April 15, 2009 06:42PM
|
|
Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 636 |
Not exactly a technical question, but also directly car related. So here we are in the community forum for a little fire side discussion on E30 seats, and courses of action.
My stock, 19 y.o. original fabric seats are coming apart. Not just at the seems either, but the reclining mechanism is broken on the drivers side (fortunately into the position I like), and overall they are just starting to fall apart. Why are car seats so friggin expensive/ugly? What are you goes doing with your seats as they start to go? Replacing them with the sports seats from an E30? installing different ones? refabricing? Throwing on a seat cover? It's not one of those things that is dangerous, in need of immediate repair, or even causing me discomfort(yet). But it is one of those things that when showing off the car, I'm a bit embarrassed about. Worn paint I can deal with, a cracked dash, no bigger. Seats with yellow foam coming out of them... We'll see if anyone has an opinion on the matter. Oh wait, I do have a real question: Obviously the E30 sports seats hold you better in a corner, but are they any more/less comfortable than the non-sport? |
April 15, 2009 07:35PM
|
|
Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 255 : Heber City, Utah |
If you are larger than most people the sport seats can feel uncomfortable. I prefer the sport seats myself, but my children do not like them. In fact they would rather have a cloth seat over leather. I am much larger than my children so that is not the reason. I guess women are smaller and the extra length of the thigh extension bothers them. To me it is great to have that extra support, and I like to be able to slip around a little with the leather seats. I prefer to keep things pretty much original so if your seats are bad IMO you should have them recovered or replaced with a good one from another car. That is usually a cheaper option.
|
April 16, 2009 12:30AM
|
|
Admin
Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 600 : Portland, OR |
April 16, 2009 07:48PM
|
|
Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 1,869 : Amagansett, New York |
April 16, 2009 09:42PM
|
|
Admin
Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 600 : Portland, OR |
if i remember correctly, there are some recaros that come out of the e21 320is that are pretty nice. |
April 17, 2009 03:35AM
|
|
Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 670 |
April 17, 2009 10:33AM
|
|
Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 1,869 : Amagansett, New York |
The leather ones tend to get really hard too. The seats, from having people let them slam back will crap out after time but I'll take an official Recaro over the Bmw lookalikes (they're not Recaros) everytime. |
April 17, 2009 01:21PM
|
|
Admin
Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 600 : Portland, OR |
April 17, 2009 04:55PM
|
|
Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 1,869 : Amagansett, New York |
April 17, 2009 07:39PM
|
|
Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 636 |
So, are you guys thinking seats along this line? It's a shame they are so expensive. The minute I put that much money into the car is the day she dies I was probably pushing my luck with the $300 for the front end work
The only inexpenive seats come in cardinal red which is just... ugg. After ebay, craigslist shows no seats (at least listed as such) in the greater northwest area outside of a single pair in Vancouver, WA. So did all of you guys end up with cars with sports seats already installed? Or did you get lucky locally with a pair? Perhaps stocked a junkyard for a period of time? ~Tyler |
April 17, 2009 07:41PM
|
|
Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 636 |
April 17, 2009 11:39PM
|
|
Admin
Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 600 : Portland, OR |
the is and es cars come with sport seats standard (along with the M3 of course), and i think convertibles also. |
April 17, 2009 11:41PM
|
|
Admin
Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 600 : Portland, OR |
not sure about directly interchangeable, but people have taken VW GTI recaros and put them in e30s, and you can also retrofit the "vader" seats from the e36 M3 into the e30 with custom seat mounts (there are DIY write-ups online), but i think they look ugly. check out this r3v subforum and see what you find. [r3vlimited.com] |
April 18, 2009 09:15AM
|
|
Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 255 : Heber City, Utah |
April 18, 2009 11:35AM
|
|
Admin
Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 600 : Portland, OR |
April 18, 2009 11:50AM
|
|
Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 670 |
Is that a Recaro? Looks like a regular E30 sports seat to me. Those weren't true Recaro's (but they do look like them).
If I lived abroad, I'd part out a car much sooner than I'd do now, looking at the asking price. Whole vehicles as well. Last week a Swede offered to buy my car, didn't really discuss on how much as I said no from the start, but I felt he was going to give me a lot more than I could get in Belgium. |
April 18, 2009 11:51AM
|
|
Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 670 |
April 18, 2009 03:23PM
|
|
Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 255 : Heber City, Utah |
OK - so you want me to admit that this seat is not a true recaro then I will! Are you happy? I think most of us know that the sport seats are referred to as recaro whether they are or are not, so we all know what is for sale now and we all know that technically the sport seats for the E30 are not true recaro! Now that that is settled I was just a little bit confused about Michiel's post. Do you think that the price for my seats are too high or not enough? I am new to this selling E30 stuff and am not quite sure what everything is worth. I am beginning to think that any E30 is worth more in parts though than a good running vehicle. As far as giving BENN discounts I am sure that can be arranged, but from all indications of the FS forum this place is pretty dead and you all are not buying or selling. Who knows, if my construction business does not pick up I may have to start an E30 junk yard and start selling and shipping parts. Mid life crisis...mid life career change!
|
April 18, 2009 04:17PM
|
|
Admin
Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 600 : Portland, OR |
April 18, 2009 07:56PM
|
|
Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 1,869 : Amagansett, New York |
The sport seats are made by Bmw, not Recaro Daniel. Recaro's are made in Germany, but they are a private company. |
April 18, 2009 08:58PM
|
|
Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 255 : Heber City, Utah |
April 19, 2009 06:41AM
|
|
Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 670 |
Whether your asking price is correct, depends on the market you operate on. I just notice that prices for parts or complete vehicles in other countries can be a lot higher than where I live. As an example: I bought my well looked after 1990 318iS for €2200 three years ago, which already was a high price compared to others, but I was willing to pay it after I had a chat with the previous (first) owner, who knew a lot on the car and had other older BMW's which were well cared for. I just knew he hadn't neglected it in any way. Now, if I see asking prices for E30's abroad, they often cost double to triple of what I paid. The same for parts. And as we all know, parting out a car usually brings you more than selling the car as a whole.
Another example: the E30 320iS, only sold in Italy (though I believed it was sold in Greece as well). Can be found in Italy for rather reasonable price, try to locate one here in Belgium, you'd pay as much as for a true M3. If I'd want any of both, gimme (read: I will have to save for) the M3 then. |