Drunken eBay Purchases

jarnold231

jarnold231

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So last Friday I went to the pub (in the Highlands this involves staying with a friend due lack of pubs within 8 miles of home and no public or private transport options) as it could have been expected it turned into a heavy night.

Turns out I put an offer in on a complete S4 B7 interior, black leather Recaros, rear seats door cards etc. Pretty happy with the deal I got.

My belief is that these should be a straightish swap for my current interior, although these seats are non-heated but are electric memory and my current set are heated but are not electric memory.

Anyone want to burst my bubble before I set off on my 950 mile round trip to get them?

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk
 
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pics would be good.
I did this upgrade and it is for the most part straight forward.
B7 seats are the way to go , unless you have memory seats already that function is a lot more complicated to retro fit as it involves extra switches and looms that wont be fitted in your car.
If you current ones are heated and the recaro's are not then they just wont work, if you plug them in and turn up the heat setting you will get an error .
check the drivers seat base bolsters for sagging , they are notorious for it on the outside edge, I replaced the base sponge but it wasn't cheap.
 
all depend on what you are paying for it all really and condition, if you have an avant make sure you get another set from an avant as back seats are not the same, it will work but wont be the same as parts are different.
 
Thanks for the info Rob - add said the bolsters were in good condition - but doesn't say anything about the seat base so will check. Not expecting the heating to work - but equally I was expecting to be able to plug in the relevant harness to get the seat adjustment and memory bit working. Obviously that was naive of me.

"Genuine black leather recaro interior in very good used condition. Almost no wear to it, not much wear to bolsters.. Comes complete with leather door cards.. Front seats are not heated but memory and electric!"


S l1600


S l1600 7

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S l1600 4
S l1600 1

 

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you will effectively be fitting heated seats that wont heat nor will the seat memory function but you'll still have the electric movement functions, neither is really a problem so wont stop you fitting them, just a shame you cant use those functions.
 
Accept that the heated seats wont work - my current cloth ones are heated, but I'm alright about losing that feature.

Regarding the electric memory - are you saying that the electric movement of them will work without a new loom, but in order to get the memory element from the door card I'd need to fit a new loom? If so - is this the type of thing: https://www.kufatec.com/en/comfort-...djustment-lordosis-for-audi-a4-b7-a4-b6-33857
 
yep, they look nice, drivers seat base bolster is sagging though , you can tell by the creases in the leather.
Check the drivers door card, if it has the seat memory switch fitted then you will be nearly there for that function, just some wiring to change and they should work .
Normally fitting the problem with memory seats is having all the bits , but in your case you have 90% already.
 
The seat movement is controlled by electric motors in the seat base which just needs power .
the memory function requires more parts inc a special module and extra switches to work , as you have acquired a complete setup you should only need the appropriate loom to run from the door switch to the seat module.
 
Happy days! Paid just over £450 for them with an eBay xmas discount. Seems my drunken self is not a totally incompetent shopper.

Now anyone in the market for a complete A4 B7 Avant interior with heated front seats?
 
One more question Rob - do you know if this lot will fit in the boot of an Avant with its current set of seats still in. I'm a tad ******** if it doesn't!
 
At £450 for the set it was about right , not cheap but not expensive.
It will go in your avant but a tight fit, just requires some carefull packing , the recaro's are heavy so best get them in the boot then work the rest in .
Just take a good look at the drivers seat base before you part with the money.
Like a say , the bolster foam deformation is a very common problem on these seats , constant in and out of the drivers seats is to blame as the foam is taller than s-line.
Check that the bolster is still rigid aswell , the metal framework that fits into the foam breaks and causes a bigger problem, trust me , been there first hand.

IMG 1745 1
IMG 1751 1
 
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I paid £425 for the same amount of kit , plus £150 for the new foam base and sundries so in all they cost me just under £600 , but they are in VGC now.
Really comfy seats, you'll love them.

better pic of what happens to the foam bolster.
img_1746-jpg.177726
 
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you can retro fit heating pads , not sure the cost makes it viable though, plus you need to strip down the seats , which, may lead to other issues.
All down to you though.
 
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Yeah sounds like it can lead to expensive problems - just thought it was interesting that the heating elements are just covers on the foam rather than more integral to the seat design.
 
The oem items are a flexible heating wire incased in a flexible material, an adhesive affixes the whole material cover ontop of the foam , once attached not designed to be removed, well I managed to get it off very carefully but would not recommend it and wouldn't do it again.
It took some time but saved a fair bit of extra expense that I did not factor into the project cost.
 
If you look at the seats very carefully you will notice the seat bases are not the same, they are left & right specific.
The outer seat base bolster has a slightly wider profile to the inner bolster so they are not inter changeable.
 
Just Rob. said:
If you look at the seats very carefully you will notice the seat bases are not the same, they are left & right specific.
The outer seat base bolster has a slightly wider profile to the inner bolster so they are not inter changeable.
Click to expand...

I had already had the bright idea to switch the driver and passenger seats - before quickly realising that that is a stupid idea.

Hadn't quite schemed my way to switching over the bases, but you've already gone and shot that premature dream in the back of the head :disrelieved::gun:
 
It was my first thought aswell when I got mine home.
I was looking at them and they were different so decided to just replace the foam, there is no really easy way to swap over seat bases to get around the bolster problem, even if you swapped over all the hardware .

you can see the difference in the pads from the new one I bought, the outer bolster is a different profile to the inner bolster.
IMG 1781 1
 
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Yeah - pretty clear. And these bolsters are £150 or so and presumably a massive **** to fit?
 
Anyway, you'll be fine chap, just get them fitted and enjoy.
Don't get too involved in stripping them down or messing around, just give them a good clean and some leather conditioner .:icon thumright:
 
jarnold231 said:
Yeah - pretty clear. And these bolsters are £150 or so and presumably a massive **** to fit?
Click to expand...
If the bolster feels firm and has good shape just leave it alone, a clean and moisture treatment will help .
If it is like this below then you'll need to sort it out .
IMG 1705
 
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But you think I'll need that cable run from the door card memory controller to the base connectors to get that element of it working?
 
I think it is very easy to get carried away with a project , sometimes you need to keep some signs of age and use in a car.
My old bus is not new, 76K miles and i'm the second owner since 29k miles, it nice and works for me.

The recaro's are nice , well very nice but not new so they blend well with the age and condition of it.
I could have replaced the foam and leather seat cover , but it would not have matched the rest .

The creases in the drivers seat base bolster were quite bad and a temp fix to the foam would not have lasted nor worked frankly, replacing the foam provided a much firmer support and structure for the seat cover , after some tlc with the cover and fitting it over the new foam pad the stretching has reduced the creasing a lot and only slight ones remain, so the looks are in keeping with the car now .
It works for me.:yes:
 
You can eliminate the seats as they are already memory , same with the door card and switching as it will have the correct loom already fiited.
you need to confirm the connections from the door loom to the seat loom connection.
Depending on which wires you have populating the seat plugs and what wires are present in the floor connection sockets will confirm what is required to complete the setup.
You have both ends , its just connecting them together.
 
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Ill give you advanced warning of my next pub trip Alex :)

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk
 
I know it sounds a bit odd, but I kind of liked that it had a bit of wear on it. My car is a 2005 (so same age as the seats) and I thought it would therefore match well.

And yes it's the ones in Norfolk. So just a quick 8 hour run down. Yay!

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk
 
jarnold231 said:
I know it sounds a bit odd, but I kind of liked that it had a bit of wear on it. My car is a 2005 (so same age as the seats) and I thought it would therefore match well.

And yes it's the ones in Norfolk. So just a quick 8 hour run down. Yay!

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Thought so i was in Norfolk on holiday at the time too!
 
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