Embedded Files
The seats should mount without too much trouble. Mine look like this:
Courtesy bimmers.no
Once the plate is removed, you will be left with a slot in the seat rail. The next step is to widen this slot slightly. It needs to be wide enough for the seat mounting bolt to slide through. The rear mounting poins on the E34 seat rails will line up perfectly with the E28 mounting points.
The E28 mounting bolts will not work. They will interfere with the travel of the seat rail. I used a bolt with a low profile head like this:
Courtesy bimmers.no
There are two rivets on the plate that you need to grind off. I chose to use an angle grinder. Once the heads of the rivets were ground down, the plate pops right off.
If the seats in your E28 are worn and you are looking for a replacement, you may have considered E34 power seats. The E34 seat is a reliable and sturdy seat that is quite comfortable. It is a heavy seat and is not recommended for those concerned with weight savings. However, E34 seats are easier to find in good condition and the modification is not too difficult.
I started with a set of power heated comfort seats from a 1995 530i. They were from a wrecked car that had 60k miles. The seats were in excellent condition. The first step in the process is to remove the mounting plates from the front of the e34 seat rail. The E34 has two steel hooks on the floor that the fronts of the seat rails attach to. You will need to remove two plates per seat from the front of the seat rails. See here:
Since the seat controls are mounted to the E34 seats, I chose to replace the emergency brake console with one from an early E28 that came from the factory with manual seats. Lastly, the wiring will need to be adapted. The E34 seats will simply need a constant 12v source and a ground for all of the power functions. This can be done several ways. I used the power and ground from the E28 seat harness and adapted it to the E34 seat. If your seats are heated, you will need to add a 12v switched power source to the heated seat control. Switched power is very important as you do not want to have power to the heater circuits when the car is not running. It is important to choose a circuit that will not be overloaded with the addition of the seats.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse