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      05-21-2020, 04:34 PM   #23
3t3p
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Where you guys getting seats from breaker yards?
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      05-21-2020, 04:44 PM   #24
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Originally Posted by 3t3p View Post
Where you guys getting seats from breaker yards?
There’s many sets available if you live on the coasts

Almost impossible to get in the Midwest unless you want to go get them

Edit: just saw you’re from the Uk, don’t know what to tell ya there
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      05-21-2020, 05:26 PM   #25
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 3t3p View Post
Where you guys getting seats from breaker yards?
Yes. Best to collect as soon as they advertise them though as some suck at safely storing things that aren't Big Lumps of Metal*, while others struggle with the idea of protective wrapping when shipping**.

*Looked good in the pictures, on arrival was not only very dusty, but had bird crap on the leather. Plus, the lower seat frame (and the electronics...) had clearly been sat in water for some time after the pictures were taken. The leather can be cleaned, corroded metal and electrical components are forever...

**The clips that hold the door cards on are the perfect size and shape to damage the surface finish on both the seats and the door cards. Heat will sort the former, the cards, not so much.
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      05-23-2020, 07:36 AM   #26
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Another tip: It appears that being a Keyboard Warrior does not prepare your hands for what must be a normal day for car upholsterers. Wear gloves...
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      05-24-2020, 08:24 AM   #27
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Okay, so mixed results.

Fitting - apart from the effort of lifting seats in and out slowly and carefully - was plug and play.

Modules were swapped from old to new seats, and the battery was disconnected for the whole process on unplugging, swapping and plugging back in.

But the airbag lights are on, and the side bolsters don't work (although the lumbar support does)

Everything else works as before.

Edit: Maybe I should have swapped the seatbelt tensioners as well...

For reference:
Old seats: M2 LCI electric seats with side bolster adjustment
New seats: M2C electric seats with side bolster and lumbar adjustment
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Last edited by M Fifty; 05-24-2020 at 09:45 AM.. Reason: Enlightenment.
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      05-25-2020, 08:17 AM   #28
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M Fifty View Post
Okay, so mixed results.

Fitting - apart from the effort of lifting seats in and out slowly and carefully - was plug and play.

Modules were swapped from old to new seats, and the battery was disconnected for the whole process on unplugging, swapping and plugging back in.

But the airbag lights are on, and the side bolsters don't work (although the lumbar support does)

Everything else works as before.

Edit: Maybe I should have swapped the seatbelt tensioners as well...

For reference:
Old seats: M2 LCI electric seats with side bolster adjustment
New seats: M2C electric seats with side bolster and lumbar adjustment
Not sure if it applies, but I've swapped leather seats to the cloth seats on my M2, and I not only had to change the module, but also the wiring harness as the wiring was not 100% the same between the seats (the plug is the same, but the wiring is either re-arranged or was missing).

If your seatbelt tensioner was "tightened" due to an accident, it'll need to be replaced/swapped, otherwise you'll get the AirBag light.

So, i'd start with the wiring (it should be too hard, except for the two wires that go where the side controls are).
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      05-25-2020, 11:48 AM   #29
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Having gone back and checked the wiring, I discovered the side bolsters are working, they were just completely deflated, so took a while (I'm skinny).

That just leaves the airbag light, which I suspect is the seatbelt tensioner on the driver's seat. That one had a blown airbag, but I didn't think to change the tensioner as well as it didn't appear to have fired.
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      05-25-2020, 01:16 PM   #30
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How you been checking breakers directly Mfifty?
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      05-25-2020, 01:58 PM   #31
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Well, look for one advertising M2C parts on eBay, then go and check their website. I got a set of M2C mirrors that way too.
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      05-26-2020, 03:49 PM   #32
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Seats look fantastic How the car should have come from the factory!

Steering wheel looks great too.

Quote:
Originally Posted by M Fifty View Post
...That one had a blown airbag, but I didn't think to change the tensioner as well as it didn't appear to have fired.
ouch... gotta be careful there...
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      05-26-2020, 05:11 PM   #33
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Fortunately, I still have the one from the original seat...
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      06-06-2020, 03:54 PM   #34
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M Fifty View Post
Okay, so mixed results.

Fitting - apart from the effort of lifting seats in and out slowly and carefully - was plug and play.

Modules were swapped from old to new seats, and the battery was disconnected for the whole process on unplugging, swapping and plugging back in.

But the airbag lights are on, and the side bolsters don't work (although the lumbar support does)

Everything else works as before.

Edit: Maybe I should have swapped the seatbelt tensioners as well...

For reference:
Old seats: M2 LCI electric seats with side bolster adjustment
New seats: M2C electric seats with side bolster and lumbar adjustment

How are the new seats treating you?
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      06-06-2020, 05:14 PM   #35
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Noting that I'm driving so little at the moment that the battery is going flat - I like them a lot. I plan to treat them to a full going over with BMW leather lotion shortly, once I've given them another clean.

Just need to get the seat with the blown bag repaired once the fixings arrive.

Last edited by M Fifty; 06-06-2020 at 05:16 PM.. Reason: verb usage
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      06-06-2020, 06:14 PM   #36
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Modern leather doesn't absorb anything. It just needs cleaning. Unless you do it for the smell which I get.
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      06-10-2020, 06:00 AM   #37
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Quote:
Originally Posted by F87_LCI View Post
Very nice OP. Except seems you missed a key part of the install. I mean, if you were going to all the trouble of taking the seats out...may as well have gone all the way!
.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by F87_LCI View Post
Very nice OP. Except seems you missed a key part of the install. I mean, if you were going to all the trouble of taking the seats out...may as well have gone all the way!
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What roll cage is that been looking for one . Thanks looks great ! Waiting to see if someone sells one used !
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      06-26-2020, 03:00 PM   #38
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M Fifty View Post
Noting that I'm driving so little at the moment that the battery is going flat - I like them a lot. I plan to treat them to a full going over with BMW leather lotion shortly, once I've given them another clean.

Just need to get the seat with the blown bag repaired once the fixings arrive.
Seat fixed, airbag lights off (cost £78 - but they valeted the car*). Oddly, the M2C seat leather does absorb BMW Leather lotion, even though the stuff on the original seats doesn't.

*It had cobwebs on the mirrors and wipers, and copious amounts of dust after sitting for several months. So this was a Good Thing.
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      06-26-2020, 09:51 PM   #39
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M Fifty View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by M Fifty View Post
Noting that I'm driving so little at the moment that the battery is going flat - I like them a lot. I plan to treat them to a full going over with BMW leather lotion shortly, once I've given them another clean.

Just need to get the seat with the blown bag repaired once the fixings arrive.
Seat fixed, airbag lights off (cost £78 - but they valeted the car*). Oddly, the M2C seat leather does absorb BMW Leather lotion, even though the stuff on the original seats doesn't.

*It had cobwebs on the mirrors and wipers, and copious amounts of dust after sitting for several months. So this was a Good Thing.
How specifically did you fix the airbag light? I just did the swap an hour ago to M2C seats for my OG (thanks Rocketboots!) I moved the seatbelt buckles only, aside from the airbag light and the button on the back of the seat to go forward and back everything else works. Thanks!
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      06-27-2020, 06:42 AM   #40
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Poffman View Post
How specifically did you fix the airbag light? I just did the swap an hour ago to M2C seats for my OG (thanks Rocketboots!) I moved the seatbelt buckles only, aside from the airbag light and the button on the back of the seat to go forward and back everything else works. Thanks!

Several separate things here:

First, the backstory.

I originally bought a complete interior on which the driver's seat airbag was blown, and the seatbelt tensioner had fired.

I got fed up waiting for the automotive upholsterer to reopen over the past few months so bought another driver's seat from a crashed car and fitted that along with the passenger seat from the full interior.

During fitting, I followed the advice to swap the seat modules over to make sure everything worked (plus, I really wasn't interested in swapping the airbags which seems to be the other approach). This worked for both seats, but the seat bolsters didn't seem to be working although the lumbar adjustment (which my original seats didn't have) did. It turned out the bolsters were just deflated and took longer to pump back up than I was expecting. All other buttons worked fine.

But, I had a warning light for Driver Restraint System. At this point I was trying to understand the differences in the looms between the original and replacement seats to see if this could be the cause. As it turned out, unplugging the passenger seat with the battery still connected will give you a Passenger Restraint System warning light too.

On the off chance that the Driver Restraint System light was due to the seatbelt tensioner, I swapped both tensioners with the ones from the original seats. The light wasn't going to go out, but at least I had known good ones fitted.

Having tried to clear the codes with a neighbour's code reader, I then book the care into BMW to get them removed.

While all this was going on, the driver's seat with the blown airbag was still sitting around and the automotive upholster had reopened. The cost of getting the cover professionally repaired and refitted (including the new bag) was about 1/4rd that of a new cover from BMW (fitting extra). So I took that to be repaired and picked it up a week later. I genuinely cannot see the repair, although he did remark that matching the thread colour was a pain and he had to buy it in just for this seat. Honoured his original price though.

Now, fitting.

Having found out how easy it is to cause warning lights, a quick check:

Did you disconnect the battery first and did you swap the seat modules (the light grey boxes that the big yellow connectors plug into) between the original seats and the new ones? If you didn't, chances are various things won't work and you'll get airbag lights.

Someone who knows how to configure the various software options may be able to advise on how to get the airbag lights to go off, but I'm not one of them - hence taking it to BMW.

HTH
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      06-27-2020, 10:14 AM   #41
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M Fifty View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Poffman View Post
How specifically did you fix the airbag light? I just did the swap an hour ago to M2C seats for my OG (thanks Rocketboots!) I moved the seatbelt buckles only, aside from the airbag light and the button on the back of the seat to go forward and back everything else works. Thanks!

Several separate things here:

First, the backstory.

I originally bought a complete interior on which the driver's seat airbag was blown, and the seatbelt tensioner had fired.

I got fed up waiting for the automotive upholsterer to reopen over the past few months so bought another driver's seat from a crashed car and fitted that along with the passenger seat from the full interior.

During fitting, I followed the advice to swap the seat modules over to make sure everything worked (plus, I really wasn't interested in swapping the airbags which seems to be the other approach). This worked for both seats, but the seat bolsters didn't seem to be working although the lumbar adjustment (which my original seats didn't have) did. It turned out the bolsters were just deflated and took longer to pump back up than I was expecting. All other buttons worked fine.

But, I had a warning light for Driver Restraint System. At this point I was trying to understand the differences in the looms between the original and replacement seats to see if this could be the cause. As it turned out, unplugging the passenger seat with the battery still connected will give you a Passenger Restraint System warning light too.

On the off chance that the Driver Restraint System light was due to the seatbelt tensioner, I swapped both tensioners with the ones from the original seats. The light wasn't going to go out, but at least I had known good ones fitted.

Having tried to clear the codes with a neighbour's code reader, I then book the care into BMW to get them removed.

While all this was going on, the driver's seat with the blown airbag was still sitting around and the automotive upholster had reopened. The cost of getting the cover professionally repaired and refitted (including the new bag) was about 1/4rd that of a new cover from BMW (fitting extra). So I took that to be repaired and picked it up a week later. I genuinely cannot see the repair, although he did remark that matching the thread colour was a pain and he had to buy it in just for this seat. Honoured his original price though.

Now, fitting.

Having found out how easy it is to cause warning lights, a quick check:

Did you disconnect the battery first and did you swap the seat modules (the light grey boxes that the big yellow connectors plug into) between the original seats and the new ones? If you didn't, chances are various things won't work and you'll get airbag lights.

Someone who knows how to configure the various software options may be able to advise on how to get the airbag lights to go off, but I'm not one of them - hence taking it to BMW.

HTH
Thanks so much for the detailed reply, I did disconnect the battery pre the swap. I will swap the grey module tomorrow and report back. I also was hesitant to swap the airbag, have done that before in Subaru's but prefer to avoid it

Really appreciate you taking the time to help the community out with that info!

Will
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      06-27-2020, 01:56 PM   #42
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Once the light is on, I don't think you'll get it to go out without some resetting/recoding. But, at least all the buttons should work.
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      06-29-2020, 12:53 PM   #43
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Originally Posted by M Fifty View Post
Once the light is on, I don't think you'll get it to go out without some resetting/recoding. But, at least all the buttons should work.
Well I'm all set! Thanks so much for your help.

I followed the procedure as if I was swapping the seats in for the first time. Swapping the computer did the trick and I didn't have to reset codes or anything. Wow wow wow these seats are so much better!

Steps for those unclear, feel free to reach out if you have questions.

1. Pull the seats all the way forward, remove the two T50 torx on the seat rails that attach the seat to the car

2. Pull the seats all the way back

3. Unhook the negative terminal with a 10mm wretch

3. remove the two t50 torx on the seat rails that attach to the car

4. Unclip the harness from the seat (Easy connector)

5. Carefully remove seats, watch out for your steering wheel and your door cards in particular. Hitting those with the seat rails would surely make a gouge. Ideally set the seats on a piece of cardboard (old amazon boxes work great) so you can lay the back down flat on the ground and have the bottom of the seat easily accessible.

6. Remove ECU, it's a small white rectangle box (see pic). First take the wiring out of the small plastic clip directly behind the computer. Then unclip the metal connector on the side, I pushed a wide tip flat head screwdriver in and used it for leverage. After that you should be able to pull it straight down and towards you a bit for it to pop out. There's a plastic connector at the top which hooks into the metal holder for the computer.



7. Take a picture of how your wires are plugged in so if you forget you're not hosed. Unplug wires (stick a small flathead in as shown and then pull down. Pull on the connector, NOT on the wires!



8. Swap computer to new seat, plug in as before. Don't forget to hook the wiring into the small plastic clip again so it doesn't get snagged when your seat moves.

9. Carefully put the seat back in reversing the above process. Make sure you plug in the seat before you put the negative terminal back on for two reasons 1. To avoid codes and 2. Otherwise your seat won't move anyway 😁

10. Enjoy your new seats!!

Note my seats were essentially brand new, as several others have stated it may be gross down below the seat. Consider gloves and get your vacuum ready to clean them up while you're in there.
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      12-17-2020, 08:12 PM   #44
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Sorry if this question has already been asked and answered.... do you know what issues I face with a seat swap to M2C seats if I go from mechanical seats to electric?

Thanks in advance
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