stock seats and put them in the S5 seats?
 
Ash there is a solution to your problem with heating. Has been done already and apparently works just fine.

You need to connect lower part of the heating seat to climatronic panel, and upper part of seat by using relay to electric seat adjustment button. That way seat should heat up to maximum within 2min with no problem.

It has something to do with Audi using voltage modules on the newer cars that reduce voltage from 14V to 12,5V once car engine starts.
 
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KOZI said:
Ash there is a solution to your problem with heating. Has been done already and apparently works just fine.
Click to expand...

Talk to me!

KOZI said:
You need to connect lower part of the heating seat to climatronic panel
Click to expand...

This has already been done and no errors from the car

KOZI said:
and upper part of seat by using relay to electric seat adjustment button. That way seat should heat up to maximum within 2min with no problem.
Click to expand...

right so that way the upper part is connected to a constant power? wont that just make the upper pads warm up all the time? also is there a link to a thread where this is all described properly?
thanks
 
im all ears on this just about have everything to goto the trimmers with mine
 
Ash187 said:
Talk to me!



This has already been done and no errors from the car



right so that way the upper part is connected to a constant power? wont that just make the upper pads warm up all the time? also is there a link to a thread where this is all described properly?
thanks
Click to expand...

I wouldn't imagine that there is an issue with this type of connection since i guy for another forum that made this modification did not report any issues afterwards. Let me check that with him and i will get back to you guys ASAP.
 
So apparently the 'relay' he used is an answer to everything. The way I understand it is that on the wire that goes from bottom to upper part of the seat he fit in a relay that controls voltage and power that is used to heat up the upper part of a seat. That way if there is no signal from climate control to the seat about heating being turned on, the seat remains turned off. And whey signal is sent then a relay is doing its job. If that makes any sense.

and another thing, just today I found out about different solution as well but i have only pictures of the device that was built to do the trick. I don't have any other details apart from that it has been made by some electrician to get heating working on 2013 sline seats from a3. Lovely seats tho.
I can post pictures here if anyone is interested
 
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KOZI said:
So apparently the 'relay' he used is an answer to everything. The way I understand it is that on the wire that goes from bottom to upper part of the seat he fit in a relay that controls voltage and power that is used to heat up the upper part of a seat. That way if there is no signal from climate control to the seat about heating being turned on, the seat remains turned off. And whey signal is sent then a relay is doing its job. If that makes any sense.

and another thing, just today I found out about different solution as well but i have only pictures of the device that was built to do the trick. I don't have any other details apart from that it has been made by some electrician to get heating working on 2013 sline seats from a3. Lovely seats tho.
I can post pictures here if anyone is interested
Click to expand...

Great....Do you know what sort of relay he used ?

If you can post pictures of the second solution that would great also.......
 
Thought I'll give a little update guys.

KOZI has given me some info I would like to share.

Here are the pics of the other different solution.

20130228 23082420130228 230843

And Below is The New Audi S-line A3 8V seats in a 8p ...

20130225145421.jpg


Just waiting for some more info ....I'll post when this is all solved.
 
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bez101 said:
and here i was today hunting A5 seats for my A4 cab
stright fit looks like there will be in there soon
Click to expand...
Hi just seen your message and wanted to put some a A5 convertible seats in my A4 convertible, do you manage to get yours to fit from your post above?
thanks Steve
 
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